Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Social Sites Lure Users Around the Clock

It may seem extreme, but users who can’t resist checking Facebook and Twitter in the middle of the night are not alone. According to the March 2010 “Gadgetology Report” from consumer electronics site Retrevo, 48% of social media users log in to the sites either during the night or as soon as they wake up.

Users under 25 were more likely to check or update their social network status after bedtime, with nearly one-fifth saying they did so anytime they woke up during the night.

Almost as many younger users (18%) checked the sites in the morning before getting out of bed, while 17% of respondents of all ages turned to Facebook and Twitter before TV in the morning. iPhone users were notably more likely than average to do each of these activities, with 23% saying it was how they got their morning news compared with 16% of all social media users.

Source: eMarketer
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007580

Facebook Users Average 7 Hours a Month

In a monthly view of U.S. Internet activity for top parent companies and web brands, The Nielsen Company found that the average time users spend using Facebook per month grew nearly 10%, topping seven hours during the month of January.

Also noteworthy, the number of those actively using the web grew 3.8%, to slightly more than 203 million users, according to the report.

Source: Nielsen Company
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/facebook-users-average-7-hrs-a-month-in-january-as-digital-universe-expands/

Teen Blogging Declines While Popularity of Social Media Sites Increases

As social-media sites like Facebook grow in popularity among teenagers and young adults, good ol' blogging has declined sharply over the past three years for this set, a new report shows.

In 2006, 28 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 29 were bloggers, according to survey results released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. By the fall of 2009, however, these numbers dropped to 14 percent of teens and 15 percent of young adults. During the same period, the percentage of online adults over 30 who are blogging rose from 7 percent in 2006 to 11 percent in 2009.

The survey attributed the decline in blogging among younger Internet users to changes in social network use. About three quarters (73 percent) of online teens and an equal number (72 percent) of young adults use social-networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace.

Source: CNET News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10446816-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Youths' Use of Social Networking Reflects Their Face-to-Face Interactions

Simply stated, new research suggests that socially well-adapted young people with positive relationships are more likely to use social networking websites (like Facebook) to further enhance the relationships they already have. On the flip side, young people with behavior problems and difficulty making friends are more likely to use social networking in a negative, or aggressive way, or steer clear of social networking altogether.

Though parents often have concerns about letting their teens use social media Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, a new study by University of Virginia psychologists suggests that well-adapted youth with positive friendships will use these sites to further enhance the positive relationships they already have.

However, they warn, teens who have behavioral problems and difficulty making friends, or who are depressed, may be more inclined to use social media in negative and sometimes aggressive ways, or not to use such sites at all.

The study appears in the January issue of the journal Developmental Psychology.

"We're finding that the interactions young adults are having on their Facebook and MySpace pages are more similar to than different from the interactions they have in their face-to-face relationships," said U.Va. psychology professor Amori Yee Mikami, the study's lead author. "So parents of well-adjusted teens may have little to worry about regarding the way their children behave when using social media. It's likely to be similar positive behavior."

However, Mikami warns, teens with behavioral problems or who have difficulty maintaining positive friendships may be more likely to use social media sites in negative ways, just as they may behave negatively in their face-to-face relationships. Negative use of the sites would include using excessive profanity, making hostile remarks or aggressive gestures, or posting nude photographs of themselves or others. They also have fewer supportive relationships with their Facebook and MySpace friends. But this group also is less inclined to use social media at all.

Source: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125173450.htm

MySpace Seeks Relevancy in Social Media as Music, Film Portal

MySpace aims to become more relevant in social media and is retooling itself as a one-stop destination for music, gaming and entertainment after losing ground to social networking sites Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc.

“We will really become relevant, and there’s just no way when you have 100 million-plus users a month like we do that you don’t have something that’s really relevant,” Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta said in an interview at a music conference in Cannes this past weekend. “Along the path we are going down, we should see increased gains.”

MySpace posted 7 percent growth in unique visitors from November to December, the first increase since mid-last year, Van Natta said, citing statistics by researcher ComScore Inc.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves here but it’s good that the numbers have stabilized and we hope this will continue,” Van Natta said.

Facebook has more than 350 million users, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in December. Twitter has more than 58 million global monthly users.

“We’re not trying to be the No. 1 video site or the No. 1 audio site,” Van Natta said, adding that MySpace is the leader in social media. “We want to develop that next generation, and we’re highly social about film and music.”

