This is supposed to be the first post-ideological generation, where our ideas are expected to be lost in the ether of social communication—too immersed in the shenanigans of our friends on Facebook and Twitter to actually have the foresight to apply ourselves in composing a comprehensive, or much less, original thought. I don’t think this is so. We, just as those who have come before us, have never been short on ideas, but what this generation lacks is the aptitude to apply ourselves in any substantial way to elicit real change. With no shortage of ways to express these ideas and callings for change, we have become defined by our tools instead of by the causes we wish to promote. And when one of our individual statuses or feeds engender the correct formula to go viral, there is a splash but nothing significant seems to happen, no benefit of tangible change, and no reward for the simple harpings on issues. The effectiveness of our ideas rely on whether our network is interested in systemic change, rather than just a promotion of the latest fad. In all honesty, what hope can be gained from simply changing your Facebook picture to a cartoon character? Sure it might generate a mild amount of awareness but the gesture is overly hollow if you do not intend to follow through and actually participate in helping the cause. Our social networks are effective at increasing participation of a cause, most likely because it lessens the level of motivation that participation requires and allows participants to feel contented about the promotion of something. Although, it seems quite hypocritical to reminisce about the nostalgia of my wonderful childhood by changing my avatar to a picture of Tomy from the RugRats, while trying to promote awareness for a child who regularly gets the shit kicked out of them. Awareness is one thing and becomes somewhat of a hollow notion if it isn’t followed up with considerable action; and it is our lack of action, that has become the defect of our generation. We lack the spirit of generations past, either because we really don’t care or we believe that it is all a losing battle or because we think something as simple as changing an avatar will create an aura of social awareness large enough to generate societal change.