Social Networking: Do You Know How Your Students are Connecting Online

1
Social Networking Do You Know How Your Students
are Connecting Online?

• Westside AzTEA Workshop
• Thursday, January 17, 2008
• 430-630pm
• Cartwright Training Center

• Welcome, introductions and workshop agenda (log
  in to wikispace)
• http//westsideleadershipteam.wikispaces.com/Works
  hop-SocialNetworking
• Overview of Social Networking (Peggy George)
• MySpace/Second Life/video gaming overview (Steve
  Andrews)
• FaceBook overview (Laurie King)
• VoiceThread overview (Dave Beard)
• Hands-on time to explore various social
  networking sites
• Internet safety with social networking (Peggy
  George)
• Brainstorming uses of social networking in
  classrooms, SANDBOX wikispace introduction,
  workshop evaluation/certificates (Irma
  Sandercock)
• Wrap-up/final questions

2
What is Social Networking?

• Online video A Vision of K-12 Students Today
  http//www.youtube.com/watch?v_A-ZVCjfWf8
• Web 2.0 Read/Write Web--More than retrieving
  information-interactive
• Social Network
• An association of people drawn together by
  family, work or hobby. The term was first
• coined by professor J. A. Barnes in the 1950s,
  who defined the size of a social network
• as a group of about 100 to 150 people. On the
  Web, social networking sites have millions of
  members.
• Social Networking Site
• A Web site that provides a virtual community for
  people interested in a particular subject or just
  to "hang out" together. Members create their own
  online "profile" with biographical data,
  pictures, likes, dislikes and any other
  information they choose to post. They communicate
  with each other by voice, chat, instant message,
  videoconference and blogs, and the service
  typically provides a way for members to contact
  friends of other members.
• Sites may also serve as a vehicle for meeting in
  person. The "social networking site" is the 21st
  century "virtual community," a group of people
  who use the Internet to communicate with each
  other about anything and everything. One can find
  dating sites, friendship sites, sites with a
  business purpose and hybrids that offer a
  combination of these. Globally, hundreds of
  millions of people have joined one or more social
  networking sites.
• http//www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,tso
  cialnetworkingsitei55316,00.asp

3
Social Network Service

• A social network service focuses on the building
  and verifying of online social networks for
  communities of people who share interests and
  activities, or who are interested in exploring
  the interests and activities of others, and which
  necessitates the use of software.
• Most services are primarily web based and provide
  a collection of various ways for users to
  interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video,
  voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion
  groups, and so on.
• The main types of social networking services are
  those which contain directories of some
  categories (such as former classmates), means to
  connect with friends (usually with
  self-description pages), and recommender systems
  linked to trust.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking

4
Teens, Social Networks SafetyAn
OverviewAmanda LenhartFamily Online Safety
Institute LaunchFebruary 13, 2007Washington, DC
5
Methodology

• Interviewed 935 parent child pairs in Oct-Nov
  2006 1100 pairs in November 2004
• Teens ages 12-17
• Nationally representative sample
• Focus groups conducted in the summers of 2004
  2006
• Building on previous survey work with teens and
  parents in 2000

6
Who is Online?

• 70 of American adults go online
• 93 of American teens ages 12 to 17 use the
  internet
• 87 of all parents online
• 73 of all families have broadband _at_ home
• 68 of online Americans have home broadband
• 7 of teens do not use the internet

7
Content Creation

• 57 of online teens have created some kind of
  content online
• Includes
• Photos
• Video
• Writing, stories
• Artwork
• Songs, music
• 19 have a blog
• 38 read the blogs of others
• 76 of social network-using teens leave comments
  on the blogs of friends
• Self-expression and feedback

8
Connecting Communicating

• 89 of online teens have ever sent or received
  email
• 74 of online teens use instant messaging
• 45 of ALL teens have a cellular phone
• 38 of teens have sent a text message from a cell
  phone
• Other activities of similar popularity
• 84 of online teens have visited websites
  where they could learn more about movies, TV
  shows, music groups or sports stars
• 80 of online teens have played online games

9
Social Networking Websites

• Online Social Networks are web spaces where
  individuals can post information about
  themselves, usually by creating a profile or
  website, and where they can connect with others
  in the same network.
• Two main elements to social networking that
  relate to its appeal to teens (and young adults)
• Connecting and communicating with others
• Content creation a.k.a. self-expression
• 55 of online teens use social networking
  websites
• 55 have a profile online

10
Social Networking Websites - Basics

• Girls, particularly older girls, more likely to
  use SNS than boys (70 of girls 15-17 have
  profile online, compared to 57 of boys 15-17)
• Age is major factor
• 12 13 year-olds 37 have an online profile
• 14 -17 year-olds 63 have an online profile
• Other demographic factors not significant
• Income
• Race/ethnicity

11
What are Teens Doing on SNS?

• Reinforcing pre-existing relationships
• 91 stay in touch with friends they see a lot
• 82 stay in touch with friends they rarely see in
  person
• Meeting new people flirting
• 49 make new friends
• (more for boys, less for girls)
• 17 flirt
• (mostly older boys 29 of them flirt vs. 13 of
  older girls)

12
Communicating on SNS

• Making plans with friends
• 72 make plans with friends on SNS
• Sending messages
• 84 post message on friends wall or page
• 82 send private messages to a friend
• 76 post comments to a friends blog
• 61 send a bulletin or mass message to all
  friends in the system
• 33 wink, poke, give e-props or kudos to friends

13
SNS and Protective Measures

• 66 of all teens with profiles online have in
  some way restricted access to it
• includes hiding it completely
• taking it down
• making it private
• 77 of profile-owning teens have a currently
  visible online profile
• Of those with a visible profile, 59 say only
  their friends can see their profile.
• 40 say anyone can see profile

14
Tensions in SNS Use

• Embodies tension in social networking sites
• Teens want to stay safe
• Want to connect with friends and with those with
  similar interests
• People need to be able to find you to make new
  connections
• Social networks ask for lots of personal
  information when you create a profile
• Facilitates good and bad findability

15
Protecting Teens Online

• Filtering54 of families filter
• Public computing location73
• House internet rules64
• 62 of parents.33 of teens say they/their
  parents check up on teens after they go online
• Filtering up, others stable

16
Online Behavior Parent Teen Attitudes

• 81 of parents and 79 of teens agree that kids
  are not as careful as they should be about the
  information they give out online
• 62 of parents and 62 of teens agree that kids
  do things online that they wouldnt want their
  parents to know about
• Overall, most parents believe that the internet
  is a good thing for their children

17
Online Safety Future Challenges

• Mobility
• Geography
• Nature of Teens
• looking for new things
• generational and personal separation from elders
• risk-taking
• User Generated Content

Thanks to Amanda Lenhart for this
presentation Pew Internet American Life
Project http//www.pewinternet.org