http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/10-things-you-dont-know-about-teens-and-social-networking-2527367.html
Please visit this link and read through the article. As I mentioned in class, this article discusses the effects of social networking on pre-teens and teens.
In your discussion, please briefly describe the argument the author is making about social networking and examine how she is trying to persuade you.
Questions to consider:
1. Who is the primary audience for this article (consider its location/context on the web)? Who is the ideal/target audience (who is she trying to persuade)? Provide evidence.
2. How does the author attempt to persuade you? Does she succeed? Is the author biased? Provide evidence.
3. How does this relate to our course theme of "private vs. public?" (besides the fact that it relates to Facebook)
(Tips: Refer to "Consider the Following" section of more advice about analyzing sources. Read through all the posts before you post your own comment. Add something new to the conversation.)
This article is defiantly geared toward parents with teens who are addicted to the internet not just Facebook and not just because it is a article under the parenting tab of Yahoo!. The author is not saying Facebook and technology is bad but its needs to be used in moderating and not running our lives. She does this by giving tips to help have a positive online environment online and offline by stepping away from it for family meals or something like that. I'm online a lot since coming to OSU and the author persuades me to step away but I really cannot because I have a class and coursework online, and the only real site that I could step away from is Facebook. The author makes a private topic, the use of a personal computer and the public internet, making a very at home situation known because many families have issues like this and other medias have shined light on them like Facebook Me and the movie The Social Network. Even the personal statements of the girls about social networking shows how different but yet the same reasons to use social networking. Do I agree with some of the points and disagree with others, yes but yet I don't live in New York or from a big city, which effects my opinions.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Elizabeth’s comment. The target audiences are parents and the article is trying to persuade parents to manage how much time kids should spend on a computer. The article gave tips like family dinner and setting boundaries for computer, therefore this shows that the article is for parents. I believe that the article was using the scare tactic. For example, at the end of the article there was a section about warning signs. Some warning signs include pretending to be sick, and grades might suffer. When I first read this article, I thought it was very “fake”. Some of the quotes from the kids were just too exaggerated. The kids are thirteen or fourteen years old, they’re just kids and who do they think they are? They don’t need to be online updating status, trying to act like a celebrity, because they’re not. The author definitely persuaded me to not let my kids experience technology. I do not want my kids to turn out to be like the ones in the article. I do think the author is biased in the article, because she mentioned more negative things about technology than positive. This article relates to private vs. public because it involves technology and the internet. A lot of the kids said that they constantly have to be online to update status and upload pictures. I believe that once something is posted on the internet, it doesn’t really belong to the original “author” anymore. For example, if someone makes a funny status and some random marketing person saw it, he could use it as a slogan. Once something is posted on the internet it is no longer private but public.
ReplyDeleteWhen Facebook first started, you needed a ".edu" e-mail address to register. It was never meant for kids that are hardly classified as "teenagers." The idea of Facebook went from being an easy way to connect with other college students to being able to connect with anyone in the whole world. This article definitely has some bias. Just like Chen said, the quotes seem fake. While everything is public on websites like Facebook or Twitter, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you decide to put something up you should realize that the world is able to read it. EVERYTHING is public when you're online. As a computer science student you learn how unsafe putting personal information on computers can be. If you put anything on a computer it's public. These kids are growing up putting their lives online and making it incredibly easy for anyone to find out almost anything about them. There definitely is proof in this article about people needing to learn restraint when it comes to Facebook, but it's not necessarily a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteThis article gets quite personal with the testaments from the young girls. Like Chen said, I too thought the comments were fake because I just can't imagine myself being that addicted to Facebook or any other social media site. But girls that age absolutely crave attention so they will become fake just for the acceptance of their peers. This in turn changes their private lives because they just don't know who's going to take a picture or who they are going to run into. They become paranoid. Luckily, the author included ways to slow down the indulgence of being "online." Simple ways like the dinner idea were great because they don't stop it, but it lets kids there's a life that's not associated with the internet. Also, I thought it was neat that author understood the punishment. He understands that some things actually drive children away and he tells parents to ease up. Which brings me up to my next point was that this was an article that was for parents to change their kids. All in all, this was quite an interesting article.
ReplyDeleteI think you guys have a great start here, but I want to push you a bit further. Examine some of the quotes more closely. It seems that some of the teens mentioned in the article are beginning to confuse "real" life with their online personas. How does this effect our understanding of privacy and public?
ReplyDelete"I feel safer online than I do offline. So I do things online that I wouldn't do in real life."
(This quote might be useful with Chen's assertion that the article uses scare tactics)
What do you guys think?
Obviously, as everyone has already stated, this is an article for parents with kids using social media. I think it does a good job in persuading the parents that they seriously need to start monitoring their kids' activities online. The article starts off by asking, "It's 10 pm, do you know where your children are?" I find this ironic because I feel it's playing a twist on an older saying, but now instead of kids sneaking out of the house, they're still at home but in a completely different world. This is where the public is invading the private. Kids are at home in the safety of that home, but that is as far as the safety goes. Once on the internet, the possibilities are quite literally endless.
