At the Beijing Winter Olympics, 17-year-old Su Yiming, 18-year-old Gu Ailing and others showed the world the image of Chinese youth in the new era of enthusiasm, cheerfulness, tolerance and enterprising. Their newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, dare to challenge and break through themselves, closely combine their personal struggles with the development of the motherland, resonate with the pulse of the times, and let the beautiful youth shine infinitely.
In the new era, Chinese youth are the "abundant generation" that advocates individuality, tolerance and diversity, and pursues self-worth. The word "abundance" not only explains the material conditions of this generation, but also shapes their spiritual world.
In terms of materialism, "things are used for me" replaces "I use things for things". Different from the simple pursuit of money, power, and social status, the material foundation is the premise for Chinese youth to achieve their goals in life in the new era, but it is more important to focus on and realize their own value.
With the continuous change of social form in the direction of wealth, tolerance and thickness, the space for self-choice of Chinese youth in the new era has increased unprecedentedly, and the concept of life has further shown the characteristics of shifting from "survival" to "life". Many of them no longer define their lives with rules and regulations, and their understanding of the "good life" has shifted from external evaluation to internal experience, hoping to make positive choices about life according to their personal wishes and abilities.
In the new era, Chinese youth adhere to the concept of self-promotion and others, and tend to agree that the stability and soundness of society are built based on the comfort, development and dignity of individuals. When judging new things and niche cultures, they are cautious and generally maintain a distancing but respectful attitude.
Further, under the influence of "Internet + digitization", there have been some trend changes in the ideological mentality and values of Chinese youth in the new era, which are worth studying and paying attention to.
In terms of interest, pay more attention to the deep cultivation of the circle -
In the new era, the interests of Chinese youth are more extensive and the content is more diverse. Personalized choices based on their own interests and hobbies not only enrich their extracurricular life, but also prompt them to form different circles and use them as a foothold to connect with society.
In terms of employment concept, we will explore multiple choices even more.
Some Chinese youth in the new era can get the "first pot of gold in life" during their college years. At this time, interest not only assumes the role of hobby, but also creates a wealth of career options and opportunities, such as short video producers, online writers, e-sports players, etc. This has been followed by a change in the concept of employment, the expectation of employment has shifted from "able to employ" to "good employment", and various hidden and flexible employment methods have emerged in an endless stream.
In the concept of marriage and love, we are more looking forward to spiritual fit-
Echoing the new era is an increasingly diverse view of marriage and love. More and more Chinese youth in the new era have chosen a more equal view of marriage, looking forward to self-selection of marriage and the pursuit of spiritual fit.
In terms of ideological concept, it stimulates rational self-consciousness even more-
In the face of overwhelming and indecipherable information, Chinese youth in the new era who grew up in the Internet age showed a more rational side. This rationality is embodied in being able to dialectically look at the complex information on the Internet, having its own value judgments, and not being easily wrapped up and misled by so-called "authority" or distorted values.
At the same time, how to enable Chinese youth in the new era to firmly establish a correct outlook on life and values, and sing the main theme under the complex cyberspace and diverse public opinion ecology, is still a topic worth exploring and cracking.
(The author Hou Shaoxun is the deputy director of the Information Security and Social Management Innovation Laboratory of Shanghai Open University)