From Medium, “An Old Fogey’s Analysis of a Teenager’s View on Social Media" — danah boyd (if you’re not familiar with boyd, please be sure to read more about her and her research [she’s super interesting and super important for developing a comprehensive understanding of technology in education]; also note that the minuscule letters are accurate) presents a nuanced response, refutation, and general reconsideration of Andrew Watts’ “A Teenager’s View on Social Media.” boyd makes a number of important points throughout her article, but really it comes down to one VERY IMPORTANT aspect of Watts’ article and its subsequent interpretation: incompleteness.
as boyd emphasizes repeatedly, “Andrew is a very lucid writer and I completely trust his depiction of his peer group’s use of social media. He wrote a brilliant post about his life, his experiences, and his interpretations. His voice should be heard. And his candor is delightful to read. But his analysis cannot and should not be used to make claims about all teenagers.” boyd is quick to point out that Watts’ contribution to Backchannel (and thereafter, Medium) is a useful and important piece, but it is not representative of all teens. This is summarized by another VERY IMPORTANT point, “teens’ use of social media is significantly shaped by race and class, geography and cultural background.”
We (as educators, as parents, as technology users/creators/consumers, as people) should keep this ever-present as we approach teaching, technology-using/creation, etc. — how, when, and to-what-end teens, students, we, people use, create, engage with technology is influenced by a number of significant variables. The more attentive we are to these variables, the more effective becomes our teaching, communication, etc. So, in short, think about variables (e.g., social, cultural, economic, age, gender, etc.) might come into play and adjust your teaching, technology, communicating. Essentially, you’re operating in a large feedback loop. Unfortunately, quite often many of the variables are not visible within the system; this causes ineffective (or nonexistent) adjustments. It’s Complicated (as the title of boyd’s recent book succinctly emphasizes), but it is also super important.
