reassuring news about online socializing

The New York Times featured an article this week that has reassuring news for parents (and other adults) concerned about teens obsessive online communications, thanks to a study from the MacArthur Foundation:

Teenagers’ Internet Socializing Not a Bad Thing
By TAMAR LEWIN
Published: November 19, 2008

“It may look as though kids are wasting a lot of time hanging out with new media, whether it’s on MySpace or sending instant messages,” said Mizuko Ito, lead researcher on the study, “Living and Learning With New Media.” “But their participation is giving them the technological skills and literacy they need to succeed in the contemporary world. They’re learning how to get along with others, how to manage a public identity, how to create a home page.”

Thanks Penni for sharing this!

A Little Late

But I'm just now reading SLJ's may issue. If any of you've missed it, I've found useful:

Jordan Sonnenblick's article about NCLB (I met him at Ballard library a week-ish ago. He's lovely).

Anastasia Goodstein's article about attracting teens through marketing tactics.

Highlights include:

• Ypulse,
• Muxtape,
• Mixwit,
• Crunchyroll (a site a couple of MY teens are always telling me about),
• Teenhut and
• some philosophy (clearly the most important part, ESPECIALLY if you aren't quite sure how to approach teens - or a good reminder).

Katrine Watkins' article about The Google Game taught me a few new ways to search and reminded me of ones I forgot.

Heard of MMPG? Christopher Harris' article is about PMOG - and how it might just be a harbinger of Web 3.0... I'm a little scared.

Are web communications oral traditions reborn?

Some interesting perspective on how we communicate online:

Myspacebook.past.: Friending, Ancient or Otherwise
By ALEX WRIGHT for the New York Times
Published: December 2, 2007

Academic researchers are starting to examine that question by taking an unusual tack: exploring the parallels between online social networks and tribal societies. In the collective patter of profile-surfing, messaging and “friending,” they see the resurgence of ancient patterns of oral communication.

I particularly like the conclusion:

Still, the sheer popularity of social networking seems to suggest that for many, these environments strike a deep, perhaps even primal chord. “They fulfill our need to be recognized as human beings, and as members of a community,” Dr. Strate says. “We all want to be told: You exist.”

How can we satisfy this need for community teens?

radio bit - How to Talk to a Teenager

This was on KUOW earlier this month:

How do you talk to a teenager? Many parents say when their kids hit the teen years, they stop talking. A no smoking ad campaign ended up encouraging middle schoolers to rebel and smoke. What's going in teen brains? How do you keep the lines of communication open? Do any of you current or former teens have suggestions? (This part starts 6 minutes into the program.)

David Walsh wrote Why Do They Act That Way: A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen. He's the founder of the National Institute on Media and Family, and teaches at the University of Minnesota and the University of St. Thomas.

Great tips for thinking about how to connect and communicate with teens.