Teens and Social Media

(Picture taken from emaze presentation)

danah boyd (she does not use capitals in her name) is the writer of the book, It's Complicated (free PDF copy).  She is a researcher with Mircrosoft research and has her own company research company called Data and Society.  In this book, boyd takes a deep look at teens and their use of social media.  She interviewed 166 teens from varying cultures and economic backgrounds.  Her findings are fascinating and frankly a bit of a relief.

Admittedly, I had my own set preconceived notions when it came to teens and social media.  I always feared that social media was breeding a generation that could not socially interact with one another because they always had their faces in their phones.  In addition, I felt that many of them over exposed themselves online by looking for that instant validation from other people when posting so much about their lives online.  Or feeling that their not socially worthy unless they get so many "likes" from others.  Some of my concerns have been changed and boyd makes some pretty good points.  

To begin with, she states that kids want to be understood. In my opinion, every generation of teens wants that including myself when I was a teen.  She does point out how every generation has their own way to socialize and communicate.  Mine was the mall (as she pointed out) and roller rink.  I would also spend hours and hours on the phone with my friends which was heavily criticized by my parents.  Sound familiar?  Yes, I have done the same thing with today's teens about how much time they are on their phone.  The only difference is is that they are not using it as a phone, they are using it to communicate to one another.  

boyd also points out how teens stay connected with another and that often they are sharing and collaborating when posting.  She also makes the hilarious parallel to adult usage on how they faces our in their phones just as much.  I find it hilarious because I can't tell you how many silent lunches I sat through in the teacher's lounge because we were all on our phones looking at our own social media.  

When I think about social media and education, I know that there are a lot of advantages to using it to stay connected with our students.  Personally I love Class Dojo.  I use it to talk with kids and their parents all the time. Whether it's to reach out to a parent, explain a math concept, answer questions or just say hi over the weekend to a student.  

Things in some ways have not really changed, just the venue.  Teens want a place to express themselves, feel connected and share their thoughts and ideas.  Instead of writing journals, talking on the phone or hanging at the mall they are sharing funny pics and their lives on social media sites like Snapchat or Instagram.  boyd points out that "the kids are alright"  and I agree.