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Youth are regularly using the internet and social media to stay connected with family and friends, to pursue interests and hobbies, and some also use these methods to consume news.
Quotes: “young people are a very digitally connected generation” (p. 8) and “youth are very involved in friendship-driven and interest-driven activities online” (p. 8).

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Participatory politics, which Cohen and Kahne (2012) define as “interactive, peer-based acts through which individuals and groups seek to exert both voice and influence on issues of public concern” (p. vi), are an important part of politics. More than 40% of youth ages 15 to 25 engage in some participatory politics.
Quote: “The domain of participatory politics is a substantial component of young people’s current political lives” (p. 13).

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Interest-based activities often form a basis or foundation for youth to engage in participatory politics. ·       Social media makes it easier to connect with family, friends, and a larger base of people and to customize (or create) political content.
Quote: “Interest-driven participation is strongly associated with higher levels of participatory politics, especially online participatory politics, even after controlling for other factors” (p. 16).

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Participatory politics happens across different racial and ethnic backgrounds; it is not tied to one demographic and may lead to more equitable political engagement and space for marginalized voices.
Quote: “Differences in access to digital technology between racial and ethnic groups of young people is limited with nearly all young people in our study having some means of accessing the internet” (p. 20).

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Not so much a disagreement, but I’m curious as to where youth engagement in participatory politics stands now. According to a Pew Survey from 2018, 95% of teens have access to a smartphone as compared to 55% from this study from 2012. How has that changed the participatory political landscape?
Also, I haven’t seen a petition from Change.org or similar sites in years; are these still being used?
I only use Facebook, and according to the Pew Survey from 2018, only half of youth use Facebook and they are mostly using YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. Are these sites still enabling youth to engage in participatory politics?

I also am skeptical that youth are not in “echo chambers” where they read/hear only similar perspectives to their own. I am only friends on Facebook with those who share roughly similar views to my own.

Also I was surprised that 84% of youth want to learn which sources of news are more trustworthy. It often feels like people don’t care about that and just re-post without any critical examination.

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·     “When young people want to get together and hang out… they typically go online first, since that is where they are most likely to be able to connect” (Ito, 2008, p  39)

·     Technology was used by these youth as a way to arrange hangouts and get together both physically and online. Youth use media and technology to socialize with each other.

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·     “…messing around as a genre of participation represents the beginning of a more intense engagement with new media.” (Ito, 2008, p 54).

·     Messing around is less about the social aspect of technology and presents a use of media that is characterized by exploration into identity formation and interests. Youth can use media to expand knowledge, become experts and explore topics previously unknown.

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·     “[Geeking out]… primarily refers to an intense commitment or engagement with media or  technology, often one particular media property, genre, or a type of technology.”

·     Geeking out takes “messing around” further by connecting mini-experts in various fields with each other and allowing them to share interests, socialize and learn more. Geeking out doesn’t refer to “geeks” but people who have a vested interest in a certain topic.

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·     “Taken together, these different genres of participation provide a flexible vocabulary for describing the different ways in which kids engage with new media and how their engagement relates to social participation and identity” (Ito, 2008, p 76)

Media is a form of identity formation that allowed youth to explore new topics and become their own experts. It provided a gateway to building viewpoints and identity and meet new people who could share and debate these views.

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I did not disagree with any of the arguments made. I felt like more could have been said about the “dark” parts of the internet and youth usage of that in this overview.  I’m interested in if there is a term for “geeking out” that does not imply healthy exploration but more of the obsessive qualities.

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Main idea: teens “gather at sites” because of limitations, and those sites have changed over time

Explanation: For example, in the 1980s teens gathered at malls, but recently they have been “gathering” online

Quote: “Just as teens flocked to the malls because of societal restrictions, many of today’s teens are choosing to gather with friends online because of a variety of social and cultural limitations (boyd 2007). While the site teens go to gather at has changed over time, many of the core practices have stayed the same.” -pg. 80

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Main idea: making friendships is a key component of growing up

Explanation: they create “personal communities” that help them define themselves through things such as popularity, oversight, heterosexuality.

Quote: “We share a cultural consensus that the ability to socialize with peers and make friendships is a key component of growing up as a competent social being, and that young people need to be immersed in peer vultures from an early age.” - pg. 83

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Main idea: friending features online allow teens to make friends from all around the globe, but teens still make their own decisions about who to accept and who to not accept.

Explanation: Some only accept friend requests from people they know, some accept as many as they can, some accept only specific types of strangers (such as only Haitians)

Quote: “‘Friends’ in the context of social media are not necessarily the same as ‘friends’ in the everyday sense (boyd 2006). Social network sites use the term ‘Friends’ to label all articulated relationships, regardless of intensity or connection type (e.g. family or colleagues)” - pg. 94

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Main idea: social media can fuel drama, and give attention to those who might not get attention offline

Explanation: social media spreads rumors fast, is another stage for rumors to take place, and complicates relationships when they are already heated in real life

Quote: “Teens seeking to spread rumors or engage in drama often use social media… Regardless of the intensity, our research shows that the acts of drama involving social media are primarily a continuation of broader dramas” - pg. 105

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“If you’re not on MySpace, you don’t exist.” - pg. 79

Dated/doesn’t reflect current times

“‘I don’t know anyone that has any Internet friends’” - pg. 91

lots of people today have a lot of internet friends

In general, the paper is dated - mostly references MySpace, so while you can still apply the main ideas to today, the specific examples are not up to date.

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Black and Latinx youth have become skilled at social hacking “teens work around social and economic barriers to pursue their creative investments in digital media.”

Internet activities continue to be influenced by race, ethnicity, parental education and quality of schools

Black and Latinx youth spend more time using social and mobile media than white-counterparts

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A recent study of digital media practices for teens indicated “two primary genres for participation: friendship-driven and interest-driven”

Students receive all their information about the news and civic spheres from the internet

“Digital literacy is not simply about “technical competency” but also about developing important social and critical thinking competencies.”

Schools struggle with teaching students higher order digital skills such as evaluation, critique, design and creation.

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Black & Latinx parents place substantial value on providing Internet access to their children.

Living in homes that are stretched on financial and technological resources some students created “shared-economy” involving trading, co-owning, and partnering with peers on mobile phones, iPods, etc.

Gaming platforms can help students develop social, tactical and communication skills.

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Mobile internet has helped close the gap between technology rich and technology poor.

“Teens, generally speaking, are more likely than any other demographic group to use multiple social media sites.”

Participating in pop culture (games, videos & music) is a key driver in teen social media practices.

Social media has transformed Black & Latinx relationships with computer-based technologies.

Use social media to experiment with their social identities and new modes of creative expression.

Allow immigrant and transient students to maintain relationships & communications with family and peers.

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Yes; “one fact is undeniable: social media transformed Black and Latinx teens’ relationship with computer-based technologies and the Internet and arguably for the better.”

I would argue that hindsight is 20/20 with the passing of years. Social media is an unregulated environment where montitizing a platforms and/or selling personal data has become the first priority. In a fair society (or realm), the rule of law is there to protect fundamental human rights from propaganda and exploitation. As alluded to earlier in the article, schools struggle with teaching higher order critical thinking skills needed to navigate a digital environment filled with so many hazards. Until social media platforms are regulated, I think the verdict is still out on if the Internet and it’s tools are making any real world relationships better.