Fifteen-year-old writes about social media, adults set a-Twitter

At first, I thought this article was some sort of joke from the Onion: “Media execs rocked by 15-year-old's blunt, blistering analysis.”
Unfortunately, it is true. Sadly, sadly true.
The 15-year-old is a Morgan Stanley intern named Matthew Robson. Matthew’s observations on social media and how his peers use it is apparently causing a lot of waves at Morgan Stanley’s European Media Group, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. One executive went so far as to say that Matthew’s work was “one of the clearest and most through-provoking insights we have seen.”
What exactly has these executives buzzing? Matthew’s observations state that teenagers don’t use Twitter, read newspapers, and hate advertisements. Plus, they like free music. While I don’t disagree with the veracity of these opinions, I find it really curious and odd that older people who supposedly know better are giving them such weight. Is it really such a revelation to hear that teenagers don’t like to read newspapers? Or that Twitting via cell phone costs money, and therefore isn’t done?
Except for his opinion that many teenagers have never bought a CD, I don’t think that what Matthew writes about is particularly new, clever, or groundbreaking (see for yourself: www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/13/twitter-teenage-media-habits). What I find very interesting is how the words of a single 15-year-old are being taken as some sorts of revelatory gospel prophesy by media teams who, until a few years ago, dictated how communication was done. Now, with the rise of social media, the game has changed, and like any adults, they are desperate to find out how the mythical teenager communicates. To hear some of the quotes from the executives in the article, you would think they were dealing with gorillas that had been taught sign language:
‘We published it,' said Edward Hill-Wood, executive director of Morgan Stanley's European media team. ‘We've had dozens and dozens of fund managers, and several CEOs, e-mailing and calling all day.' He said the note had generated five or six times more responses than the team's usual research.”
Ultimately, what this goes to show me is that, despite changing times and lifestyles, teenagers remain and mysterious to adults as ever, and adults, being adults, will do nearly anything to get their foot in the door leading to the path of young, aloof coolness.

Appetite for Destruction?

One of the funniest things in the delightfully subversive movie “WALL-E” is how humanity is portrayed in the future: morbidly obese on hover chairs, unable to get up or do things for themselves.
Well, if reports issued today by the BBC and Reuters are any indication, we might already be halfway there. Obesity rates in the U.S. rose 22 percent last year, without a single decrease in any state across the union. Of these, Mississippi rated worst, with 32.5 percent of adults considered obese. The Reuters report said that the state has had this dubious title for the past five years. Colorado had the fewest obese adults, with 18.9 percent.
According to the BBC article, “in 1991, no state had an adult obesity rate above 20 percent, and in 1980 the national average for adult obesity was 15 percent.” Now, nearly two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight, the Reuters article said.
I’m one of them. I have a BMI of 27. A BMI of 18-25 is considered normal. Like many Americans, I am the victim of two things: one is my own lack of willpower to choose the right food to put in my body, and the other is the fact that much of the affordable food is so high processed that it makes getting fatter much, much easier than it used to be. Throughout human history, and in some places today, getting fat was a sign of wealth and prosperity. Now, perhaps being skinny is the sign of being wealthy enough to eat organic and non-processed foods on a regular basis.
The irony in this scenario is that the poorest people, who buy the cheapest or fastest food options, are now the fattest – something that would have no doubt confused the hell out of any time travelers from the Renaissance. In an era where Americans know how important exercise is, it seems that we lead such busy, complicated and ultimately stressful lives that few actually do on a regular basis. I know I am guilty of this. Also, as times get worse, and people’s stress levels go up, they eat more, adding more pounds to an already vicious cycle.
There’s going to be hell to pay for this. It’s well known that obesity contributes to health care costs. So how are we going to continue paying for premiums that increase nearly 30 percent a year?
I think I just lost my appetite.