Van Natta didn’t rule out that MySpace Music could develop a music streaming service and said he was considering many business models.

Source: Bloomberg.com
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awUrKEKKKxpg

Kids and Media Use

In its third phase (1st-1999, 2nd-2004), the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the extent and nature of media usage by young people in the "Generation M^2" study. In a sense, it tells us what we already know: that media is a powerful influence in the lives of our kids. Yet, this study sheds light on explosive growth of media use (largely due to advances in technologies that deliver it) by today's young people.

Significant findings:

• Over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in media use among young people.
    - Today's teens spend 7 hours, 38 minutes per day consuming media (an increase of 1 hour, 17 minutes per day from 2004. This amounts to a full-time job! (Even more when you take into account that the reported time consuming media per day is based upon 7 days a week - not the standard 5 day work week.)
    - When multitasking is accounted for (consuming multiple sources of media at one time), today's youth consume 10 hours, 45 minutes of media content per day! (An increase of about 2 hours, 15 minutes per day from 2004.)

• An explosion in mobile and online media has fueled the increase in media use among young people.
    - The story of media in young people’s lives today is primarily a story of technology facilitating increased consumption. The mobile and online media revolutions have arrived in the lives—and the pockets—of American youth.
    - Mobile media:
        • Cellphone ownership among kids increased from about 39% in 2004 to about 66% in 2009.
        • iPod/MP3 device ownership among kids increased from 18% in 2004 to 76% in 2009.
    - Television on new media platforms:
        • Kids have turned increasingly to watching television programming on mobile devices and online via computer.
    - Online media:
        • As new online media forms have increased (think YouTube, Facebook) kids use of these sources has increased.

• Youth who spend more time with media report lower grades and lower levels of personal contentment.
    - Nearly half (47%) of all heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades (mostly C’s or lower), compared to 23% of light media users. Heavy media users are also more likely to say they get into trouble a lot, are often sad or unhappy, and are often bored.

• Children whose parents make an effort to limit media use—through the media environment they create in the home and the rules they set—spend less time with media than their peers.

• Two groups of young people stand out for their high levels of media consumption: those in the tween and early teen years (11- to 14-year-olds), and Blacks and Hispanics.
    - The jump in media use that occurs when young people hit the 11- to 14-year-old age group is tremendous—an increase of more than three hours a day in time spent with media (total media use), and an increase of four hours a day in total media exposure.
    - Differences in media use in relation to race and ethnicity are even more pronounced, with Hispanic and Black youths averaging about 13 hours of media exposure daily (13:00 for Hispanics and 12:59 for Blacks), compared to just over 81⁄2 hours (8:36) among Whites.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf

Technology Not Causing Social Isolation: Pew Study

Parents should keep in mind that although the modes of communication have changed since they were teenagers, today's social media platforms (texting, social networking sites, cell phones) are the preferred method teens use to communicate. Pew Internet's new study, though not specifically investigating teens, is a good reminder that technology use in communication isn't creating social isolation. Parents should also consider jumping on the bandwagon, if they've resisted, as it appears that contrary to popular belief, technology actually builds broader social interactions, which means there's opportunity for better communication and connection with their teens.

Contrary to popular belief, technology is not leading to social isolation and Americans who use the Internet and mobile phones have larger and more diverse social networks, according to a new study.

"All the evidence points in one direction," said Keith Hampton, lead author of the report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project released Wednesday. "People's social worlds are enhanced by new communication technologies.

"It is a mistake to believe that Internet use and mobile phones plunge people into a spiral of isolation," said Hampton, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
The authors said key findings of the study -- "Social Isolation and New Technology" -- "challenge previous research and commonplace fears about the harmful social impact of new technology."

"There is a tendency by critics to blame technology first when social change occurs," Hampton said.

"This is the first research that actually explores the connection between technology use and social isolation and we find the opposite.

"It turns out that those who use the Internet and mobile phones have notable social advantages," Hampton said. "People use the technology to stay in touch and share information in ways that keep them socially active and connected to their communities."

The study found that six percent of Americans can be described as socially isolated -- lacking anyone to discuss important matters with or who they consider to be "especially significant" in their life.

That figure has hardly changed since 1985, it said.

