Youth Social Networking

Digital Youth Culture and Social Networking

Overview of Digital Youth Culture and Social Networking in relation to cyber crime: [1]For millions of young people, cyber spaces are becoming more important than physical places that society has traditionally established to accommodate youth entertainment and recreational needs. Youth with access to the Internet may prefer to meet privately or publicly but online rather than in person. For many years classic teen ”hangouts” such as rollerblade or ice skating rinks, movie theaters, and burger joints have become less popular in favor of online gaming and other computing activities. Increasing fuel prices are also impacting the ability of teenagers to ”go out” and hang out in public settings, as are bans on unsupervised youth under the age of 18 from occupying certain places like shopping malls. Hanging out after school in public, in lieu of participating in extracurricular activities (e.g., sports teams, theater, or student clubs,), is increasingly being displaced in some communities by youth visiting each others’ homes with or without parents or guardians present. However, mobile IT devices such as cell phones that enable email, instant messaging, and up/downloading of digital files are also changing youth social dynamics and culture.

Resources

Notes and References

1. By Neel Sampat and Samuel C. McQuade, III

See Also

• Types of Cybercrime
• Cybercriminal

Further Reading

Boyd, D. (2007). Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning—Youth, Identity, and DigitalMedia Volume, edited by David Buckingham. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; Hine, T. (2000). The rise and fall of the American teenager. Reprint edition. New York: Harper Perennial; Kirkpatrick, M. (2008, March 24). Facebook security lapse leaves private photos exposed, even Paris and Zuck’s. Retrieved from ReadWriteWeb Web site: (internet link) readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook _security_lapse_private_photos.php; Michels, S. (2007, December 3). No charges in MySpace suicide. Retrieved from ABC News Web site: https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/ story?id=3946124; Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). MCB University Press; Stern, A. (2007, November 8). MySpace hacked using simple HTML exploit—Alicia Keys and others targeted. Retrieved from Center Networks Web site: (internet link) centernetworks.com/myspace-hacked.