Meeka Speaks Book Review: Its Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens by Danah Boyd
This is a book review is based upon a literature written by scholar and author Danah Boyd. In the introduction of this course when approached with choosing a book to read, I had no recollection of what I thought this book called Its Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens could have been about other than teenagers and social media accounts. Young people are intertwined into their phones and relationships. However, Danah really researched countless teenagers to understand their personal thought process with engaging in a networked society. A networked society in this book is explained as an over usage of networks such as Myspace, Facebook, and Instagram. For parents, teachers, and authority figures social media can be complicated yet, scary at the same time for the users (teens) and other parties. This scholar explained every chapter elegantly, passionately, and personally from the view point of the teenager in the examples.
The theory of Computer Meditated Communication (CMC) was identified and the “why” or purpose was challenged in this book because scholar, Boyd wanted to show teenagers are driven by relationship and it is not seldomly based upon lack of agreement with their guardians or about their social media accounts. Social media is a part of the package deal and oftentimes the only option left for these teens. Her book was challenged the notion of what teenagers are often accused of, which is being super engaged in their phone however, Danah did not see it in this manner. In the beginning of the book, she referenced the Nashville Homecoming high school game. Boyd explained the only time teenagers were engaged in their devices was for coordination/ meeting purposes. In the 1980, teenagers’ lifestyles were transformed into structured environments due to political status, curfew laws, and educational structures.
Today, teenagers have turned to social media to be in tuned with any missing pieces they may have missed with all the new practices and alone time with their friends with no adults. For example, on page 20, “Heather stated, social media is not a tool, it is a lifeline that enables her to stay in contact with the people she cares about but cannot otherwise interact with in person”.
When I choose this book, I was trying to understand the social anxieties and worries of teenage girls. I am collecting and researching any data based on teenagers to help understand their thought process. I am in the process of creating social safe groups in high school for teens who are expecting mothers. I wanted to start in Charlotte Mecklenburg High Schools (CMS) because it is my own personal story. From author Boyd, I began to study: “do teenagers allow their elders into their privacy anymore?” In this book the theme of privacy was outlined in chapter two, why do youth share so publicly starting on page 57 of the book. Overtime between 2006-2010, the parents became very overprotective of the information their children were posting online to the word plus with the incline of child adductions, sexual predators, and cyberbullying I completely understand the extra precautions measures. Although, as a parent, this may be considered to be normal practice, however most teens started to grasp the practices of the “decoding” method. This decoding method Boyd identified as social steganography. As these teenagers’ parents were gaining consistency around social media networks. Teenagers learned to hide their conversations and messages in plain sight, and “leverage shared knowledge and cues embedded in particular social contexts” (p.65). One of my examples of this tactic, I would use in a small group is an example of what not to do online, I did often use lyrics to explain my feelings and my friends would catch on Twitter, I remembered I used a J. Cole lyric to explain how frustrated I was with my boyfriend at the time.
Some of the theories pointed on was Goffman’s Impression management theory, I believe teenagers try to keep up with appearances. The trends, reposts and likes of these posts, they lose themselves and begin to have to keep an appearance of someone else. Boyd did not highlight the teens weaknesses in depth in the book. I would have loved to know the problems the teens have experienced or would have like to change. We can learn from the younger generations in the book, we learned a lot about the reason for social media.
Sometimes a network teen can have personal issues which was not identify in the text. Most information identified by the reader can make assumptions based upon the text. The context and backgrounds of the teenagers were not outlined in the book which would helpful to the authority figures reading this book to help navigate media with their teen however, not knowing the context of the teenagers could defeat the whole purpose of their next strategic move as a parent/ guardian. This will allow the guardian to pursue emergent themes in subsequent data collection. Saturation sampling was used, in which observations and interviews stopped when no new, dominant issues were emerging in the dataset. Walther (2011) explains the theory also known as media / information richness theory, originally modeled for the different communication media (p. 448). The media richness theory states that media has the ability to relate to others in various capacities.
References:
Boyd, D. (2014). It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0300166316
Podcast and Script
Today in the podcast we will some important topics. As we dig in deeply about CMC. Walther (2011) describes computer meditated communication (CMC) is about the processes of the development and sustainability of relationships. self-presentation in the computer mediated communication, as influencers utilize the selective release of information and mediated impression management to build their larger audiences. In exploring the strategies popularized by these influencers can point practitioners towards up and coming trends set by these trailblazers.
Book Review:
It’s Complicated: the social lives of networked teens by Danah Boyd.
Walther (2011) explains the theory also known as media / information richness theory, originally modeled for the different communication media (p. 448). The media richness theory states that media has the ability to relate to others in various capacities.
Durham (2008) discussion determines the rules are predicated on emotions that people have for revealing or concealing (p. 312). On concealing information from other, thereby retaining a personal privacy boundary, works to protect an individual’s privacy (Wright & Webb, 2011, p. 23). avatars, they are not themselves but express important truths about themselves” (p. 230). Online profiles gives more people the ability to express themselves better. Some people actually concern themselves as social awkward. Once given the opportunity to remove the stares it’s more comfortable for others. Sometimes, people do not want a friend give honest details. They want a yes man or woman.
Meeka Speaks 