32. The influence of online social networks on our youth.

Teens, privacy and online social networks :: Research

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http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Privacy_SNS_Report_Final.pdf


Most teenagers with social network profiles online are taking steps to protect themselves from the most obvious risks

Still, 63% of teens with online profiles believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them from their online profile

WASHINGTON – The majority of teens actively manage their online profiles to keep the information they believe is most sensitive away from the unwanted gaze of strangers, parents and other adults. While many teens post their first name and photos on their profiles, they rarely post information on public profiles they believe would help strangers actually locate them such as their full name, home phone number or cell phone number.

At the same time, nearly two-thirds of teens with profiles (63%) believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them from the information they publicly provide on their profiles.

A new report, based on a survey and a series of focus groups conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project examine how teens, particularly those with profiles online, make decisions about disclosing or shielding personal information.

Some 55% of online teens have profiles and most of them restrict access to their profile in some way. Of those with profiles, 66% say their profile is not visible to all internet users. Of those whose profile can be accessed by anyone online, nearly half (46%) say they give at least some false information. Teens post fake information to protect themselves and also to be playful or silly.

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Youthroots.com Launches Unique Youth Group and Leadership Social Network

Lightworks New Media has launched Youthroots.com, a social networking website designed to help today's youth self-organize to serve their local or global community. The social network offers youth groups and their leaders an alternative to well-known sites like Myspace and Facebook, in that the emphasis is placed on the group to which the youth belongs, rather than the individual. Youthroots also adds increased security measures to protect privacy of its participants.

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Social online networks capturing the Heart of American Youth Culture—A Peak inside Latest Trends from Label Networks

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Why youth(heart) social network sites

Important link http://www.danah.org/papers/WhyYouthHeart.pdf


Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

Introduction

Since their introduction, social network sites (SNSs) such as MySpace, Facebook, Cyworld, and Bebo have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. As of this writing, there are hundreds of SNSs, with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and practices. While their key technological features are fairly consistent, the cultures that emerge around SNSs are varied. Most sites support the maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on shared interests, political views, or activities. Some sites cater to diverse audiences, while others attract people based on common language or shared racial, sexual, religious, or nationality-based identities. Sites also vary in the extent to which they incorporate new information and communication tools, such as mobile connectivity, blogging, and photo/video-sharing.

Scholars from disparate fields have examined SNSs in order to understand the practices, implications, culture, and meaning of the sites, as well as users' engagement with them. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together a unique collection of articles that analyze a wide spectrum of social network sites using various methodological techniques, theoretical traditions, and analytic approaches. By collecting these articles in this issue, our goal is to showcase some of the interdisciplinary scholarship around these sites.

The purpose of this introduction is to provide a conceptual, historical, and scholarly context for the articles in this collection. We begin by defining what constitutes a social network site and then present one perspective on the historical development of SNSs, drawing from personal interviews and public accounts of sites and their changes over time. Following this, we review recent scholarship on SNSs and attempt to contextualize and highlight key works. We conclude with a description of the articles included in this special section and suggestions for future research.

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Social network sites : private, public or What ?

Link http://www.danah.org/papers/KnowledgeTree.pdf


Visualizing online social networks

Link http://www.danah.org/papers/InfoViz2005.pdf


Understanding social networks

Link http://www.ell.aau.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/documents
/staff/Malene_Larsen_-_Documents/
Paper_Malene_Charlotte_Larsen_REVISED_version_Sep07.pdf

Understanding how information and communication technology matter to youth

Link http://web.uvic.ca/~mecht/dissapril27final.pdf