Web 2.0Land of Unexpected Consequences

Frances Jacobson HarrisInstitute for School and Public Librarians Illinois State Library, Bradley University

June 10, 2009

What is Web 2.0?• “Read/write” capabilities, rather than “read-

only”• User-generated content• An all-purpose platform, a suite of applications• Participatory, decentralized, self-service• Content available for remixing, aggregating,

syndicating• A social space, conducive to sharing• Finding its way... Web 3.0: the portable and

personal Web

Snapshot: Teens and web use• 93% of American teens use the Internet• 73% of all families have broadband at home• 89% of American teens have access at home• 75% have access at school• 50% have gone online from a library• 51% go online daily• 90% of online teens share the computer with other

family members• 73% use the computer in a public space at home• 53% use computers with filters• 45% use a computer with monitoring software

Lenhart, 2007

 Digital Youth Research

• Social network sites, online games, video-sharing sites, and gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones are now fixtures of youth culture

• Today’s youth are coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity amid new worlds for communication, friendship, play, and self-expression

 • Youth use online media to extend friendships and

interests • Youth engage in peer-based, self-directed learning

online

Teens and social mediaHow teens communicate

• 95% spend time with friends face to face• 88% talk to their friends on a landline• 67% talk to their friends on their cell phone• 65% send email to friends• 61% send messages to friends through social networking

sites• 60% of online teens sned instant messages to friends• 58% send text messages to friends

Lenhart, April 10, 2009

Teens and social mediaHow teens communicate daily

• 51% of teens (with cell phones) talk on their cell phones• 42% of teens (who use SNS) send messages trhough social

networking sites like MySpace or Facebook•  38% send text messages to each other• 32% talk to friends on a landline phone• 29% spend time with friends in person doing social activities

outside of school• 26% send instant messages• 16% send email

Lenhart, April 10, 2009

Cell phones

• Teens and tweens with cell phones use them at least two hours a day

• 96% stay in touch with parents on a daily basis, 20% do so at least five times a day

• Text messaging is hugeo 58% who use text messaging do so during classo 52% text while at the movieso 28% text at the dinner tableo 26% check for messages within ten minutes of waking up

Harris Interactive, Disney Mobile Cell and Tell survey, 2007

Mobility, mobility, mobility

• Cell phone ownership is rising o 45% of 12-17 year olds had cell phones in 2004o 63% had them in 2006o 71% had them in early 2008

• No significant difference in ownership by race/ethnicity• Minor differences by socio-economic status• No gender differences in ownership• More device options: mp3 players, smart phones, portable

gaming devices, etc.

Lenhart, April 10, 2009

Social networks in flux

• From Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to LinkedIn

• From e-mail to instant messaging and text messaging

• From Twitter to ???

Social networks and safety

They get it already

• The predator threat has been sensationalizedo overly-simplistic media reports of research o television shows like “To Catch A Predator”

• Teens can sense the stranger-danger fear is overblown

• They don’t want to be treated like little kids

National Association of School Boards study

"Students and parents report fewer recent or current problems, such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying and unwelcome personal encounters, than school fears and policies seem to imply."

"Most problems students and parents report are similar to the types of problems typically associated with any other media (television or popular music) or encountered in everyday life."

National Association of School Boards study

• 7% of students say someone has asked them for information about their personal identity on a social networking site

• 7% say they’ve experienced cyberbullying• 4% say they’ve had conversations that make

them uncomfortable• 3% say a stranger they met online tried to

meet them in person• .08% say they’ve actually met someone in

person without their parents’ permission

From my students...

• "I do have a particular way of dealing with unwanted friend requests, annoying messages, etc: ignore them and/or pretend I never got them. If I'm feeling particularly reckless and pissed off, I might go and chew them out, but usually I just plain ignore them."

 • "This guy wouldn't give up asking to meet me in real life

(through a game site) so I blocked him." • "There are always the random creepy friend requests from

random guys with messages such as "I saw you and you're pretty attractive. Want to be friends with me" etc.  I basically just usually ignore them."

National Association of School Boards study

• Find ways to harness the educational value of social networking

• Ensure equitable accesso A new kind of digital divide

• Pay attention to the nonconformistso Engage them and improve their performanceo They are the early adopters

• Reexamine social networking policies• Encourage social networking companies to

increase educational value

Teens, privacy, and online social networks

• 66% of teens with profiles have restricted access to them in some way

• 56% say they have posted at least some fake information on their profiles

• Teens want to stay safe, but also want their friends to be able to find them

Lenhart & Madden, 2007

Cyberbullying

From my students:• "I've never been harassed, stalked, bullied online, I like to

think I'm a tad safer online than others, though a friend who hadn't seen me for 2 years found out where I lived way more easily than I thought possible. Also, it's not that hard to delete bully friends from facebook."

• "I have never been "online bullied." As far as I know, this has never happened to any one I know, I have only read about it in newspapers."

