Blog Post 3

As soon as we were told that we were free to write about anything in this week's blog post I knew that I had to share this article. It's an article from the New York Times titled 'The Secret Social Media Lives of Teenagers' and it immediately made me think of some of the topics that we've been discussing in this course. First and foremost it made me think of the article that we read from the Washington Post about Katherine Pommerening discussing her life as a 13 year old growing up in the age of social media. In both these articles we can see the instantaneous satisfaction that users get from social media, in particular young people. Both articles also discuss the hidden worlds that are hidden on cell phones and computers and how they hide some of their owners darkest secrets. In her article in The New York Times, Ana Homayoun suggests that, "Adults need to shift the conversation around teen's social media use away from a fear of getting caught and more toward healthy socialization, effective self-regulation and overall safety." I agree with Homayoun that parents should be maintaining open lines of communication regarding their children's use of social media and approach it with the intent to understand what its like to be a child/teenager growing up in this era of oversharing, likes, followers, and comments. 

Reading this article in the New York Times also made me think of the Social Shaping of Technology theory that we read about earlier in the course. SST is similar to technological determinism in that it explores the effects of technology on our lives but differs from technological determinism in that it upholds that the permeation of technology into our lives did not happen by itself, it required human intervention and a series of choices. We can use the SST theory to conceptualize the vital role that social media plays for children/teenagers because the inherent value in social media is rooted in its users (i.e. the more users there are, the more value is created). In this way, the medium is both shaped by its users, their culture, their beliefs, and their values, and yet the technology is still in control. 

Here is the link to the New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/well/family/the-secret-social-media-lives-of-teenagers.html

Comments

  1. Madison KaiserOctober 16, 2018 at 8:01 PM

    I really enjoyed reading your post. Your comparison of Katherine and Ana made me think about my younger sister and her use of social media. She's only 15 and I can already see the effects that certain aspects of social media such as likes and followers has had on her. I agree with you and the author of the article regarding open lines of communication between teenagers and their parents because social media does have such a profound influence on all its users, especially children and teenagers. Your connection between the article from class and from the New York Times really help back up your point about the hidden consequences of social media.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 17, 2018 at 10:30 AM

    Hi Claire,
    Really interesting post. I never thought to get an article but this is a really great relation to what is occurring in the course. Also related to the movie that we watched the past 2 classes "Eighth Grade". Personally I can't even imagine growing up with a cellphone before high school and living my life based off of how many likes I got on social media and how many followers I had on my instagram accounts. I think that it is very sad if teens and younger children are learning to live their lives behind a screen instead of getting out and playing with their friends. This really related well to the Social Shaping of Technology theory that we learned about in class, as social media and social platforms are shaping young children's day-to-day lives.

    In your opinion, do you think that generations to come with be completely corrupt by social media? Do you seen your potential children becoming social media and cellphone obsessed?

    - Caitlyn Gordon

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