How youth are using the web
If you try to watch over the shoulder of most teenagers while they work online, chances are they'll tell you to push off.
But young people today are using the web for many reasons, not just for wasting time.
Researchers have been looking into their social and educational online habits and the results should be known to every parent.
A three-year joint study from the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley sheds some light on the ways youths and teens socialise and seek out information online.
Here are a few summarised findings from the study, to perhaps help us understand the new and sometimes complex way young people are interacting with (and benefiting from) the Internet.
Social networks, content sharing sites and gadgets such as iPods are now fixtures of youth culture.
The digital world provides avenues for young people to explore interests, sharpen technical skills and express themselves, while also providing independence from a conventional classroom or association structure.
Online media is commonly used to extend friendships gained in offline life. Youth are often "always on", in constant contact with friends through SMS, social media and/or instant messaging.
Through these media, youth are almost always associating with people they already knew in their offline lives.
"Hanging out" with a friends online can enhance and strengthen social ties in much the same way that an offline meet-up would, so it is just as important to them.
Some youth turn to the internet to find material not available through school or their community, to pursue interests and specialised knowledge in a self-directed way.
They often look to sharpen their skills, then express themselves and publicise the results, in online (and sometimes niche) forums.
Youth are often responsible for creating and navigating entirely new forms of social behaviour. They are more open to social exploration and experimentation online than while in school.
When a youth "geeks out", or takes a very strong interest in a specialised topic, they will often seek out information through forums and niche communities.
Contrary to what many think, "geeky" forums and communities are highly social and engaged. These communities run on a social structure and hierarchy much removed from a traditional classroom or association.
A common goal for youths looking for specialised knowledge is to gain expertise in order to be respected in these communities, and while adults may also be present, their age does not necessarily make experts, and garner them any more respect.
Youth generally respect one another's authority online and are often much more motivated to learn peer-to-peer than from a classroom setting.
Contrary to many adults' perceptions, even when "hanging out" online, youth are picking up valuable social and technical skills for later in life, and erecting barriers to these practices can deprive them of valuable learning.
Adults have an important part to play in self-directed learning online. Adults in fields of interest can often function as role models or "experienced peers" for youth seeking knowledge.
Educational institutions should prioritise keeping their curriculums flexible, and up-to-date with technology.
The study even suggests enlisting the help of "experienced peers" or others within niche (or more broad) online communities to help deliver a wide curriculum.
What do you think? How are the ways youth are using the 'Net changing? Is it for the better? If you have kids, what is your stance with screen-time per day? How much freedom should youth have online?
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Its not just youth that are changing. Everyone is changing as a there's more relaiable and useful resources and information than there ever has been.
One issue with the whole youth culture though. It runs counter to most business culture. My employer permits internet access but blocks facebook, twitter, youtube and pretty much everything else of that nature (even TradeMe).Its causing problems as we take on young people who suddenly find themselves bereft of their support and information networks, and can't cope. Calls to change this have so far fallen on deaf ears.
I strongly believe that we, as educators, must familiarize ourselves with what our youth are doing on line and the reasons. Perhaps then, we'll be able to convince those above that blocking is not the answer; teaching the proper use and developing an etiquette is.
okay i know this is way off topic but ! KEEP BEBO ALIVE DONT SHUT IT DOWN !!! haha i'm a youth and we love bebo to be honest instead of doing our work we like to jump on bebo and chat to all our friends. SO WHY !! keep BEBO ALIVE !!
Angie, do you really have nothing better to do at 2am than look at Stuff?
Kids should have complete freedom when it comes to computers. Just learning skills such as browsing the web puts them ahead of a lot of adults. I wish the parents out there would show the same interest, that way we could eliminate the question "Why is my computer not doing what I told it to?".
Love it when old people rant on about not having the internet back in there day...who cares its our turn...(crank the ipod up)!
The only thing I'm really concerned about is if the youth don't realise that what they do online can have repercussions in the real world (though, that applies to adults too). Your typical story of the teen who disses their employer and is fired, or an innocent meet-up turning into a nightmare. But I've had a fairly online youth, and I think for the better. I made friends in the States and while I was on vacation ended up meetin' 'em a couple of years ago.... glad that didn't turn out to be a scam!
It's all down to the person at the end of the day. Stupid people can (and frequently will) do stupid things, online or offline. Sure, stupid things can still happen to smart people... but that doesn't mean that ONLY stupid things happen. Let 'em loose.
Yeah, it's a weird one when young kids start sexting themselves though as a result of porn being so more freely available and girls having to try that much harder to get attention. I know of a 14 year old girl, now just turned 15 who was proudly sending photos of her privates to boys all over the place, even strangers she barely knew but had added as friends on facebook, she just started sending messages with photos on facebook and the police became involved. They told her parents who made her shut down her facebook. But within 3 days she was back on. She just went to internet cafes, and her parents have no idea, prob the police haven't followed up yet either. They think she's learned but she's back out there doing it. So what's her future looking like? She may think she's got nothing to hide now, but she may not always think that... you didn't mention this kind of activity that DOES go on.
I'm a male in my mid 50's I began using mainframe computers in the late 1970's. I have been using personal computers since 1990 and have been online since 1997. I'm not a computer nerd, I live a normal life. I operate my own business and 50% of my work involves some form of computer/online activity. I have used the internet now for almost 15 years to research, involve myself in professional forums, communicate with family and friends in different locations, even work on project teams in the past using IRC, heck I once thought ICQ was fantastic, in fact that is how I met my partner and wife of the past ten years. It's not a youth thing. Its not something that belongs to Gen Y or Gen X, geez neither of them have actually acheived anything yet! They're still pissing in the wind. It's an emerging technology thing which is being taken up and used productively by those that want to use the technology, from kids to Grannies.
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This could have been written in my youth based on my experiences on the internet, it's just the ways of communicating have come a long way from IRC, ICQ, Livejournal and *shudder* MSN messenger and AIM. In fact, the guts of the article are why I enjoyed the internet so much. I could find information I couldn't find in my community, I could find people that wanted to share that information, I made friends on-line and it also strengthened some of my off-line relationships. So it doesn't seem to me like too much has changed ...