Social Networking Benefits Validated By Karen Goldberg Goff

Social Networking Benefits Validated

                                                 By Karen Goldberg Goff

 

1)​Texting, blogs, Facebook, gaming and instant messages might seem to some to be just more reasons to stare at a computer screen. Thinking like that is so 2008, any middle schooler will tell you. Now a study that looked at the online habits of 800 teenagers backs them up. 

 

2)​Researchers in the study, titled the Digital Youth Project and conducted primarily at the University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley, found that in our increasingly technological world, the constant communication that social networking provides is encouraging useful skills. The study looked at more than 5,000 hours of online observation and found that the digital world is creating new opportunities for young people to learn social norms, explore interests, develop technical skills and work on new forms of self-expression. 

 

3)​"There are myths about kids spending time online -- that it is dangerous or making them lazy," says Mizuko Ito, lead author of the study. "But we found that spending time online is essential for young people to pick up the social and technical skills they need to be competent citizens in the digital age." 

 

4)​Co-author Lisa Tripp, now an assistant professor at Florida State University, says technology, including YouTube, iPods and podcasting, creates avenues for extending one's circle of friends, improves self-directed learning and creates independence. "Certain technical skills in the coming years are not going to be just about consuming media," she says. "It is also going to be about producing media. It is not just about writing a blog, but also how to leave comments that say something. Learning to communicate like this is contributing to the general circulation of culture." That means anything from a video clip to a profile page is going to reflect the self-expression skills one has, so teens might as well practice defining who they are. 

 

5)​Social networking also contributes greatly to teens' extended friendships and interests, Ms. Tripp says. While the majority of teens use sites such as MySpace and Facebook to "hang out" with people they already know in real life, a smaller number uses them to find like-minded people. Before social networking, the one kid in school who was, say, a fan of Godzilla or progressive politics might find himself isolated. These days, that youngster has peers everywhere. 

 

6)​"This kind of communication has let teens expand their social circle through common interests," Ms. Tripp says. "They can publicize and distribute their work to online audiences and become sort of a micro-expert in that area." The study found that young people's learning with digital media often is more self-directed, with a freedom and independence that is less obvious than in a classroom. The researchers said youths usually respect one another's authority online, and they often are more motivated to learn from one another than from adults. 

 

7)​"I was hesitant for all the reasons we hear about, such as how it could bring in unwelcome visitors," one Fairfax County mother of a middle schooler says, "but eventually I realized that this is the main medium for kids to keep in touch. It has gone from e-mail to IM to texting to Facebook in such a quick progression. Social networking is like the modern-day equivalent of the lunch table. If you are not on Facebook, then you are not in the loop." The mother is pleased to see the connection of her daughter's network through various circles such as school and sports. "I have become accepting that there are more positives than negatives from social networking," the mother says. "It is allowing a lot of dialogue among people who may not otherwise have a chance for a lot of dialogue." 

 

8)​Studies such as the Digital Youth Project and the report "Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies," issued recently by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, show that social networking has earned a place in American culture from which there is no turning back, Ms. Tripp says. "A few years ago, parents were saying, 'I don't want any of that stuff coming into my house,' even about video games," she says. "Then they realized, 'I have no choice—it is all around me.' Now studies are saying technology is going to encourage skills for jobs we didn't know existed. At the very least, social networking is encouraging technology skills, and that is going to be essential to the digital economy."