The document describes the Space2Cre8 project, a social network designed for adolescents around the world. The project aims to use digital social networks to help youth communicate and understand differences in language, culture, ideology and geography. The network was developed over four phases from 2008-2011 through an iterative design process involving youth, programmers, designers, teachers and researchers. Key features of the network included customizable profiles, shared media like photos and videos, discussion groups, and analytics of user activities. Evaluations found that over time, youth shifted to new forms of collaboration using different modes of communication like music to share their everyday lives and perspectives with one another.

1. {
The Space2Cre8 Project

2. Space2Cre8:
A Social Network for Adolescents
around the World

3. How can we use digitally-­‐‑enabled social networks to
position youth to communicate and understand
across differences—in language and other modes and
media for communication, in ideology, in culture,
and in geography?

4. Oslo, Norway
New York, US
Oakland, US
Western Cape,
South Africa
Lucknow,
India
Northern Territory,
Australia
SITES AROUND THE WORLD
Tainan
City,
Taiwan
London,
England

5. Ñ Iterative over three years
Ñ Youth driven (in functionality & aesthetics)
Ñ Collaboratively achieved (programmers,
designers, teachers, students, and researchers)
A Design Research Project

6. SPACE2CRE8 Design Phases
PHASE 2
FEB 09-­‐‑AUG 09
PHASE 1
OCT 08-­‐‑JAN 09
PHASE 3
SEPT 09-­‐‑JUN 10
PHASE 4
JUL 10-­‐‑JUL 11
OCT 08
FEB 09
SEPT 09
JUL 10

7. PHASE 1
October 2008 -­‐‑ January 2009
• PROFILES
• BLOGS
• PHOTOS
• VIDEOS
• GROUPS
• PRIVATE
MESSAGES

8. PHASE 2
February 2009 -­‐‑ August 2009
• PROFILES
• BLOGS
• PHOTOS
• VIDEOS
• GROUPS
• PRIVATE MESSAGES
• HOMEPAGE
• BACKGROUNDS
• TRANSLATIONS

9. PHASE 3
September 2009 -­‐‑ June 2010
• PROFILES
• BLOGS
• PHOTOS
• VIDEOS
• GROUPS
• PRIVATE MESSAGES
• HOMEPAGE
• TRANSLATIONS
• BACKGROUNDS
• SPLASH PAGE
• CHAT
• AUDIO
• POINTS

10. PHASE 4
July 2010 – July 2011
• PROFILES
• BLOGS
• PHOTOS
• VIDEOS
• GROUPS
• PRIVATE MESSAGES
• HOMEPAGE
• BACKGROUNDS
• SPLASH PAGE
• CHAT
• AUDIO
• POINTS
• GAMES
• MESSAGE BLAST
• NEWS SECTION
• NOTIFICATIONS

11. {
The Network Overview
Communal pages

15. {
Profile Pages
Highly customizable

20. {
Media projects
Shared & circulated

21. Digital Stories

22. Documentaries

23. Photo Collages

24. Gabriella’s Global Gaze
Remixed Videos

25. Wearable Art

26. Murals

27. {
Backend analytics
Customized

28. Back end custom content analytics
Clickable icons to explore content
Filters for
searching
content

29. Analytics: User profile page
Clickable counts of user activities

30. Function: Private Messages

31. Content Pop Up Window: Private Messages

32. {
Some Insights
What we found

33. Shift toward new forms of
collaboration over time

34. Shift to using different modes to
communicate
Ñ Creation of hybrid genres
Ñ Use of music and non-­‐‑
linguistic modes to
communicate
Ñ Narrating everyday lives
Ñ Making each other more
‘real’

35. Shift to considering ethical
obligations of dialogue

36. “[We’re] definitely a group that dreams.
Dreams of a beeer community. Dreams
that we want to be heard or seen. We want-­‐‑
we have something to say. We have
something to say and we want the public to
hear it. That'ʹs what we are. We'ʹre just like
the kids from whatever hood we'ʹre from
with something to say.”
-­‐‑Vince 7/28/11 Interview

37. Glynda Hull, University of California, Berkeley
glynda@berkeley.edu
Amy Stornaiuolo, University of Pennsylvania
amystorn@gse.upenn.edu