Millions of teens who grew up with a mouse in one hand and a remote control in the other now pour out their hearts, minds and angst in personal online. And anyone with a connection — including would-be predators — can have a front-row view of this once-secretive teenage passion play.
Welcome to teen America — on display at your nearest computer.
Unprecedented numbers of teens are using blogs — Web logs — to do what they once did through personal diaries, phone conversations and hangout sessions: cementing friendships with classmates, seeking new friends, venting, testing social limits, getting support and getting all emo ("highly emotional" in blog-speak).
"Blogs are basically reality TV for the Web," says Pete Blackshaw, with marketing analysis firm Intelliseek
"This is the new way kids interact," adds Paul Saffo of the Institute for the Future in Menlo Park, Calif. "Fifty years ago, they borrowed their parents' phones or made their own phones out of string and Dixie cups. Today they have their own cellphones, and they have their own computer accounts and Web pages and they have their own blogs.
"It's part of life in the cyber age."
And it's not just a handful of kids. At least 8 million teens blog, according to Intelliseek. The Pew Internet & American LifeProject estimates 4 million teen bloggers. Those statistics were collected a year ago, and the numbers might be higher if you factor in not just blogs but the world of social websites, especially the booming MySpace, a hybrid site that allows people to post their personal interests, write blogs, put up video and set up ways to communicate with their friends. That site has exploded to 34 million users in just two years — and is dominated by 14- to 34-year-olds.
Blogs and social sites are so popular that many schools have banned them. Just last week a private school in New Jersey took it a step further, telling students to dismantle their personal Internet diaries or face suspension. Scroll through teen pages on sites such as LiveJournal, Xanga and MySpace and see firsthand what the fuss is.
Teens complain about parents and homework. They share daily dramas, post songs from the latest bands, display pictures of themselves. They write angst-ridden poetry, detail supposed sexual exploits and complain about each other or offer support. But mostly they simply relay the details of their daily lives.
Teens are ecstatic, hooked and hopeful about the medium. Law enforcement officials are wary. There have been cases where predators have found kids who posted too much information about themselves. And parents — those who actually know what their kids are doing online — are "freaked," says Parry Aftab, executive director of online child safety site WiredSafety.diaries.
Unprecedented numbers of teens are using blogs — Web logs — to do what they once did through personal diaries, phone conversations and hangout sessions: cementing friendships with classmates, seeking new friends, venting, testing social limits, getting support and getting all emo ("highly emotional" in blog-speak).
"Blogs are basically reality TV for the Web," says Pete Blackshaw, with marketing analysis firm Intelliseek
"This is the new way kids interact," adds Paul Saffo of the Institute for the Future in Menlo Park, Calif. "Fifty years ago, they borrowed their parents' phones or made their own phones out of string and Dixie cups. Today they have their own cellphones, and they have their own computer accounts and Web pages and they have their own blogs.
"It's part of life in the cyber age."
And it's not just a handful of kids. At least 8 million teens blog, according to Intelliseek. The Pew Internet & American LifeProject estimates 4 million teen bloggers. Those statistics were collected a year ago, and the numbers might be higher if you factor in not just blogs but the world of social websites, especially the booming MySpace, a hybrid site that allows people to post their personal interests, write blogs, put up video and set up ways to communicate with their friends. That site has exploded to 34 million users in just two years — and is dominated by 14- to 34-year-olds.
Blogs and social sites are so popular that many schools have banned them. Just last week a private school in New Jersey took it a step further, telling students to dismantle their personal Internet diaries or face suspension. Scroll through teen pages on sites such as LiveJournal, Xanga and MySpace and see firsthand what the fuss is.
Teens complain about parents and homework. They share daily dramas, post songs from the latest bands, display pictures of themselves. They write angst-ridden poetry, detail supposed sexual exploits and complain about each other or offer support. But mostly they simply relay the details of their daily lives.
Teens are ecstatic, hooked and hopeful about the medium. Law enforcement officials are wary. There have been cases where predators have found kids who posted too much information about themselves. And parents — those who actually know what their kids are doing online — are "freaked," says Parry Aftab, executive director of online child safety site WiredSafety.diaries.
Parents should be concerned, especially when it comes to monitoring what kind of personal information teens post, Aftab says. They regularly reveal everything from where they go to high school to where they live, work, play and study — all big no-no's.
But she says parents also should put what teens are doing in context. Teens have always strayed outside boundaries; it's what they do. It's just that before the Net, they did it in private.
But she says parents also should put what teens are doing in context. Teens have always strayed outside boundaries; it's what they do. It's just that before the Net, they did it in private.
USA Today, (adapted)
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