Livingstone, S. (2008)
Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers’ use
of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10(3), 39
Teenagers crafting identities for themselves is not a new concept; however, the rapid development of social media networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and others provides a new platform for self-exploration and identity building. Social media spaces provide teens with a “place” where supervision is minimal and freedom for interactions is, if not unlimited, then much less so.
Livingstone (2008) used qualitative methods, interviewing 16 teens with access to the Internet in their homes, who had an account on MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, or Piczo. The teens ranged in age from 13-16 and were asked questions pertaining to the choices made regarding their own profiles, social reading of the profiles of others, and the social and personal meanings of online contacts.
It is hard to remember when MySpace was a viable social media tool, as it has been out of the public eye for some years now, but in 2008 at the time of this article’s publication MySpace was favored by the younger teens for its easy customization. One older teen who was interviewed asserted that it made sense to her that the younger girls would prefer MySpace to Facebook because MySpace could be made purple, sparkly, or any other kind of personalization, whereas Facebook’s plainer design appealed more to her because she mainly used it to communicate with a few friends. This distinction in user habits could coincide with differing needs based on age and preference. Livingstone states that “social networking sites frame, but do not determine (p. 9). This statement casts the teenager as the focal point with social networking around the periphery.
Privacy and intimacy are presented as two sides of the same coin, with Livingstone using Stein and Sinha’s (2002) definition of privacy as an individual’s right to “enjoy autonomy, be left alone, and to determine whether and how information about one’s self is revealed to others (p.10). This definition leaves room for controlled sharing. The teens interviewed want to put information out there – they just want to have control over how much and what information. If the younger generations ideas of what constitutes appropriate levels of sharing themselves, that does not necessarily constitute higher levels of narcissicm, merely differences in what is considered appropriate disclosure. That said, teens are still minors and must be monitored for their own safety to some degree. The possibility for naïve choices is there due to youth and inexperience. The way social media provides a strangely binary “friend/not friend” method to contact organization could lead to unintentional disclosures.
Teenagers crafting identities for themselves is not a new concept; however, the rapid development of social media networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and others provides a new platform for self-exploration and identity building. Social media spaces provide teens with a “place” where supervision is minimal and freedom for interactions is, if not unlimited, then much less so.
Livingstone (2008) used qualitative methods, interviewing 16 teens with access to the Internet in their homes, who had an account on MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, or Piczo. The teens ranged in age from 13-16 and were asked questions pertaining to the choices made regarding their own profiles, social reading of the profiles of others, and the social and personal meanings of online contacts.
It is hard to remember when MySpace was a viable social media tool, as it has been out of the public eye for some years now, but in 2008 at the time of this article’s publication MySpace was favored by the younger teens for its easy customization. One older teen who was interviewed asserted that it made sense to her that the younger girls would prefer MySpace to Facebook because MySpace could be made purple, sparkly, or any other kind of personalization, whereas Facebook’s plainer design appealed more to her because she mainly used it to communicate with a few friends. This distinction in user habits could coincide with differing needs based on age and preference. Livingstone states that “social networking sites frame, but do not determine (p. 9). This statement casts the teenager as the focal point with social networking around the periphery.
Privacy and intimacy are presented as two sides of the same coin, with Livingstone using Stein and Sinha’s (2002) definition of privacy as an individual’s right to “enjoy autonomy, be left alone, and to determine whether and how information about one’s self is revealed to others (p.10). This definition leaves room for controlled sharing. The teens interviewed want to put information out there – they just want to have control over how much and what information. If the younger generations ideas of what constitutes appropriate levels of sharing themselves, that does not necessarily constitute higher levels of narcissicm, merely differences in what is considered appropriate disclosure. That said, teens are still minors and must be monitored for their own safety to some degree. The possibility for naïve choices is there due to youth and inexperience. The way social media provides a strangely binary “friend/not friend” method to contact organization could lead to unintentional disclosures.
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