Danah Boyd on Teenagers who are Living and Learning with Social MediaDanah Boyd has observed American high school teenagers and she traces a portrait of the importance of social networking sites for them, particularly Myspace and Facebook. She makes us understand that teens nowadays are not different from those of previous generations, except in their ways of reaching out to friends. Thus the fear that they talk and chat with strangers is generally unfounded, since the majority communicate only within their own community of friends. These kids are not interested in communicating their "profile" or bedroom culture" to strangers. Basically, they do not use the tool like adults for professional networking or politicians, who are collectors of “friends”. I found that part very interesting.
Danah Boyd also deals with the problem of bringing social networking into the classroom. The opposition to that is strong and does not take into account the reality of teenagers, who consult the web and wiki more than libraries. They are producing material, videos and, according to Mrs. Boyd, the teachers' role is to help the students make good use of these tools. She asks educators to reach out to the youth, to understand them and learn from them rather than reject their new ways. She is convincing about it.
In her presentation, Mrs. Boyd seemed constrained by time, rushing through her text, which at times impairs understanding. The last part of her talk - the implications with social networking- was informative , but somewhat less captivating.
Since I am a relative novice in the digital world, and mother of 3 teens, I recognize that I was prejudiced against social networking ( Facebook,msn ), and that I did not understand its significance. I actually saw it as a waste of time, but Danah Boyd's presentation has opened my eyes to the teens' perception.
