Gen Y Attitudes

For my next, and final, feature for class I am going to focus on Gen Y’s addiction to viral videos and humor sites. I will do a profile largely on College Humor, but also highlight other small sites like Will Ferrell’s FunnyOrDie.com.

I think this is going to be a great story because the College Humor offices are actually in NYC!! AND… thanks to my connections through Mashable I was able to speak to the Senior Developer, Adam Gotterer, and ask him if he would be kind enough to let me stop by and interview some people.

He said yes!

I am very excited to finally see where “the magic” happens and hopefully talk to the very talented Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld of the hilarious web show, JakeAndAmir.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Plus, it just seems like everyone at College Humor has so much fun at work… it’s all made up of a bunch of Gen Y’s (perfect!) who don’t (seem to) have any Baby Boomers telling them what to do or complaining about their work ethic.

Check out this video they all made together at work one day:

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

Dr. Brian Fligor was the best interview this semester so far. He was so normal (unlike other people who try to calculate their responses) and very friendly.

He used a really great analogy that I forgot to add to my feature which I already submitted. He said that listening to an iPod is very similar to sitting out in the sun and getting UV Rays. The damage you do to your ears is determined over the period of time that you listen to music at high volume.

DON’T STAY OUT TOO LONG OR YOU WILL GET SUNBURNT! (In other words, don’t listen to music too loud and don’t listen to it too loud continuously or you will be at risk for permanent hearing loss).

I asked him how bad it was that I listened to music very loudly in the gym for an hour and he said that you should only listen to music loudly for SEVEN MINUTES. More than that is harmful. (WOW?!) That scares me.

Luckily, Dr. Brian Fligor (expert on Gen Y hearing loss) checked his e-mail this morning and gave me a call to talk about how iPods are affecting twentysomethings.

Once again, technology wins!

I asked my Gen Y Twitter followers whether or not they cared about cell phones (radiation), computer screens (vision), and iPods (hearing loss) just out of curiousity as I finish up my latest feature piece.

Here’s what they had to say:

belthesar @alanataylor Cell phones are dangerous. That is, if you leave your ringer on in the theater. Dangerous indeed. ;-)

CoryOBrien @alanataylor Don’t really care about those, but RSI is definitely something I worry about. Typing this much can’t be good in the long run.

sarahcooley @alanataylor I honestly never think about it. I love my technology to much :)

mindspace @alanataylor I do but not enough to make me stop using them

joshuanshear @alanataylor i do think about it, try to be smart, but don’t let fear override my use. #cultureoffear

fscker @alanataylor could care less.

rulesaremyenemy @alanataylor I’m banking on the notion that they will have a cure for cancer, and bionic eyes/ears by the time that becomes a problem.

ron_miller @alanataylor I think about the health hazards associated with the electronics I use, but it doesn’t really stop me from using them.

smojo @alanataylor I’m not to worried about any of it. The radiation issue has been looked at a lot and has shown low risk for health problems.

jonarogers @alanataylor I believe things like cell radiation and hearing damage from loud ipods - but dont change behavior. cigarettes of our time.

iFroggy @alanataylor I do think about them. But, at the end of the day, here I am… still using.

Dew95 @alanataylor I personnaly think that the sound in Ipods is the most preoccupant…

tommylane @alanataylor I used to think about that. I even had one of those protectors on a cell phone, years ago. I don’t worry about it anymore.

tommylane @alanataylor They were called a radiation shield or something like that. Cost 30 bucks back in those days. Never replaced it.

sailerman @alanataylor Definitely. Especially since my iPhone is my phone and music player. My parents seem to enjoy ending me stuff about it too…

resawu @alanataylor am pretty certain my vision is ruined. and I’m really not joking about carpal tunnel. :(

ChristineNgo @alanataylor I think about health risks associated with my gadgets all the time, but being that I’m a cyborg, I think my body has adapted ok

joshuadelung @alanataylor I try not to think about them Then again, I don’t use an iPod, I don’t believe in cell phone radiation, and my vision sux neway

JoeCastagna @alanataylor altough I fell like a retard for saying it I could care less that said people who wear ear plugs at concerts suck

AndrewDumais @alanataylor I have thought about the health affects. I just don’t know what else you would do in this new world, you know?

Is ‘underway’ the right word to use? Or is it ‘under way’? Not sure.

Anyhow, I have been writing my story and even gotten in contact with a few experts. I am waiting for some of them to get back to me.

And I am absolutely determined to speak to Dr. Devra Lee Davis, director of the world’s first Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

Hopefully I can speak to her before I have to turn in this article!

Last time I had to write a feature I was pretty much on top of my game. I had too many quotes. I had an overwhelming amount of experts and interviews. The challenge there was trying to narrow it down, focus, be concise.

This time… I have a lot of research/study info and facts, but few experts.

It hasn’t been easy to get a hold of people who know about technology and how it will or will not affect us in the future. I think part of it has to do with the fact that there is so little evidence that it will do either. Nobody really knows.

This weekend was also just the worst. It was Halloween. ‘Nuff said.

I think time management is the key to being a good journalist. Without it, your deadlines will sneak up on you and bite you in the ass. It’s the truth. The truth hurts.