danah boyd has been taking parental questions about teens' use of the net on Twitter.
Here some interesting answers:
@AlterSeekers: According to Facebook Era, Teens see email as a
"work" tool and prefer to Facebook message. Is this true among these
teens?
I was surprised to find that email is deader than ever among teens.
As more of their parents and teachers are getting on Facebook (or
MySpace), they see little reason to email with anyone. Thus, email is
increasingly needed for having an account on various sites and for
getting access to or sending attachments. But even when teens do use
email for "work", they do not use it for social purposes.
@mirroredpool: What borders to teens place of social networking
sites and education? How would they react to using an SNS to do class
work?
@annejonas: i'm curious if they want schools involved in social
networks or if they like it as a social space outside the realm of
formal edu.
This is messy. Many teens have ZERO interest in interacting with
teachers on social network sites, but there are also quite a few who
are interested in interacting with SOME teachers there. Still, this is
primarily a social space and their interactions with teachers are
primarily to get more general advice and help. In some ways, its
biggest asset in the classroom is the way in which its not a classroom
tool and not loaded this way. Given that teens don't Friend all of
their classmates, there are major issues in terms of using this for
groupwork because of boundary issues.
@shcdean: What future do they see for FB or Twitter.
They don't use Twitter. When asked, teens always say that they'll
use their preferred social network site (or social media service)
FOREVER as a sign of their passion for it now. If they expect that
they'll "grow out of it", it's a sign that the service is waning among
that group at this very moment. So they're not a good predictor of
their own future usage.
@andrewmiller: how does having a smartphone change their
interactions w/each other on SNS? more photos/videos? faster rumors?
have/have-not gap?
A gap is definitely occurring. A smart phone means more more more
more more - more SMS, more web consumption, more status updates, more
photos, etc. Certain smart phones are desperately desired items. That
said, teens are also doing quite well with the iPod Touch + wifi as an
alternative. Smart phones are helping them stay more engaged and
connected.
@harraton: Do they care about their privacy?
VERY much so. But what constitutes privacy for them is often quite
different than what constitutes privacy for adults. Privacy is not dead.
What's about Twitter? average teens don't use Twitter. They may in the future, but they do
not now. Those who do are early adopters and not representative of any
mainstream teen practice. Because of Oprah and celebs, some teens are
starting to hear about it, but they don't understand it and they aren't
using it.
