海角大神

Why is the title of social media researcher danah boyd鈥檚 (her legal name is spelled with lower case) new book 鈥溾��? Not just because 鈥渢he Social Lives of Networked Teens鈥� are complicated, but also because growing up in a networked world is too.

And I鈥檇 add that it鈥檚 further complicated when the adults in a teen鈥檚 life don鈥檛 have any idea how complicated it is 鈥� when they reduce it to 鈥渢oo much screen time.鈥澛�

What鈥檚 not complicated is the need for teens' input in the public discussion about teens鈥� experiences in social media.

So, I wish every parent, educator, and anyone with even one young person in their life would read this book. It鈥檚 a rare window on young people鈥檚 perspectives coming from a geeky (tech-savvy) researcher, with a fascination for how both youth culture and networked culture are changing society, and each other.

As Ms. boyd studied the emerging phenomena of networked culture and youth culture (from 2005 to 2012), she kept bumping into two other phenomena: all the fears in society about youth and social networks, and a real lack of input from young people themselves.聽

Mike, a 15-year-old interviewee she mentions in her preface, pretty much says it all:

鈥淎s we were talking and laughing and exploring Mike鈥檚 online videos (of mixing Diet Coke and Mentos, among other "explosively" popular threads on YouTube in 2006), Mike paused and turned to me with a serious look on his face,鈥澛燽oyd writes. 鈥� 鈥楥an you do me a favor?鈥� he asked, 鈥楥an you talk to my mom? Can you tell her that I鈥檓 not doing anything wrong on the Internet?鈥� I smiled and promised him that I would.鈥�

A window on growing up

But she did more than that 鈥� she collected about six years of observations and interviews, online and in person, with teens from 鈥渁 wide array of socioeconomic and ethnic communities鈥� in 18 states.聽

And she talked with a lot more parents than Mike鈥檚 mom, as well as teachers, librarians, youth ministers, and others who worked with youth. This book is riddled with stories of teens鈥� experiences in social media, based on conversations and observations.

It鈥檚 hard to exaggerate the value those perspectives have for our society 鈥� not just for people working with youth, but also for shaping policy, protective services, and our understanding of how to live well in this very user-driven, networked world, as well as how to help our children prepare to run it.

Key takeaways

Here are some of my top takeaways from "It鈥檚 Complicated," which has just eight chapters, each with a simple heading such as 鈥淚dentity,鈥� 鈥淧rivacy,鈥� 鈥淒anger,鈥� 鈥淟iteracy,鈥� and my own favorite, 鈥淪earching for a public of their own,鈥� which was the focus of boyd鈥檚 groundbreaking 2008聽.

Teens taking ownership: boyd writes, 鈥淔ar from being a distraction, social media is providing a vehicle for teens to take ownership over their lives.鈥� In other words, it has become one of the navigation tools of growing up.

The Internet is a mirror of聽蝉辞肠颈别迟测鈥檚聽everyday life, as much as teens鈥� everyday lives:聽boyd writes,聽鈥淭he internet mirrors, magnifies and makes more visible the good, bad and ugly of everyday life. As teens embrace these tools and incorporate them into their daily practices, they show us how our broader social and cultural systems are affecting their lives鈥�. In making networked publics their own, teens bring with them the values and beliefs that shape their experiences.鈥澛�

So the teen behaviors and activities we see in social media aren鈥檛 just a reflection on聽them. This seems to be a difficult one 鈥� easier to blame problems that turn up in social media on the media or bad policymaking.

Adults鈥� lack of context:聽What youth object to more than adults monitoring is adults taking what they see out of context and passing judgment, blaming, or disciplining without understanding. Teens are sometimes, as boyd describes, 鈥渂lamed for not thinking, while adults assert the right to define the context in which young people interact; they take content out of context to interpret it through the lens of adults鈥� values.鈥澛燭his underlines why talking with our kids about social-media聽issues is so important.

Privacy is more than we think it is:聽And privacy is important to teens and growing up. It鈥檚 certainly something much bigger than what happens in social media, but in social media it鈥檚 both a negotiation and a calculation 鈥� a聽negotiation聽over constantly changing conditions and a聽calculation聽of future impacts from what one posts now. What plays out in social media is partially what boyd describes as a 鈥渟truggle to manage their identity.鈥� Although identity formation is a huge part of adolescence, this struggle to聽manage聽identity in social media is not unique to teens; everybody in social media deals with the self-presentation aspect to some degree.

Privacy and control:聽Privacy has a lot to do with being able to control a social situation, and to聽gain聽control, a person needs three things, boyd writes: 鈥渁 certain degree of agency or power within a social situation (bullying targets have lost that agency),鈥� 鈥渁 reasonable understanding of the social situation and context in which s/he is operating,鈥� and 鈥渢he skills to manage the social situation in order to both understand and affect how information flows and is interpreted.鈥� It鈥檚 easy to understand the title of her book as she outlines these privacy nuances.

Why teens want privacy: 鈥淧rivacy is valuable because it is critical for personal development,鈥� boyd writes. What I鈥檝e learned from this book is that teens need and justifiably seek space free of surveillance (which mostly means free of judgment) to figure things out 鈥� identity, relation to others, their passion, or purpose, etc. 鈥� none of which suggests that they don鈥檛 also seek guidance and adults鈥� attention.聽

Cries for attention: 鈥淎ll too often, teens who engage in risky behaviors do so in reaction to what鈥檚 happening at home or in the hopes that their parents might notice,鈥� says boyd. For examples, see聽聽story about boyd's pioneering work on this subject, and聽聽story for the latest tragic example in the United Kingdom.

Publicity is not the opposite of privacy:聽To a degree, it can be part of managing both privacy and one鈥檚 public image (sometimes called 鈥渙nline reputation,鈥� but that鈥檚 too narrow a term). 鈥淪haring at least a little bit affords 鈥� more privacy than sharing nothing at all,鈥� boyd writes. She continues, 鈥淚n a world in which posting updates is common, purposeful, and performative, sharing often allows teens to control a social situation more than simply opting out.鈥�

Fear is not helpful:聽鈥淚n an effort to address online safety concerns, most adults respond by trying to quarantine youth from adults, limit teens鈥� engagement online or track teens鈥� every move. Rhetoric surrounding online predation is used to drum up fear and justify isolation. But neither restrictions nor adult or institutional surveillance will help those who are seriously struggling. And we need to address the underlying issues that are at the crux of risky behaviors rather than propagate distracting myths.聽Fear is not the solution; empathy聽is." This is an eloquent argument for getting聽聽into every school.

Helping each other's children:聽鈥淭he Internet is not just a place where people engage in unhealthy interactions. It鈥檚 also a place where people share their pain,鈥� writes boyd. She explains, telling readers that when youth 鈥渨ho are struggling cry out for help online 鈥� someone should be there to recognize those signs and react productively.鈥� Increasingly, boyd points out that we need 鈥渁 society in which adults are willing to open their eyes and pay attention to youth other than their own children鈥� (e.g., see聽).

This is a very accessible book 鈥� it鈥檚 just 215 pages long 鈥� made even more so with all the stories Boyd has woven in. I hope you鈥檒l read it. It鈥檒l be good for the kids you know and love. Learning from them, we can parent better, make better policy at school, state, and national levels, and maybe even lighten up a little with them and enjoy the journey together. We might even partner with them to co-create a networked world that we all want to live in.