Mobile Identity: Youth, Identity, and Mobile Communication Media

Gitte Stald (2008) writes a very interesting article discussing multiple relationships or characteristics of youth in Denmark and their mobile phone devices. Specific topics addressed include physical availability, experience of presence, mobile phones to keep personal logs, and social norms related to phones. I found myself asking questions many questions while reading the sections about physical availability and experience of presence.

I understand that mobile phones are part of youth identity, and I do not necessarily think phones are a bad thing. I do, however, think at times youth attachment to phones might be somewhat out of hand. The fact that some teens state that they cannot ‘live’ without their phone or ‘can’t turn it off’ causes me to worry. As I read this, I kept thinking, “It is just a phone… only a phone.”  Stald (2008) states that some youth feel if they turned their phone off they would either miss something important or not be available to friends who might need them. It sounds as if these youth are very insecure or codependent on their friends (and phone).  It seems at times that these devices which were meant to make life easier and a person less tied-down, are actually causing stress and challenges. I personally do not think it is healthy for anyone to always ‘be on’; down time is important for ‘recharging’ and it appears that many youth, at least based on this article, are not getting that.

The Buddhist philosophy of mindfulness or being present also came to mind while I read this article. The idea behind mindfulness is that by quieting the mind, being present in all that is going on around you, you will become more aware. Awareness brings about an inner calm; something all of us can use from time to time. Stald (2008) describes the idea(s) of presence to include a physical presence and a presence through connection via phones.  I was pleased when I read, “It is simply not possible to be equally present in two places at the same time” (Stahl, 2008, p. 154). I try to explain that to my college students all the time; if they are texting in class, which many of them (try to) do, they are not able to fully comprehend and be present in class at the same time. 

While I think that mobile phones are ‘handy’ especially when I need my husband to stop off at the store for something I forgot, I worry that youth of today rely too heavily upon them.  Stald (2008) mentioned that to some youth their phone is an extension of their body.  I truly wonder if this is a positive healthy idea.
Below is a link to some current information and data about teens and texting which I found to be interesting.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/under-aged-texting-usage-and-actual-cost/

Stald, G. (2008). Mobile Identity: Youth, identity, and mobile communication media. In D.Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, Identity, and Digital Media.  Cambridge, MA: MacArthur Foundation Series (pp. 143-164).  Doi:10.1162/dmal.9780262524834.143

Social networks and teens. . .these two topics go hand-in-hand in present day. Teens spend large amounts of time ‘hanging-out’ on social network sites (SNS) like MySpace and Facebook.  But why?  Boyd  (2008) discusses this in her article, Why Youth *heart* Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life. She examines who is on SNS and why they are there.

I have always been interested in the relationship between culture and socio-economic status as it relates to youth and education. Boyd (2008) found that urban Black teens are just as likely to join a social network site as White teens from wealthier backgrounds; however, their time on these sites may vary due to limited accessibility to the internet.  After reading this I was left with the question of accessibility and participation from other groups Boyd failed to mention; for example whether poor rural students of any race/ethnicity, Latino students, youth who live along the U.S. boarder, or immigrant non-native English speakers participate as much as Black and White youth she mentioned?

Prior to reading this article, I had not truly considered the reasons teens flock to SNS. Boyd’s  (2008) explanations made complete sense to me. Public spaces which historically were places for teens to socialize have more recently become off-limits due to public fear. Places such as drive-in movie theatres and malls either do not exist anymore or have limited teen’s access to be with one another; in addition, teen’s lack mobility since many cannot drive which also limits where they can go. With these restrictions in place, teens have turned to the internet which, for many, is readily available at home, school and with smart-phones, anywhere they have phone service. Teens can socialize and as Boyd (2008) found ‘hang-out’ or ‘lurk’ with their friends on sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

Furthermore, most teens state they are online because everyone else is; however, there is a small contingent of students who opt-out of SNS because everyone else is there (Boyd, 2008). The majority of teens online are there because they do not want to be the outsider or miss something important that could affect their social status. In effect, it appears that social status related to school has extended itself beyond the classroom and hallways and onto these social network sites.  I am very curious to see what the future holds for SNS and teens.  