ReplyDeleteI was extremely dumbfounded, to say the least, when I read this article. The line between reality and internet life is rapidly blurring. One of the girls goes as far to say "If you are not online, you are completely out of the loop--you don't have a life, you don't really exist." The fact that she is saying someone doesn't EXIST if they are not online left me speechless. Another thing that struck my attention about all of the posts, is that they were all young girls. I ask myself, why? Be it that adolescent girls are more heavily affected by such matters of social status and rank? I simply don't know. As Chen mentioned scare tactic, I feel all of the girls quotes are plenty sufficient to successfully scare a parent from allowing such use of the internet and social media.
The primary audience for this article is clearly the parents of teenagers. As the author begins her article, she asks the question “Do you know where your children are?” indicating that she is directing her writing to parents. Her ideal audience would be parents who don't know how much their children rely on social networking and technology to “stay relevant” among their peers. As one of the teenagers interviewed said, young people have to validate their friendships online. Another said she wants her mother to be proud of her, so she lies and says she’s writing an essay, rather than admitting to being on Facebook. To persuade her audience, the author uses testaments from actual teenagers about their internet and technology usage. She also offers her own suggestions on how to monitor and limit time kids spend online. She succeeds in persuading me to limit what technology kids should have access to at a certain age. Certain technologies are meant for different age groups. I think the author is somewhat biased about kids using technology. She doesn’t say it needs to be eliminated, but she does suggest methods to limit and supervise it. In her family meal suggestion, she does not say to not have any phones or computers present. She simply says that there should be short intervals where technology is allowed. This article relates very well to the theme of private vs. public. People have begun to use email and social networking to post things about their private lives into the public setting. The writer also emphasizes that families should revert back to “private” by talking with each other and spending time together without technology.
ReplyDeleteWe know the author is targeting the parents of teenagers in this article when she questions, "It's 10 pm, do you know where your children are?" I'm sure many parents will assure themselves that their children are sitting in their bedrooms, working on homework, when in reality teens are most likely on Facebook or another social network. When reading through the quotes of these teenage girls, one really stood out to me. One girl says:
ReplyDelete"Social networking affects all the things you do in real life now. Like, if you go to a party, one of the most important aspects of going to the party is to document yourself for online posts. You have to prove you were looking good, you were having fun, and that you were actually there! It's not about the party anymore but about the pictures of the party."
At first I thought this was absolutely ridiculous, but then I realized it's definitely true. Girls are more worried about taking pictures of themselves before going out or at the party and uploading them to their Facebook pages then party itself. Telling your friend about the party isn't even acceptable anymore.. it's almost if you have to prove you were there.
The author definitely persuaded me in her article. If I had children that were constantly online, I would set a time to have a family meal and create boundaries. As Chen mentioned, it is definitely a scare tactic. This article is a perfect example of the public invading one's privacy. With today's technology, privacy doesn't even seem to exist. I think that's why the author wants families to retreat back to "privacy", with family activities not involving technology.
2. I found Alyssa's comment about the party quote very interesting especially about showing them you were at the party and taking off on that, if you don't have a picture from the party, then you were not there even if you were there. Relating it to the "past", if you were not at the party, you were not cool but that has changed to if not networking you are not cool or not existence, as one of the quotes said.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with once you post something, it becomes public. But things have been like that before social networking, it is called gossip. Or if you are like me, from a small town, it’s just plain knowing everyone, their business, and all the other "secrets" that comes with them. Once someone, back home, tells one person, everyone knows in 24 hours, just like posting a status or a picture. The public vs. private agreement has been around but it has taken on different appearances as time has changed.
The primary audience for this article is definitely parents with teenage children because it is under the parenting section of Yahoo. Since it is on Yahoo it seems to be more targeted to the older generation. My initial reaction to this article was that it sounded extremely biased. It seemed like the author took quotes from a group of teenagers that seem to be completely addicted to Facebook. I do agree that Facebook is addicting and that it is a growing problem, but I feel like he is blowing it out of proportion. The quote from Samantha seems to be one of the bigger exaggerations. Although I believe the author is biased and exaggerated a lot of her quotes, I see the problem she is trying to address. She has persuaded me into becoming more aware of the time I spend on social networking sites and how they affect my everyday life.
ReplyDeleteOur course theme of "private vs. public" is strongly tied in with Facebook. One thing that comes to mind is the issue of colleges using Facebook to determine whether or not you would be a good addition to their school. Stories of how students who were initially accepted into college and then rescind their admission because of something posted on their Facebook. A lot of teenagers put their private lives online and sometimes forget that anyone can see it, especially since Facebook has such terrible privacy settings. Facebook is making it easier for people to mistakingly put their private lives up for the public to see.
This article is definitely for parents (of adolescent girls specifically). The author asks “how can parents help their kids have a healthy and productive relationship with technology?” before she gives them advices. The author successfully persuades me not to let my kids spending so much time on social networking. Those teenage girls in the article are real “victims” of Facebook. Like Thomas said, “the idea of Facebook went from being an easy way to connect with other college students to being able to connect with anyone in the whole world.” However, I don’t think this article has bias. Those girls are teenagers. We can’t expect too much from them. In addition, the author does mention the benefits. “Some new research has shown that social networking can also have positive effects on teens such as helping introverted adolescents forge relationships or providing a venue for activism and political engagement.” And, the advices she gives really helps those girls in managing their time.
