Now that she’s reached a milestone birthday, my daughter has two technology-related goals: to buy an iTouch with her babysitting money and to join Facebook.
Louisa has wanted to sign up for Facebook for more than a year, ever since her dad and I began reconnecting with classmates, posting family photos, and throwing cartoon birthday cakes at friends. Because the service terms for Facebook and similar sites require members to be at least 13 years old, we insisted that she wait, which has given us time to weigh the pros and cons of allowing her to enter a virtual community.
Even if you’re not on a social networking site, it’s nearly impossible to avoid hearing or reading about them. Facebook now has more than 57 million users in the United States alone, and MySpace has more than 70 million. According to a 2007 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, more than 55 percent of American youths ages 12 to 17 use social networking sites.
Although the negative aspects of teen online activity have been widely publicized — incidents of cyber bullying and pedophiles befriending children — research shows that participating in social networking sites can have educational and social benefits for teens.
Christine Greenhow, a learning technologies researcher at the University of Minnesota, has attracted regional and national attention for her work in this area. A study she conducted in 2008 of 1,200 Twin Cities high school juniors and seniors from low-income families found that belonging to a site provides students with a way to cultivate friendships and seek emotional support.
“When kids feel connected to other kids, they feel a sense of social belonging, and they tend to persist and do better in school. By belonging to a social networking site, they do feel connected, and they feel their relationships with friends are deepening,” she says.
Through their sites, teens are able to express themselves creatively by writing blogs, posting music, creating videos, or sharing their art. They are constantly changing their sites to keep audiences interested, Greenhow says, using skills that will help them succeed in the workplace.
Teens also use the sites as a learning resource. For example, if a teen is working on a difficult school assignment, she might contact her online friends, pose a question, and get an immediate response from a classmate.
“Kids will dive into social networks not just to have fun, but to get help. We saw several examples of this,” she says.
Greenhow notes that her study involved older teens who had already been on a social networking site for at least a year, who had more limited access to a computer and who had to be strategic about how they used their time. The benefits might be different for younger teens, or teens who spend more time online, she says.
Parents should realize that the sites have an age requirement, and they should read through the rules with their teens before allowing them to join. They also should discuss what the teen plans to do on the site and how much time he or she plans to spend, Greenhow says, noting that the national average for teens is about nine hours a week.
Other issues to address with teens include understanding the site’s privacy settings, thinking about the different types of people who might be viewing it, and considering ways the teens can use the site to promote their talents.
“I tell kids, ‘Always try to put your best face forward, and craft an online self you’d be proud to show to an audience,’” Greenhow says.
Greenhow is currently studying ways in which social networking sites can help teens become more knowledgeable about and engaged in local and world affairs.
“How can we get them to think of themselves not just as students, but as citizens? How do we prepare them to use technology effectively and wisely? For us, that’s a big responsibility, but it’s exciting,” she says.
Although being the parent of a global citizen sounds overwhelming, I feel encouraged by the possibilities. I still haven’t decided whether joining a social networking site is a good idea for Louisa at this age, but it’s certainly an opportune time to talk with her about these issues.
It’s also comforting to know that as technology advances, and our kids leave us in the dust with their skills, there’s still value in the old fashioned heart-to-heart talk — whatever form it takes.
Joy Riggs is on Facebook and LinkedIn but draws the line at Twitter. For now.
