That's a huge part of it.

Come to this sub any day, and you will find at least one group of Gen-X talking about how we are so thankful that all of our awkward teenage decisions, actions, parties, jokes, pictures, etc., etc., were not recorded and would never be posted for the world to see. Pixies and videos we did have were shared worth very close groups of friends as a way to contribute to share the experience. There were a few assholes who would try to embarrass someone and use video/ photo evidence, but the majority of us did asks would defend the victims of that horrible behavior.. We don't want those things shared now unless we are sharing our own for a specific reason.

I do not blame younger people at all about being afraid to recorded. They are not lesser human beings worth fewer feelings, and kids are just as mean to each other as they were when WE were kids. Finding other people's embarrassment humorous is disgusting.

A video camera was pretty obvious in our mix, and terrible quality. Now, very high quality video can be taken in secret. Picture stabilization and low-light technology makes it easy to document every little innocent attempt to learn something new (like dancing ... which takes a ton of practice before you are any good at it! And, even then, the "joke" might be that you were with the wrong partner).

Aside from all of that immediate worry...

They also have a critically important thing that we have never had to worry about ... but we have been warning them about since they were old enough to learn: 1) the things that go onto the internet never come off and 2) if the wrong people saw it, a single video or picture can complicate your chances of getting into the college you want, getting to TA for the professor from whom you would learn the most, and prevent you from being considered for a good internship, and a good job.

A single video of a stupid decision or a brave risk that looks silly (like at a dance) could mess up your best chances at the adult life you want.

That kind of existential threat is real for them. In real time. When we talk about this kind of thing, we need to rember these things. We cannot innocently wonder why things are different.

They should be worried and cautious

We should be feeling SAD and frustrated that this is yet one more thing they need to deal with. It's adding to their anxiety. It adds to their hesitation to try new things. I think it's a disgrace that our generation helped create that ... and now some of us act like is a moral flaw on their part that they are so reserved.