 From Pew:•  Cyberbullying: What the research is telling us..., Lenhart,

May 13, 2009

Other research on safety issues• Crimes Against Children Research Center• Wolak, Janet, David Finkelhor, Kimberley J. Mitchell, and

Michelle L. Ybarra, February 18, 2008. Online “predators” and their victims: Myths, realities, and implications for prevention and treatment. American Psychologist, 63 (2). Press release.

• Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies,Internet Safety and Technical Task Force

• Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine special issue, January 2009o Display of Health Risk Behaviors on MySpace by Adolescents o Reducing At-Risk Adolescents' Display of Risk Behavior on a Social Netw

orking Siteo Social Networking Sites: Finding a Balance Between Their Risks and Ben

efits

Music

• Music is core • Where do they find it?

o iTunes, torrents, music blogs, file uploading sites, and social networking sites

o Last.fm hype list: http://www.last.fm/music/o MySpace music page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music o Mashable’s online music toolbox:

http://mashable.com/2007/07/06/online-music/ (content creation)

o Internet radio that “learns” your tastes (pandora.com, slacker.com)

Online video

• Young adults are the most active consumers• Young adults favor comedy, adults favor news• Online video viewing is social

o Viewers share links and watch with other people• Online video viewing is interactive

o Viewers rate videos, post comments, and upload their own videos

Madden, July 25, 2007

Here, but not quite here…

• RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML file format that allows content to be distributed to those who subscribe to it.

• Twitter is a short message system that reports what you are doing in real time (via the Twitter website, instant messaging, or cell phone text messaging)

Unintended consequences

• Goodo Example: Unprecedented opportunities for social activism

• Bado Example: The “viral” phenomenon*

• Just plain interestingo Example: A social culture that requires no advanced

planning

• Best not to frame these conversations in terms of “good” and “bad”

*Which can, in some circumstances, be considered “good”

What should we be worried about?

Some examples: • The commonplace threats -- teens

texting while driving• Lack of teen savvy about identity theft

(i.e., we’re all still more worried about predators than kids’ wallets)

• Social networking sites that look like they are for young children, but really aren’t (for example, Zwinky)

Social worlds are seductive

• Huge focus on consumptiono Don’t go on vacation or lose your computer privileges - you

may miss a “payment” on your virtual car!

• Screen time = sedentary time• Weigh the benefits of helping a shy kid

find a voice vs. experiencing face-to-face human interaction

Target marketing

Privacy• A whole different sensibility

o Anywhere parents and teachers are NOTo An outlook that embraces 24/7 accessibility

• “…some level of unwanted contact as a known downside of maintaining a social networking profile and view it as a relatively minor “cost of doing business” in this environment.”

Smith, October14, 2007

Old-fashioned mischief

“Many of you who have new computers have mentioned to me that strange messages [most of which were not very nice] are showing up when you are displaying from your computer to a smartboard or a screen. This is occurring because your computer has a technology called Bluetooth active on the computer. Students can then use their cell phones or PDAs or any technology with bluetooth on to send messages to your computer which are then displayed to your screen or smartboard.To turn off Bluetooth:…”

Doug Johnson quoting a note from a tech to the school staffBlue Skunk Blog, October 6, 2007

Community and relationships

• Online communities are the new virtual malls

• "Facebook is the new rolodex" (Jeremy)• "It's a rolodex on crack, really" (Paul)

 • Overscheduled? You can still meet with your

friends

News feeds, status updates, photos, oh my!

At a glance on Facebook: • See status updates, create one• Sort news feed by friend "category"• See current requests (to attend events, join causes, join

groups, become friends)• See "personalized" Facebook information (friend

suggestions, "highlights" from current friends' profiles, calendar of imminent events and birthdays

• Access toolbars with one-click links to photos, groups, widgets, and apps

Content creation

• Remixingo Video + music + text, etc.o See http://mashable.com

• Sharingo Creation doesn’t occur in isolation

• Case studies:o deviantART.como fanfiction.neto craftster.org

Something for everyone -deviantART.com

• Posting art• Commenting on others’ art • Posting stories• Requires filtering strategies to avoid

art overload

Something for everyone - fanfiction.net

• Posting stories• Reading stories• Commenting on others’ stories• Linda’s filtering strategies:

o Reads fiction of friends who write o Reads their recommendations

Night Wind’s “Padded Cell” forum to find Transformers recommendations

o Looks through others’ favorites lists.

