An introduction to social networking presented to parents of teens at Raw Voices: Teens in the Media Arts Festival at Columbia College, Chicago. The presentation covered common social networking sites and how to use them safely and while protecting privacy.
5. Use it as a tool to share useful information with friends and fans as well as your latest work. Remember: most people won’t visit your website or check out your cause unless you alert them.
18. Be careful about revealing your location: Make sure you’re in a public place, with people you trust or feel comfortable with strangers knowing where you are
19. Underage and young adult users should be encouraged to learn and experiment with these tools but understand that laws and rules of social conduct online should be observed as they are in the real world. Resource: http://www.thatsnotcool.com
As I’m sure you know, social-networking is becoming more and more prevalent among teens and the population in general. Just to put this in perspective, did you know that: i. Facebook has more than 200 million active users? ii. In October 2008, YouTube attracted 100 million online video viewers with people watching an average of 92 videos a month.
So that’s a lot of eyeballs and with that comes power but also safety and privacy concerns. Today I’m going to share some information about the most common social-networking sites, talk about how they’re used and go over some steps to reducing risks that go along with this new technology.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Facebook and MySpace. Both these sights serve as a place for people to connect with people they know in the real world as well as online. The site templates allow you to upload photos, post links, share notes and befriend people.
Then it became a useful tool to keep in touch with friends from around the world and promote my work online. As someone who was putting out original content online, whether blog posts, photos or videos, I used a lot of tools to help get the word about about my work.
For example, this is a Facebook Cause I put together for an organization called Mississippi Center for Justice to help them spread the word about a specific campaign. It’s been really effective in reaching people outside the state who might not have know about the issue: http://apps. facebook .com/causes/266831/33917124? m=6d54c0aa
For a creative person, they can be extremely helpful in keeping friends and family up to date on what they’re working on lately. Whenever I post a new article to my blog or release a new video, I share the link on my Facebook news feed and that way my friends can see it.
MySpace is a site often favored by musicians, artists and filmmakers. MySpace features ads a lot more prominently than Facebook as you’ll notice here.
When I’m searching for a band online, the first thing I usually find is their MySpace page where I can listen to their songs for free. I’ve actually had friends who get film work through MySpace connections and I’ve even heard about musicians being discovered by building huge fan bases on MySpace. So aside from socializing, sites like Facebook and MySpace have real value in self-promotion because you can reach large amount of people with relatively little work.
Today, teens seem to inherently understand that they not only consume content but they have the opportunity to create it. Youtube is a great example of creativity in the online community. YouTube is a free service that provides a place for people to upload videos to share online. There’s a huge variety of content from music videos to movie trailers, comedy clips, animation, nonprofit videos, the list goes on.
The nice thing about YouTube videos is that they can be embedded on other websites and blogs and shared around the web. So unless you restrict it, anyone could potentially take your video and post it on their site.
A lot of people ask me, why on earth do I want to know what people are doing? And sure, there are people who post things like, “J u st brushed my teeth” but mostly, it’s a great place to ask questions, share news, links to your content, articles you find interesting, funny videos, etc.
Something to remember is that each social networking has it’s own culture and opportunities. The best advice I’ve gotten is to watch how other people are using the site first and if you have questions, ask other members to help you out. Most people on social networks are very generous because they see the value in their connections.
Ofcourse, as teenagers grow into young adults, their social-networking profiles change with them. The people they are connected with often broaden to include work collegues and even their employers. On Facebook, I’m friends with both my bosses, my mom and people within my industry so I’m not about to post anything that could be questionable to them or anyone else I know. Something that is important for young adults to understand is that your network is an invaluable resource. As you enter the work force, those connection can help your career and the videos, blog posts and songs you release online can be the keys to opportunity.
At the same time, bosses are becoming increasingly savvy about finding information about potential and current employees online. One of the first things many people do after they meet someone is Google them.
And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that a photo of a college frat party or offensive YouTube tirade aren’t going to look so good. *I found this photo on Flickr under Creative Common license which means anyone is legally allowed to post it on their own blog or website as long as it’s not for financial gain. The photo even had a caption with the name of the girl. Probably not the best idea…
That brings me to an important point, and this goes for posting anything online, no matter how secure you think your profile is, no matter how little traffic your blog gets, never post anything on a social network that you wouldn’t feel comfortable seeing on the cover of the New York Times.
Also, because Twitter is so immediate, I could post something like, I ’m at Mercury Caf e on Chicago Avenue and someone could find me there in an instant. That’s why I’m careful only to tweet about my location when I’m in public spaces or feel comfortable having people know where I am.
Recently parents and teachers have started to see a need for educating teens about abuse online. The AdCouncil recently released a great series targeted at 8 th and 9 th graders called thatsnotcool.com. It uses social media to educate kids about drawing their digital line with texting, online photos and harrassment. Example: http://www. thatsnotcool .com/ Especially for underage and young adult users, they should be encouraged to learn and experiment with these tools but understand that laws and rules of social conduct uphold online just as they do in the real world.