It's Complicated, The Social Lives of Network Teens

Reading It's Complicated, The Social Lives of Network Teens, by Danah Boyd. (Yale UP, 2014) Was thinking about writing a review, then decided that periodic reading notes while working my way through the book might be as effective. I like reading notes because they allow me to return to what was going through my brain as I was reading. All too often, thinking about a text after reading it revises previous thought processes.

In the introduction, Boyd argues that "most teens now go online to connect to the people in their community," that these online communities provide "a space to hang out and connect with friends." She goes on to write that, "Teen's mediated interactions sometimes complement or supplement their face-to-face encounters" (4-5). Thus, the internet has replaced the Mall, which, with the advent of another technology, the car, replaced the neighborhood, as the local for teen interaction. Thus, public spaces have become what Boyd refers to as "networked publics" (5).

I'm willing to buy this argument, which counters the dominant narrative that social networks are replacing real, that is face-to-face, relationships. But, I'm going to need more. Read on, right?

At question for me isn't whether her basic thesis is right, that social networks simply "mirror, magnify, and make more visible the good, bad, and ugly of everyday life" (24), but whether she offers insights that those of us who teach, whether our teaching is face-to-face, hybrid, or online, can use to engage the students we teach.