ReplyDelete"I feel safer online than I do offline. So I do things online that I wouldn't do in real life." This girl relies heavily on the internet instead of her private life. She feels safe when she lives in the public eye. The lines between the private and the public are blurry in her situation. The public is invading the private.
Thomas, I did not realize that in the beginning Facebook required you to have a .edu email address to be connected, that is very interesting. I pile on to what you and Chen said about the statements seeming a bit fake but it did state that they were quotes from characters portraying these young kids in a play. I have an opinion about one sentence you wrote when you said, "If you decide to put something up you should realize that the world is able to read it." Although I completely agree with this argument, I think the "you" is very vague. I believe "you" in that context refers to adults with an understanding of the Internet, and also teens with experience and knowledge of how public the things they post really are. I think the author is trying to show that parents really need to step in and educate their children about social networking at a young age as it is an inevitable part of the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Chen said relating to the scare tactic, but jealousy, cheating and addiction are human nature. This group of girls is all teenagers, but what they think is real. Their ways of thinking report a problem. Their wish to report their daily life is understandable. Although these examples may not reflect the whole in general, they reflect the shortages of social networking. I spent a lot of time on Facebook, Twitter, and my Chinese Facebook and Twitter when I firstly came here. I was busy connecting old friends, new friends and family. I posted and uploaded photos of my life here, showing off what I’ve seen and where I’ve been, expecting their reactions. This took me away from studying. My life was heavily affected by social networking online, so I personally agree with the author.
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ReplyDeleteI think the audience the author is going after is definitely the parents because the name of the article even states that readers will be learning information about teenagers. The author also gives tips from a professor for how parents should handle their kids and technology. The author is trying to persuade the audience about how bad social networking is for teens because she all of her quotes in the articles show how social media is taking over the lives of teenagers. I think this article is definitely biased as all of the quotes are from teenage girls at about the same age. In regards to how this article relates to public vs. private, it shows how the public lives of teenagers are taking place during what should be private time. What I mean by that is that instead of teenagers going out and having a public life they are more concerned with living their life online when they are at home where they should be having private family time or out in public with their friends.
ReplyDeleteTo Luke and Cam, i completely agree with what you guys were saying. Kids these days are entering the social media at earlier and earlier ages. I remember I didn't have a Facebook until freshman year of high school, now my 6th grade neighbor already has one. They are entering the wave of social media too fast, and these kids can't comprehend the responsibility that comes along with it. They are making something as innocent and private as childhood become extremely exposed with no possibility of reversal. Relating to our theme, the public is invading childhood and driving children from innocence way too quickly. These girls are thinking that they have to reach a certain standard and act certain ways before they're even in high school. It's scary to see what is becoming of the new generations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shelly in that this article is extremely biased and is directed towards parents. The author takes quotes only from teenage girls who are addicted to facebook. I also agree with how Chen said the author is using scare tactics. It seems as if the author is trying to scare parents into taking facebook and other social media away from their children.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this article is biased and has a very limited group of people that were interviewed. Yes, too many people are overly concerned about what people think of them and try to show what they think people want to see, but this definitely does not represent all or even the majority of Facebook users. Many of the people that were interviewed, in my opinion, also care too much about how people react to what they put on Facebook. Becoming depressed when a small number of people "like" what you post is an extreme and unhealthy response. How you act in an offline setting is still more important than any online persona that is displayed.
ReplyDeleteThe main subject that I noticed in this blog was about self-perception. The girls who commented about Facebook seemed almost desperate for complements and attention. Our generation's need for attention is a major motivator when it comes to social life on the internet. Clearly these girls need someone to tell them they're pretty and "cool" so that they can feel confident about themselves and that’s very sad especially considering they're young age. It's not the parents' fault that young people are so addicted to the internet. The fault belongs to today’s society along with our need to judge and be judged.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Nick that this doesn't represent a majority of Facebook users, but even if people aren't purposely trying to represent a desired look or persona online they still subconsciously only post pictures they want people to see and status that they want people to react to. Regardless as to what type of reaction they're looking for, they still design themselves on Facebook in a way that may not be entirely real. Facebook has become a technological vacation. It's a way for people to get away from the real world and they're real lives yet still stay connected.
ReplyDeleteI still feel that even though this was obviously targeted to talk abut facebook in a negative way, that everyone does do this to some extent.
ReplyDeleteThe primary audience of this article is parents of teenagers. Specifically, teenage girls because all of the teens invterviewed were girls. I feel like this article was biased because all of the quotes were from girls that clearly have a very strong addiction to Facebook. I believe that the author did this in order to scare parents into monitoring their childs use of the internet. I think it relates to private vs. public in the sense that at least the girls in this article don't really have a private life anymore. Some of them said that they were always online updating there status and changing their profile pictures.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.FacebookMeThePlay.com/index.html
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