Talking Points on Teens Talk Back

Some things I Understand- After reading all of the articles I believe that an underlying theme I see in all of them is that youth are using the media as a place to socialize with others of the same age group and to express themselves and their identity. In the article by Danah Boyd it says," Youth use it (MySpace) for identity production and socialization in contemporary American society." MySpace is used as a social network in which teens can make their own profile pages, add pictures of themselves and friends, send comments to others and look to see who left them comments. Boyd says, " Checking messages and getting comments is what brings people back to MySpace everyday." Teens are using MySpace almost more than once a day and even have the page open when they are doing homework. Some even access MySpace while they are in school. I think that the adults ideas about MySpace are drastically different from teens. Boyd says, " Moral panics are a common reaction to teenagers when they engage in practices not understood by adult culture." Many parents are worried at the fact that their children are on the site. However, in the article "Family, Community and Youtube", the author tells how he went to a meet-up to meet other Youtube members and that some young people that have videos on the site were brought by their parents who encouraged them to go to the meet. Perhaps parents should not be so constricting to what their children do as Boyd says, " Restricting youth to controlled spaces typically results in rebellion and the destruction of trust. Of course, for a parent letting go and showing youth to navigate risks is terrifying. Unfortunately, i's necessary ffor youth to mature."
Some things I don't understand- There was a quote in the Boyd article about teens sending messages that I did not understand. It says, " MySpace's messaging is better suited for youths' asynchronous messaging needs."
Connections to other texts or course themes- In the Youtube article when it discussed the parents bringing their children to the Youtube meet up and encouraging their children to be seen by others, it reminded me of one of the articles about Kid Nation. The article pulled a quote from Meghan Daums' piece in Los Angeles Times which said, " Now that the culture of celebrity worship spans several generations, and because it's a biological imperative for parents to want for their children what they couldn't attain for themselves, it makes perfect sense for that some may want to see their kids on reality shows more than they want them becoming doctors."
Questions/ Comments/ Points to Share in Class-I feel that MySpace is a site that teens should not be using as much as they do. Many problems are arising from teens using the site and many children of young ages are portraying themselves through their pictures as much older, therefore attracting older males. I think that parents should realize more of what MySpace is all about and what exactly their children are doing on the site.