Teens today rely heavily on social media to build and maintain friendships as interacting online allows them to stay connected beyond physical boundaries. Several studies found that teens view engaging with social media as important for developing and maintaining friendships with peers when getting together in person is not possible. While social media allows teens to potentially make new friends online, most tend to connect with people they already know. Maintaining an online social network and displaying friend connections provides a sense of social identity and status among peers. However, the public nature of social media can also lead to drama and bullying as gossip and rumors spread more widely online.

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
• Several teens surveyed
throughout the US admit that,
“engaging with social media is
important for developing and maintaining
friendships with peers” (Ito 79).
• Teens use social media to “keep in touch with
their friends, classmates, and peers when
getting together is not possible” (Ito 79).

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:
just a few of the many reasons!
Negotiate identity
Gossip
Support one another
Jokey for status
Collaborate
Share information
Flirt
Joke
Goof off
Hang out

6. Friendship-Driven Motive
Friendship plays a
central role in SNS use
Youth turn to social media
to maintain friendships
This motive supports the
kind of social relations that
center on:
Popularity, romantic
relationships and status
How technology plays a
role in friendships online
Establishing
Reinforcing
Complicating
Damaging

7. Peers & Friendship
Making friendships is a key
component of growing up
as a competent social being
and young people need to
be immersed in peer
cultures from an early age
“Teens flock to social media
to play out means of status
negotiations when they are
away from the school yard”
(Ito 93).

8. Communication via SNS
Encourages a smaller, close knit group of friends –
referred to “always on” type of communication. This
occurs through mobile phones and IM
Larger peer groups are connected via SNS
Online / offline are not separate worlds, just different
settings essentially
Teens use social media “to do what they have
been doing” (Ito 85).

9. Making Friends
“Social media
theoretically allows
teens to move
beyond geographic
restrictions and
connect with new
people” (Ito 88).
Can develop relations with
people who are different from
them
Most teens connect with people
they already know or are
already loosely connected with
Can turn acquaintances into
friendships
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

10. SNS can also be an outlet for teens who are ostracized
or outcasts in their own social setting
These teens find a sense of comfort in developing friendships online. The
anonymity of communicating without facing social consequences helps
provide that comfort.
While many teens find comfort in communicating online, the act of
meeting people online is stigmatized in society for a number of reasons.
And the amount of friendships made online is much smaller than those
made outside the online world.
Dangers and stigmas associated with online communication are:
• that it is dangers
• risky
• stranger danger notion
•teens may have issues getting along with peers at school or socializing
normally

11. Performing Friendships
• Friendships outside the online world are often never actually
confirmed as real friendships, social media however
reinforces the notion of friendships by putting a label on just
about everything
• “Buddy Lists,” “Friends” on Facebook are all ways in which
friendships are confirmed or made „official‟ online
• These lists are also made public, again reinforcing the fact
that they are real
• “Friends” label all articulated friendships, regardless of
intensity or connection type

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. FriendshipHierarchies
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
“Structural aspects of software can
force articulations that do not map well to
how offline social behavior works” (Ito 103)

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”
“The public, persistent, searchable and spreadable nature of mediated
information affects the way rumors flow and how dramas play out” (Ito 112)