[Air-l] teens and myspace

[Radhika Gajjala]

Nancy -

its so coincidental that you should say this!

I had a couple experiences last week in my computer-mediated cultures class 
where I had to be re-taught this lesson by a group of undergrads as they 
quickly proceeded to play with an assignment I had given and turn it round 
to get me linked to their facebook presences (and to think all this while I 
was uncomfortable at the thought of getting onto facebook because I am 
faculty and did not want my students to think I was spying on them or 
something).


Also I realised yet again (this realization comes upon me at least once a 
semester) - that just like in other kinds of geo-social spaces - you stay 
away too long and you get out of touch - so if I havent bothered to find 
the latest social hangouts (because of generational inhibitions) and not 
learned the tech skills needed to be there - I loose touch with the culture 
and practices that happen "there".

what you suggest is also  what I see on livejournal and xanga and of course 
with my son's generation - and this is not just so in "Western" or "US" 
centric environments - because I know very young children who live online 
in bollywood, tollywood and various computer game spaces - as young as 7 
years old in India (in fact they are more connected to those of us related 
to them and living outside than some of my siblings here in the US;-)). I 
also see - viewing the user end - that in what might be considered a 
comparatively economic more disadvantage locale locally here in Wood County 
Ohio, there are groups of kids who spend their social life at the 
intersection and online and offline.

In fact in a dissertation defense where my advisee was discussing online 
cultures, we had this similar discussion (and all present were in some way 
researchers of online phenomena).

Is the notion of online social activity as "not real" a generational 
issue  - are we now the generation that doesnt adequately understand that 
generation?

and how might we re-define notions of digital divide considering all this?


:)

r


At 09:10 AM 2/28/2006 -0600, you wrote:
>I have a question for those of you working with youth culture,
>particularly but not just around MySpace.
>
>I have been interested recently by what I perceive as a gap between
>the ways in which most of us *use* the internet socially (ie, often
>without big issues about it) and the way we *think* about using the
>internet socially (ie, a poor substitute for more meaningful
>face-to-face interaction). Recently a number of adults have said to
>me that this gap between action and perception, which they
>acknowledge in themselves, is completely gone with teens, what with
>myspace and all.
>
>My question is whether youth really perceive their online
>communication to be completely non-problematic compared to
>face-to-face communication, or if even amongst teens there is a sense
>that it might be a little pathetic or embarrassing to use the
>internet socially (even amongst those who do). Is the stigma around
>online socializing really completely gone for youth? Of course,
>adults always perceive kids as way better and more comfortable with
>the net than they are, which makes me wonder if this sense that kids
>have no sense of stigma is adult perception vs youth reality.
>
>Thanks for your thoughts,
>Nancy
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Radhika Gajjala
http://personal.bgsu.edu/~radhik

Associate Professor
Dept of IPC/School of Comm Studies
315 West Hall
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403

419-372-0528
fax - 419-372-0202