It's Complicated: the social lives of networked teens

by Danah Boyd
Hennepin County Library hardcover 215 pages plus notes and index
genre: non-fiction, research on teens and social media

This was harder for me to get through than I anticipated. There's a lot to digest in this book; it would be a great discussion for educators! I need to get it back to the library, so these are the places I noted:

page 12 (introduction) - "In networked publics, interactions are often public by default, private through effort." This is so true! It almost makes me paranoid to think that things I write on Facebook or shop for on Amazon are pretty much available to the entire world. Since FB continues to change settings, I have no idea who can see what I post. I don't post anything that I'm ashamed of, but it's hard to be completely cognizant of what is "out there" about me online. A person really does have to work at keeping things private if that's the goal. (Or be like Louie and don't have much of an online presence at all.)

page 19 (introduction) - "Coming of age is rife with self-determination, risk-taking, and tough decision-making." Yes! And this is no different now than in the 1910s, the 1810s, etc. Some of what teens grapple with is age-old. Technologies just change the specifics.

page 22 (introduction) - "Eszter Hargirtai has quipped, many teens are more likely to be digital naives than digital natives." Love this! Boyd points out that the popular term "digital natives" implies that current youth naturally have some inherent tech skill. "The teens I met knew how to get to Google but had little understanding about how to construct a query to get quality information from the popular search engine. They knew how to use Facebook, but their understanding of the site's privacy setting did not mesh with the ways in which they configured their accounts."

page 28 (introduction - last page!) - "This book is not a love letter to youth culture, although my research has convinced me that young people are more resilient that I initially believed."

page 30 - She talks about audience and how teens and adults tend to view online info differently. The schism between what teens share about themselves and adult perceptions about what that communicates creates conflict and misunderstanding. Interesting stuff.

page 51 - In the same chapter on identity, Boyd says, "They (adults) take content out of context to interpret it through the lens of adults' values and feel as though they have the right to shame youth because that content was available in the first place. In doing so, they ignore teens' privacy while undermining their struggles to manage their identity." I can't completely agree with her here, although I understand the point she's making. If teens (or ANYONE) choose(s) to post photographs or comments online, they are no longer private! You cannot say that something posted online ought not be used or misused by others who have access to it. The decision-making about what to post is something kids need to learn.

page 72 - In the chapter on privacy, Boyd quotes a mom who basically says that she has the right as a parent to see whatever her child does on the computer. Boyd calls this "intensive parenting" and describes these parents in what I think seems a very negative way. Again, I have to disagree. Parents can definitely go too far on this spectrum, but parents have to be aware of what their children are doing. I think of kids who've gone on shooting rampages . . . and then their computers are filled with hate speech. Hello? Parents?

page 78-9 - In the chapter on addiction, Boyd does a nice job of delineating true addictions (gambling, alcohol, technology) and differentiating them from teens who spend a lot of time online so that they can socialize with their friends (my generation's time at the mall). "The language of addiction sensationalizes teens' engagement with technology and suggests that mere participation leads to pathology."

page 80 - "Teens turn to, and are obsessed with, whichever environment allows them to connect to friends. Most teens aren't addicted to social media; if anything, they're addicted to each other."

page 83 - "Many adults believe that they have a sense of what's 'good' for teens - school, homework, focus, attention, and early bedtime - and many teens are acutely aware of how much society values such adult-oriented pursuits. But many adults are unaware of how social their everyday experiences are and how desperate teens are to have access to a social world like that which adults take for granted." (Makes me wonder if the author has children . . . parenting is different when you're doing it than when you're theorizing about it.)

page 92-3 - She mentions The Shallows by Carr (which I've read and reviewed), Everything Bad Is Good for You by Johnson, and Now You See It by Davidson . . . I wish I had more time!

page 102 - "Online safety is also a particularly complicated issue, in part because a culture of fear is omnipresent in American society. . . " The "culture of fear" really resonated with me. Her examples are quite good and it makes me want to read more about this idea.

page 120 - again she writes about the culture of fear, the role of the media, and more in her chapter on danger. Very interesting that the media hypes a danger, but when the truth is found (and is less scintillating), they are not conscientious about sharing the actual situation. The fear and panic are incited, but the calm resolution is missing.

page 123 - In talking about Amanda Todd's case, Boyd says, "The internet is not just a place where people engage in unhealthy interactions. It's also a place where people share their pain. Although not all youth who are struggling cry out for help online, many do. And when they do, someone should be there to recognize those signs and react constructively. Increasingly, there are tremendous opportunities to leverage online traces to intervene meaningfully in teens' lives. But it requires creating a society in which adults are willing to open their eyes and pay attention to youth other than their own children." To me, this is contrary to her earlier point about giving teens privacy and adults staying out of teens' online business as they learn to navigate social networks!

page 125 - "Although most teens are doing okay, those who aren't really aren't." She talks about how kids who are struggling online are often the ones who are struggling in all or many facets of life.

page 136 - on bullying, "The language of bullying often presumes that there's a perpetrator and a victim. By focusing on blaming the perpetrator and protecting the victim, well-intentioned adults often fail to recognize the complexity of most conflicts."

page 141 - self-harm / self-bullying online . . . what a bizarre concept. Why on earth would a kid bullying him/her self online? To create drama, sympathy, . . . ? I just don't get it.

page 172 - "Yet just because people have access to the internet does not mean that they have equal access to information." Inequalities still exist! The teen who has a laptop, smart phone, etc. has an advantage over a teen who uses the internet at the public library.

page 177 - Literacy chapter! "Whether in school or in informal settings, youth need opportunities to develop the skills and knowledge to engage with contemporary technology effectively and meaningfully. Becoming literate in a networked age requires hard work, regardless of age."

page 181 - "Even though media literacy programs have been discussed and haphazardly implemented for decades, most people have little training in being critical of the content that they consume."

page 188 - "Wikipedia can be a phenomenal educational tool, but few educators I met knew how to use it constructively." She had great info on using Wikipedia's revision history and discussion pages educationally. I love this! She goes on to say on page 191 "Wikipedia provides an ideal context for engaging youth to interrogate their sources and understand how information is produced."

After the just-over 200 page book, she has six pages on the profiles of the teens she spoke with across the country, 23 pages of notes, 22 pages of bibliographic info, five pages of acknowledgements, and an eight-page index. Whew! Good stuff, but weighty.