Why Are Teenagers Online So Often?
My parents have told me in numerous occasions “Jeffrey you’re addicted to your phone” and I respond with a smirk because I think of what I am doing on my phone most of the time and the amount of time someone like my sister is on the phone. I spend some time on Facebook, and spend most of my time watching a show or video (think Netflix or YouTube) or just reading a plethora of articles and factoids (think Google or Wikipedia). “It’s Complicated: the social lives of networked teens” by danah boyd discusses numerous ideas including why teenagers seem to obsess with social media.
An idea danah boyd makes is that teenagers simply want to control their social lives and they can do so on social networks. In today’s society, parents tend to be more strict then before with curfews and an increase in distrust with strangers, according to danah boyd. This means that teenagers are at home more often then before causing them to want to take control of their lives through a virtual platform.
Danah boyd is an avid supporter of embracing the internet for all its good and to not be harsh to the teenagers who spend much of their time on the internet looking for some free time. She believes that parents should not make their children go completely cold turkey and abandon the internet. Instead, danah boyd suggests that teenagers should be given some more free time with friends or outdoors in general so that they feel more in control of their lives and not dependent in social networks to communicate with their friends as much. Danah Boys tries to let adults know that their children are alright even though their children are seemingly online all the time.
