Danah Boyd: It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens

Excerpt

Danah Boyd is a researcher at Microsoft Research and a Research Assistant Professor at New York University, as well as a Fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She has spent years conducting research, examining today’s adolescents’ use of social media and the implications it has on society. She has examined countless past research and conducted hundreds of interviews with teenagers, as well as adults across the country. Boyd has compiled the findings of her research in an easy-to-read book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. In her book, Boyd argues that today’s adolescents do not differ much from those of past generations, but they have very different avenues for expressing these values and needs. Boyd addresses the main fears and anxieties adults have in regards to teens and social media, and proceeds to thoroughly address each fear to reveal how adults’ responses to these fears ultimately hinder adolescents’ ability to learn and grow through the use of social media. Teens are looking for more privacy, more trust, and a place to spend time with their peers, free from adult supervision. Teens are also looking for ways to let their voices be heard. Boyd argues social media provides youth with a way to accomplish these goals, and while they need guidance, restraining adolescents denies them the opportunities to learn and grow on their own. …