Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out (Boyd)

Morgan Brownlee

July 24, 2012

With the uproar and popularity of mobile phones and social media websites like Myspace, Twitter and Facebook, it has become an

important part of a teenagers’ life. Everywhere we look, everyone has a mobile phone.

Friendship

Teenagers feel like they have to be connected online in order to be considered cool or popular. If you’re not online, then you don’t exist.

Being online = Being cool.

Teens have become addicted to the social media world. They feel like they don’t exist unless they are sharing their private lives with

the public which can hinder their identity if too much is shared online.

Social Media Craze

There has been a shift from kids hanging out in the mall, streets or school to them hanging out online. Teens no longer have face to face

time with friends because they are online at home. Teens are more connected than ever before do the social media websites to help

them make and maintain friendships.

The shift in teen sociability

Social media and mobile phones allows everyone to connect on the same level and all times. This is good, but also can be bad because

teens don’t talk face to face as much or are on the cellphone at inappropriate times.

Maintaining Friendships

Media sites have allowed kids to interact outside of the typical physical space. These sites have heightened youth culture and

identity and have allowed intergenerational interest groups and blurred the line of intimacy among peers.

Peers and Friendship

Teenagers use online sites and social media for more reasons than just communication. It allows them to share information, videos, and

pictures. I think this can be a good source to give more intimacy to people you don’t always see in person.

Peers and Friendship cont.

Online social networking sites have almost replaced the face to face interaction and socializing with teens like gossiping, sharing

information and finding identity.

Peers and Friendship cont.

Social media sites not only allow people to meet new people, but they reinforce friendships, groups and connections no matter the time or location. For example, Facebook lets teens meet and stay

connected to friends across seas and in different time zones.

Making Friends

There are many applications within the social media outlets that allow teens to keep all of their friends contact information in order. These include online address books, buddy list, and accepting friend

request. Even mobile carriers have this option such as T-mobile having “My Favs.”

Performing Friendship

In addition to the applications to keep friend’s information in order there are other applications that give teens the option of ranking

their friends. For example, Myspace has “Top Friends” which allows people to rank who their best friends are.

Friendship Hierarchies

In Facebook, the friend request allows one to accept or reject the other’s friendship on Facebook. By rejecting the request, that person cannot access your wall and information. Many teens accept most friend requests to avoid

offending peers who may think they have a strong friendship and just to accept them to have as many friends as possible.

Which brings in the question...

Friendship Hierarchies cont.

Teens tend to struggle of status among their peers and sometimes the social media outlets can have a negative affect on them because

most teens have insecurities with friendship and popularity.

Status, Attention and Drama

Some teens will try to increase their popularity at the expense of other people. This is done by spreading online rumors, gossiping, and

stalking. An example of this is updating your status on Facebook about the person one is targeting for everyone to see. This can be

difficult to deal with because the targeted person has no control of the other person.

Status, Attention, and Drama cont.

With all the social media comes the up and coming cyber bullying. It has become easy for teens to bully each other online than in person. It is simple to get someone’s phone number and send a mean text or to find them on Facebook and post something negative on their wall.

Status, Attention, and Drama cont.

I think that all of the social media outlets are good to have in order to keep in touch with your friends, especially if you don’t get to see

them due to distance, time, or other circumstances. However, like with everything in the world, it does have its downsides, most of

which can be out of our control.

Conclusion

Social media helps teens in their friendship practices. Unfortunately, with all of the many outlets it can me difficult for teens to keep up everything. By

having all of the social media options, it allows teens to develop their identity different from that of say what their parents did when then were

teens.

Conclusion cont.

“Teens value social media because they help them build, maintain, and develop friendships with peers. “ (Boyd)

Conclusion