Here are two websites related to this topic.  The first is simply statistic from Facebook on who its users are.  The second relates more directly to teens online and the demographics for this.  I find this interesting and thought you might too. 

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

Boyd, D. (2008). Why youth heart social networking sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth Identity and Digital Media (pp. 119-142). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.           

Producing Sites, Exploring Identities: Youth Online Authorship

Susannah Stern’s article Producing Sites, Exploring Identities: Youth Online Authorship takes a unique approach when examining the ‘what’s and why’s’ that motivate teens to write blogs or design web pages—she actually talks to teens. Most research related to this topic has been conducted by asking adults their thoughts and opinions about what motivates teens and the reason they write online versus asking the youth authors themselves. 

It is clear that youth use their online writing to share their thoughts and ideas and possibly receive comments back. Some teens use this as a way of exploring new identities, others want to learn about web publishing and have friends who have a blog or website, and yet others are using their writing as a means of self-expression.  To better explain the idea of self-expression, youth are using their blog as if it were a journal or diary…only public for everyone who has access to the Internet to read and comment on.

One point I found extremely interesting in Stern’s article relates to the varying perspectives of social scientists who think at times teens are trying present themselves as someone they are not, as if they are trying to create another persona through online writing. However, when teens are asked about this, many state they are trying to find their true authentic self through their online exploration.  While it is acknowledged that they sometimes present themselves ‘shined-up,’ they honestly believe they are presenting their ‘real’ self, the self that some are afraid to show face-to-face.  Since it is teens who are writing this, shouldn’t we listen and give more credit to their viewpoints rather than what researchers think is the reasoning behind their online authorship? 

One question I had after reading Stern’s article concerns the lack of information about the demographics of the teen authors she spoke with in gathering her information. I was left wondering if these teens were mostly male or female, were racially or culturally diverse, from low, middle or high socio-economic households, from urban, rural, or suburban areas or from second language learners. I can guess what the demographics might be, but that would be making huge assumptions on my part. I think this information would be interesting to examine and see if ALL youth are using blogs and web pages or only certain groups of youth are engaging in this type of exploratory writing.

Additional research on this topic resulted in finding many interesting articles including this one. Not only does it address similar issues discussed by Stern, the authors analyze weblogs associated with the developmental process of teens.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/download;jsessionid=52oqb6qqvm0vs.alexandra?pub=infobike%3a%2f%2fbpsoc%2fbjdp%2f2009%2f00000027%2f00000001%2fart00013&mimetype=text%2fhtml

Stern, S. (2008).  Producing sites, exploring identities: Youth online authorship. Youth, identity, and digital media. Ed. D. Buckingham. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. doi:10.1162/dmal.9780262524834.095

Subrahmanyam, K., Garcia, C. M., Harsono, L. S., Li, J., Lipana, L. (2009). In their words: Connecting on-line weblogs to developmental processes.  British Journal of Developmental Psychology (27), 1, (p. 219-245). dio: 10.1348/026151008X345979

Choosing a name

I am a doctoral student in the School of Education at New Mexico State University. One requirement for the class Technology, Society, and Education is to create a blog. The first step in creating a blog is to come up with a name. While it sounds like an easy task, once I sat down at my computer it proved to be more challenging than I first predicted. I tried to think of a snappy title that described me or my interests. Nothing in came to mind.  I questioned my creative nine-year old step-son asking him what I should name it, his response "Jeannette's Baguette"; when I further questioned why, he replied, "you really like bread, and it was the only word I could think of that rhymes with Jeannette".  While he is correct - still not a good name for my blog. 

I brainstormed many ideas related to education. One front runner for a name was 'the Pedagogue', but this word carries with it many connotations including dogmatic and formal.  Neither of those are attractive to me. The next term I considered on my quest for a blog title was 'Andragogue.' It made sense because I teach adults. I was sharing my struggle to find 'the perfect name' for my blog with my husband; I told him I felt like I was naming a child. He asked what I had come up with so far.  I shared the ideas of 'pedagogue' and 'andragogue' along with the suggestion of 'Jeannette's Baguette' and my husband says what about 'Jeannetteagogy' - your study of education.  Brilliant.  And so my blog 'Jeannetteagogy' was born.