Source: Google / AFP
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j4aQ3JneT8Z4Rws7Qd4UqY1FzXtQ

Teens Sue High School That Punished Them for Racy MySpace Pics

I was waiting to see an article along these lines show up, where teenagers end up suing someone or some entity for being punished over sexting...and here it is. I'm sure it's not the first case and I'm sure it won't be the last. In this case, there's no question about what the teens did. They posted racy photos to their MySpace profiles. Those pictures ended up in the hands of their high school's principal. The principal acted in accordance with school policy and punished the girls by not allowing them to participate from fall semester extracurricular activities.

The girls (with the help of the ACLU) have now sued the school and principal claiming that their rights of expression have been violated and that their actions had no effect or impact on the school.

What do you think should happen?

I do believe that some students who have sexted or posted racy photos of themselves on their social networking profiles have been treated too harshly (through criminal prosecution.) But, it does seem reasonable to me for schools to set behavioral expectations that apply to students whether or not they are on campus. Suspension from a semester's worth of extracurricular activities does not strike me as excessive punishment either.

And what might be the result to the broader culture should students who sue win cases like this one?

Two Indiana teenagers have sued their school district after they were punished for posting suggestive photos on MySpace.

The girls, 10th-graders at Churubusco High School in Churubusco, Indiana, say they were humiliated after the school banned them from fall semester extracurricular activities and forced them to apologize to the all-male Athletics Board (composed of varsity coaches). The girls also had to attend three counseling sessions.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed the proposed class-action suit on behalf of the girls and all present and future students at the school who participate or may participate in extracurricular activities. The ACLU argues the district violated the girls’ First Amendment rights and should not have punished them for activities conducted outside school. The suit names the girls’ high school, school district and principal.

According to the school’s student handbook, the principal “may exclude any student-athlete from representing Churubusco High School if his/her conduct in or out of school reflects discredit” upon the school or creates a “disruptive influence on the discipline, good order, moral, or educational environment” at the school.

The ACLU says the photos were meant to be a joke shared among friends and had “no effect on the school whatsoever.” The girls’ self-expression has been curbed as a result of the school’s activity, the suit alleges.

Source: Wired
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/teen-pics/

Teens Think Drinking on MySpace, Facebook Is Real

Teenagers spend lots of time on MySpace, Facebook, and other social media sites talking about what they do. Often that talk is about underage drinking, risky sexual activity, and violence. But does it describe their actual activities, or is it just bragging?

About half of teenagers' social media posts refer to drinking, sex, or violence, according to Megan Moreno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That discovery, which was reported earlier this year, left Moreno wondering if all that chatter was reality or trash talk. She's still working on answering that question, but she has found out this: Kids do think that what they see on social media sites is real, and the younger they are, the more they believe it. That's important, because teenagers are powerfully influenced by the behavior of their peers.

"There is good data that if kids think their friends are drinking, they're more likely to drink," Moreno says. "The perception of normal is powerful." Teenagers' behavior also is influenced by seeing behavior on television and hearing about it on the radio and in music. Social media combines those two influences. "Say it's the most popular kid in your school, and they're [pictured] drinking. You might drink to be more like that kid," she says.

Moreno doesn't yet have hard data on how much of the teenage drinking on social media sites is real. She thinks some of it is, some is nonsense, and some is a "gesture of intention"—that is, a teen may be thinking of getting into the drinking scene and is testing the waters by putting up pictures or writing about it. That, she says, is good news for parents who want to know what's up with the kid. It's also a great time to step in.

Source: U.S. News & World Report
http://health.usnews.com/blogs/on-parenting/2009/10/30/teens-think-drinking-on-myspace-facebook-is-real.html

Grudgingly, Young People Finally Flock To Twitter

More young adults and teens — normally at the cutting edge of technology — are finally coming around to Twitter, using it for class or work, monitoring the minutiae of celebrities' lives.

It's not always love at first tweet, though. Many of them are doing it grudgingly, perhaps because a friend pressures them or a teacher or boss makes them try the 140-character microblogging site.

Their slowness to warm to Twitter comes in part from a fondness for the ease and directness of text messaging and other social networking services that most of their friends already use.

While Facebook's audience is aging, Twitterers are getting younger. Internet tracker comScore Inc. found that 18- to 24-year-olds made up 18 percent of unique visitors to Twitter in September, compared with 11 percent a year earlier.

Meanwhile, kids ages 12 to 17 accounted for 12 percent of Twitter visitors last month, about double the proportion of a year earlier.

Source: Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jN8nohwnjEFrJLJhKB1JT09cNB9gD9BFN9FG6