Something for everyone - craftster.org

• Forums by craft typeo Section for posting things you’ve madeo Section for posting questionso Section for things that went wrongo Section for swaps

• Blog• Craftopedia

Implications for libraries

• Huge disconnect between student use of computers at school and student use of computers at home

• A new digital divideo Between teachers and studentso Between students who have access to

social networking tools at home and students whose use is limited to the restrictive school environment or the shared public library environment

Yet, there’s hope

• Pew survey results challenge the assumption that libraries are losing relevance in the Internet ageo More than half of Americans (53%) visited libraries in the

past year o Young adults in tech-loving Generation Y (age 18-30) led

the pack

• Young adults are the most likely to say they will use libraries in the future when they encounter problems o 40% of Gen Y said they would visit libraries o 20% of those above age 30 say they would visit libraries

Estabrook, Witt, & Rainie, December 30, 2007

Library 2.0

• Applying Web 2.0 principles to the library environment

 • Identifying tools that support learning and

personal growth • Finding ways to make tools safe(ish)

Facebook catalog app

Host an event

A few free 2.0 resources

• Google for Educators• Blogs (edublogs.org/, blogger.com) • Wikis (pbworks.com, Google Sites, wikispaces.com)• Forums (phpbb.com)• Photo and video sharing sites (flickr.com,

youtube.com, teachertube.com)• Do-it-yourself social networking (ning.com)• Recommender sites (LibraryThing)• Social bookmarking services (delicious)• Customizable page generators (iGoogle, Pageflakes,

Netvibes)

Library 2.0 in practice

Examples of library blogs

Blogging Libraries Wiki A lovely list of libraries that blog.A Listing of Blogs from Illinois School LibrariesParis High School Library, Paris, IllinoisNorthfield Mount Hermon School Library, Mount Hermon, MassachusettsGargoyles Loose in the Library, University Laboratory High School Library, Urbana, Illinois

Examples of libraries that use microblogging

Urbana Free Library on TwitterUndergraduate Library at Illinois on TwitterTwitter4Teachers / Librarians - a wiki with a list of links of school librarians using Twitter

Library 2.0 in practice

Examples of library wikis

Plymouth Regional High School Library (NH) - research guidesRecommended Reads - Uni HighDecatur High School LibraryBenson School Library (Ontario)

Examples of libraries that use social networks

Libraries Using Facebook Pages (a Facebook group)Glenbard South Library ningUniHighLibrary on LibraryThing - graphic novel collection

Library 2.0 in practiceExamples of RSS being used by libraries

Lansing Public Library (IL)Ann Arbor District LibraryHomer Township Public Library Example of the use of "customizable page generators" in libraries

Dublin City Public LibrariesThe Unquiet Library at Creekview High School Libraries that use social bookmarking

Homer Township Public Library on DiigoMenasha Public Library on Delicious

How can I possibly keep up? • WebTools4u2use A wonderfully exhaustive resource

from tech maven Donna Baumbach.• The YALSA blog • Teacherlibrarianwiki.pbwiki.com• Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki• The Blue Skunk Blog, from Doug Johnson• Joyce Valenza's Never Ending Search• The AASL blog • Joyce Valenza's Web 2.0 Meets Information Fluency

workshop wiki • Common Craft videos: explanations in plain English 

References• Digital Youth Research: Kids' informal learning learning with digital

media. November 19, 2008. Final Report. http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/report-announcement.

• Estabrook, Lee, Evans Witt, and Lee Rainie, December 30, 2007. Information searches that solve problems. Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Information-Searches-That-Solve-Problems.aspx

• Jussel, Amy. May 3, 2007. “Zwinktopia slides younger teens into their virtual playground.” Shaping Youth Blog. http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=419

• Lenhart, Amanda, April 10, 2009. Teens and social media: An overview. Presentation at the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Pew Internet & American Life Project.http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/17-Teens-and-Social-Media-An-Overview.aspx

• Lenhart, Amanda, May 13, 2009. Cyberbullying: What the research is telling us... Presentation at the National Association of Attorneys General Year of the Child Conference, Pew Internet and American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/18-Cyberbullying-What-the-research-is-telling-us.aspx

References, cont.• Lenhart, Amanda, August 16, 2007. A timeline of teens and technology.

Presentation at the American Psychological Association, Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2007/A-Timeline-of-Teens-and-Technology.aspx

•  Lenhart, Amanda and Mary Madden, April 18, 2007. Teens, privacy, and online social networks. Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Teens-Privacy-and-Online-Social-Networks.aspx 

• Madden, Mary, July 25, 2007. Online video. Pew Internet & American Life Project.http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Online-Video.aspx

• Harris Interactive, 2007. Disney mobile cell and tell survey.• National School Boards Association, 2007. Creating & connecting: Research and

guidelines on online social - and educational - networking. http://www.nsba.org/site/docs/41400/41340.pdf

• Smith, Aaron, October 14, 2007. Teens and online stranger contact. Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/Safety.asp

Contact information:

Frances Jacobson HarrisUniversity Laboratory High School Library1212 W. Springfield AvenueUrbana, Illinois 61801217-333-1589

francey@illinois.eduhttp://www.uni.illinois.edu/libraryAIM: franceylibrarianGoogle chat: franceslibrarian