Has the American Dream gone digital?

Illustration by Alex Bihm/The Collegian
Illustration by Alex Bihm/The Collegian

The American Dream has transformed into something bigger than a picket fence.

Fifty years ago, the American Dream was a perfect family package with a quiet, simple life, free of too much curiosity. The new American Dream is success and innovation starting with our ideas and self-expression.

We are no longer expected to be mothers, fathers or even spouses. We are simply expected to become successful in our passions and to produce new ideas and solutions. We are expected to do this without sacrificing the things that matter most to us individually and to be tolerant and understanding.

If today’s society is about technology and digital innovation, then we should use these emerging digital tools to promote societal change.

We have never been under the magnifying glass the way we are now. The digital age of social media has almost robbed young citizens of their patience. The need for instant gratification is worse than ever. We watch each other 24 hours a day, recording each hour, moment by moment.

With our iPhones, our devices, our Internet news and our statistics available at the touch of a button, it’s so easy to pull facts out of nowhere. Instantly, our Hot Pockets are warmed to taste, and our cars are taking us places faster than they ever could before. If there’s anything young adults are not doing, it’s staying the same. Our lives are more dynamic than ever. 

From delighting in cupcakes and discussing politics to some heavier topics, including life status, health and level of maturity — it’s all there to see. We have an instant-gratification need that may become our downfall one day. Our friends, enemies and employers can pick us apart and decide if our drinking habits or lack thereof are suitable or fitting to their businesses and personalities.

Instead of learning etiquette at the dinner table, we are learning how to maintain our Facebook accounts professionally for potential job prospects. We are teaching our parents how to use computer software. New jobs are popping up all over with a demand for skill sets unknown to us 30 years ago. We’re sharing ideas in seconds. Changes and societal movements that scared us before, we welcome without a blink of an eye.

We have adapted to a world we have changed.

With communication at the level it is now, young adults have many choices. Now students fresh out of college, fresh out of high school have many different options to choose from. Has any other generation been handed this opportunity?

Correctly using the resources we have gives us an unmatched power. We have freedom of expression, freedom to vote, to learn, to share ideas, quickly, efficiently and openly. Time to focus on education and career has lifted us to achieve an American Dream that not only looks good from the outside but is also wholesome, tolerant and understanding from the inside. We did this by sharing ideas and accepting each other. The technology we have now was a large factor in this.

After all, there’s probably an app for that.