The Koobecaf Culture by Nicole Araiza
Within the Nacirema culture there is a quickly developing subculture among there young people. They call this the culture of Koobecaf. This culture exists nearly solely on the internet, something which many young Nacirema have a better grasp on then their elders.
The Koobecaf culture that many young Nacirema are taking part in is greatly affecting many of the values and practices that the Nacirema once held as very important. For example, the Nacirema were once a very private people, but the Koobecaf culture is the exact opposite. Young Nacirema are, through the Koobecaf culture, sharing their personal lives with their peers and also, to an extent, with complete strangers who can easily look them up by name or school. The young Nacirema will post pictures of themselves at parties or with their significant others or friends on their pages for all to see. This is possibly their way of showing off their “popularity” or to try and show others who they are and what is important to them. The young Nacirema also have the option of using their page within the Koobecaf subculture to describe who they are in their “about me” section, telling others their sexual preference, their religion and the also can announce to others what they are currently doing by changing their status. With the Koobecaf culture existing the way that it does, nothing is private within the culture.
Another way that the Koobecaf subculture is changing the way the young Nacirema take part in their main culture is communication. Because of Koobecaf, many young Nacirema, instead of taking the time to have a personal conversation with a friend or just making a phone call to say ‘hi’, can now make a post on their peer’s “wall” to say hi, or send a bumper sticker (a small picture that may include something humorous or touching) to a friend to let them know that they were thinking about them. While this seems like a great way for the young Nacirema to keep in touch with their friends and expand their social network while still being able to lead their busy lives, it seems that this new form of communication is causing the relationships of the young Nacirema to be far less meaningful and intimate than those of their elders. This is more than likely because, while the young Nacirema can communicate with many in a short period of time, the elder Nacirema will communicate with fewer people but will take the time to communicate face to face and to have a more meaningful conversation.
The new subculture of Koobecaf is changing many things within the culture of the Nacirema. Koobecaf has become a key way that the future employers of the young Nacirema can learn about their prospective employees, because Koobecaf is a very public culture and, even though it’s main members are the young Nacirema, anyone can join and learn about the members that they may be interested in. This is one of the risks that many young Nacirema do not consider when posting pictures of themselves heavily intoxicated or describing themselves in their “about me” section of their profile.
While Koobecaf is currently very popular among the young Nacirema, some may hope that it soon dies out, so that the relationships among the young Nacirema will grow past cyberspace and that the values of privacy and personal communication will not die out with this generation.