Download - CMS 298 Chapter 2 Presentation
Krysten Faulkner
With advances in technology and media convergence, teens today are growing up in a much different world than their parents did. The Internet
now serves many teenagers as a place to ‘hang out,’ without needing a ride to the nearest mall.
Chapter 2 of Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out focuses on how young people “build, maintain and develop friendships” (Ito 114) through social media.
Staying socially connected
SNS(s) Allow teens to extend interactions beyond physical boundaries – conversations don’t have to stop!
Encourages peers to socialize together vs. small groups or one-on-one interactions
Allow teens to have more privacy with their communication – through SNS but also with mobile phones and IM
Why youth network:
Friendship-Driven Motive
Friendship plays a central role in SNS use
How technology plays a role in friendships online
Peers & Friendship
Communication via SNS
Making Friends Teens make friends by choice
Their choices are influenced by social, cultural and economic
conditions around them
“Homophily” is the likelihood that people connect to others that
share their interests and identity, such as similar age / shared
interests / values
Performing Friendships
Friend lists also serve 3 major purposes:
1) An address book of contacts 2) Privacy settings and control 3) A way to display social identity and
status
SNS(s) allow users to determine their own boundaries concerning who they accept and who they reject as “friends”
Teens enjoy this option because it allows them to be private, have a deeper sense of connection with the people they do communicate with and to be safe
Friendship Hierarchies MySpace’s “Top 8” or “Top Friends” feature
allow users to pick a selected amount of ‘friends’ to be featured in their top spots
which appeared publically on their profiles
This feature proved to be very controversial for many users, especially youth. The feature
forced users to pick certain friends over others, often causing drama or fights
between friends
Status, Attention & Drama SNS and mediated forms of communication can be a great place for
youth to develop and build friendships throughout their formative years, but communicating online comes with the territory, especially for teens.
The Internet is home to the struggles that often occur as a natural part of the aging process.
Common problems that occur for teens online include: • the fact that friendships are made extremely visible which can extend or amplify drama beyond school
• gossip travels faster over the Internet – making it a catalyst for teen drama
• online “stalking”
• the ‘News Feed’ which allows users to constantly keep up with their friends at all times
• bullying or “cyberbullying”
Conclusion “Social media and social networking sites allow teens to be
more carefully attuned, in an ongoing way, to the lives of their friends and peers” (Ito 113)
Teens use social media to build, maintain and to develop friendships with their peers. As a way to share ideas, cultural artifacts and
emotions with one another. And mainly, to strengthen connections
Common practices associated with SNS(s) use of teenagers are: gossiping, flirting, joking around and hanging out
Technology, especially social media, has the ability to mirror or magnify teen friendship practices either by enhancing or
intensifying situations