Via Ars Technica, fascinating report from the MacArthur Foundation called “Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project.”
What’s interesting about this research is that it is respectful of kids' choices from the get-go. The researchers found that, contrary to popular adult opinion, kids are not 1. wasting time when they’re online, or 2. losing their ability to socialize.
The report finds that two activities are primary for kids using new media. The first is socializing with peers, or as the authors call it, hanging out.
Today’s teens and tweens have a distinct lack of unstructured time to spend with friends, what with sports, after school activities and lessons, homework, not to mention parents’ and teachers’ belief that there is no benefit to simply hanging out.
Instead of chatting online with total strangers, most kids use social media to stay in constant touch with their real-life social circle. A minority of kids who have specialized hobbies that go beyond what they might find in their local community may also form online friendships that are interest-based.
Kids have their own etiquette and norms online, and they must learn to navigate this – tricky business when most of their online interactions are public. A face-to-face conversation might be private, but your facebook conversations are more likely to be played out in front of all your friends.
The other major online activity for youth is self- and peer-directed learning, leading to various degrees of digital literacy. For some, a particular interest becomes the focus, but even here their online behavior is highly social, as they learn from experts in a group, hone their skills, and develop status and reputation.
My favorite quote from the report is from a 17-year-old girl who is interested in writing and role-playing games. She says, “‘It’s something I can do in my spare time, be creative and write and not have to be graded,’ because ‘you know how in school you’re creative, but you’re doing it for a grade so it doesn’t really count?’”
It doesn't really count. Let's just take that in.
The report notes that, rather than alienating, social media often brings families together, with large numbers of parents gaming with their children, or working on projects together, like editing a family video. Kids often act as the family tech expert, helping parents upload digital photos, for example.
What does this mean for arts and culture organizations?
I would guess that it could have a great impact on our educational outreach efforts. How can we integrate more participatory, self-directed and peer-directed learning, online and off-line, into our arts education programs? Can we plan to facilitate engagement as these teens and tweens grow to adulthood?
More on Kids:
Rethinking the Rules for a New Audience
Email Now Just for "Old People"
Photo by Hometown Invasion Tour on flickr, Creative Commons some rights reserved.
This is fascinating - thank you for sharing this. For the new generation, social media is a second skin, a natural way of being. It will be very interesting to watch how social media evolve as the new generation become adults.
Posted by: An Xiao | December 03, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Your welcome! I agree, social media is already evolving so fast -- this will be a generation with a very different outlook.
Posted by: Maryann Devine | December 03, 2008 at 12:12 PM