It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens (danah boyd)

UC Berkeley School of Information

What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens’ lives? Youth culture and technology expert danah boyd uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens’ use of social media. In her new book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, boyd explores tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, she argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers’ ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions. Bio: Dr. danah boyd is a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, a research assistant professor at New York University, a fellow of Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and an alumna of the UC Berkeley School of Information (Ph.D. ’08). Dr. boyd is “the reigning expert on how young people use the Internet,” according to Fortune Magazine, which named her the smartest academic in tech. The Washington Post dubbed boyd “the high priestess of social networking.” Her research focuses on how youth integrate technology into their everyday practices and other interactions between technology and society.