1. Krysten Faulkner

2. With advances in technology and media
convergence, teens today are growing up in a much
different world than their parents did. The Internet
now serves many teenagers as a place to ‘hang out,’
without needing a ride to the nearest mall.
Chapter 2 of Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out focuses on how young
people “build, maintain and develop friendships” (Ito 114) through social media.

3. Staying socially
connected

4. SNS(s)
Allow teens to extend
interactions beyond physical
boundaries – conversations
don’t have to stop!
Encourages peers to socialize
together vs. small groups or one-
on-one interactions
Allow teens to have more privacy
with their communication –
through SNS but also with
mobile phones and IM

5. Why youth network:

6. Friendship-Driven Motive
Friendship plays a
central role in SNS use
How technology plays a
role in friendships online

7. Peers & Friendship

8. Communication via SNS

9. Making Friends
Teens make friends by choice
Their choices are influenced by
social, cultural and economic
conditions around them
“Homophily” is the likelihood that
people connect to others that
share their interests and identity,
such as similar age / shared
interests / values

11. Performing Friendships

12. Friend lists also serve 3 major
purposes:
1) An address book of contacts
2) Privacy settings and control
3) A way to display social identity and
status
SNS(s) allow users to determine their own
boundaries concerning who they accept
and who they reject as “friends”
Teens enjoy this option because it
allows them to be private, have a
deeper sense of connection with the
people they do communicate with and
to be safe

13. Friendship Hierarchies
MySpace’s “Top 8” or “Top Friends” feature
allow users to pick a selected amount of
‘friends’ to be featured in their top spots
which appeared publically on their profiles
This feature proved to be very controversial
for many users, especially youth. The feature
forced users to pick certain friends over
others, often causing drama or fights
between friends

14. Status, Attention & Drama
SNS and mediated forms of communication can be a great place for
youth to develop and build friendships throughout their formative years,
but communicating online comes with the territory, especially for teens.
The Internet is home to the struggles that often occur as a natural part of
the aging process.

15. Common problems
that occur for teens
online include:
• the fact that friendships are made
extremely visible which can extend
or amplify drama beyond school
• gossip travels faster over the
Internet – making it a catalyst for
teen drama
• online “stalking”
• the ‘News Feed’ which allows
users to constantly keep up with
their friends at all times
• bullying or “cyberbullying”

16. Conclusion
“Social media and social networking sites allow teens to be
more carefully attuned, in an ongoing way, to the lives of their
friends and peers” (Ito 113)
Teens use social media to build, maintain and to develop friendships
with their peers. As a way to share ideas, cultural artifacts and
emotions with one another. And mainly, to strengthen connections
Common practices associated with SNS(s) use of teenagers are:
gossiping, flirting, joking around and hanging out
Technology, especially social media, has the ability to mirror or
magnify teen friendship practices either by enhancing or
intensifying situations