EDU720 Week 11 Post

Chapter 36 p. 1128 references studies by Gray, 2002 and Von Sternberg, 2002 where "abbreviations like lol for laugh out loud and brb for be right back' have been highlighted as commonly used.  Yet in this  author's experience the teenagers' use of such abbreviations was almost nonexistent stating, "I used to (use abbreviations)...  . Now I've started to type out "you" and 'are"...  . I don't know.  It looks better.  I don't know, maturity.  You just seem smarter."  This is not the case in the song I choose to share.  A Social Network  For Two: A Modern Love Song by Zefrank   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q06xFf6Xe8o (for some reason the link feature did not work for me?)  I find this point interesting because I have often questioned the use of "invented" or shortened spellings in IMs as potentially reinforcing misspelling and poor spelling habits.

You Tube - Christine Grenhow 2012 

In this video Ms. Greenhow presents many ways that online activity invites participation.  The fashion works invites people to design one of a kind articles of clothing.  In health, news media, social /political action people are invited to be engaged through online activity.  The huge question is "Can social media help people learn anything about life?"  This question is indeed a good question.  I tried to go to her Hot Dish application on Facebook but could not find it.  The concept sounded good.  

I experienced a situation last week where a "friend" of mine posted something to Facebook which I found to be rude.  It made me realize that at times you are the friends you keep.  For me personally it felt like I was back in middle school where I had to "unfriend" someone and worry about hurting their feelings.

In the article Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens' Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies by Danah Boyd and Alice Marwick I found it very interesting to note that so many of the teens which they interviewed described privacy in terms of having their own space away from their parents. The other key point from this article is the suggestion that privacy is disappearing as a social norm. There is something unsettling about that for me. At this point I can not quite articulate why it is unsettling but it has to do with my own need for some solitude to "recharge my batteries". I also found the Old Saybrook incident interesting because it points out how students do not always make the connection between posting on the internet and how that related to the concept of privacy. I would be curious to see the slide show.

All three sources provided valuable food for thought and further investigation. The topic has also been discussed around our dinner table with our 14 and 16 year old children!