It's Complicated , the social lives of networked teens - Danah Boyd

I get pretty much all my facts from Fiction. No wonder my quiz team has yet to win, it's a good thing we have one person who knows a lot about sport or we would fare far worse, but this is my comfort zone for the acquisition of knowledge. When I don't understand something in a book I then try the often maligned Wikipaedia. Books on social studies are sort of like guys I have a brief fling with but wouldn't take home; I  flip though them briefly in the library to get the plot and stick to taking out Proper Reading ie Fiction and Poetry. Danah Boyd's book is an exception, when on a long train journey yesterday I even found myself jotting down notes.

What often impressed me was her apt turn of phrase. 'There is a difference between being 'in public' and 'being public'; a good explanation how young people like to joke around with their pals and post images of their little friendship groups on their nights out but they do not want Mum peeking over their shoulder. She makes the point that celebrities strut their stuff in public and their managers are happy to feed the media vast quantities of airheaded babble about whose wearing what and flirting with who. Our youngsters sometimes create the home-grown equivalent of Hello Magazine. Apparently  in America where Danah conducted her study many teenagers also do not get out very much. Public transport is less available, parents can be over-anxious concerning stranger danger, sometimes Facebook and MySpace are their 'night out'. Many observations are true of all ages; 'privacy is what you choose not to share' yes, my POV too and very well expressed.

Danahs' overall perspective is that social media does not change teenagers or effect social change it simply makes some things more visible. Teens of all ages like hanging out with their pals. Sometimes they are mean and cruel to another and practice sexually risky behaviour, more often than not they simply are loud, giggly and a tad 'overdressed.'  Me2 ROFLMAO  WTF.