Synopses & Reviews
In 2006, S. Craig Watkins participated in the MacArthur Foundations well-funded digital media initiative alongside a select team of scholars and tech experts. The goal was simple: to understand young peoples emphatic embrace of social and mobile media. Watkins went on to build a small research team that skillfully collected over 500 surveys and conducted 350 in-depth interviews with young adults, parents, and educators while visiting the online spaces where young people gather. It was a full-scale immersion into what Watkins calls the digital trenches,” and when he emerged, his understanding of the ways young people learn, play, bond, and communicate had become more detailed and dynamic.
It may come as no surprise that more teens are online than ever beforein fact 87 percent are. Consequentially, television is no longer the dominant medium it once was because young people are now spending an average of six to eight hours a day online. Watkins contends that most teens and twenty-somethings migrate online to share their lives with friends, something television simply cannot offer. As Melinda, a twenty-one-year-old student, proclaimed, What do people do without Facebook?” In other words, for young people today, if youre not online, then youre not really livingand the ubiquitous presence of their mobile phones, laptops, and iPods positions them at the center of our evolving digital landscape.
Timely and deeply relevant, The Young and the Digital covers a host of provocative issuesthe influence of social sites like MySpace and Facebook; the growing appetite for anytime, anywhere” media and fast entertainment”; how online digital gates” reinforce race and class divisions; how technology is transforming Americas classroomsand takes a fresh look at the pivotal role technology played in the historic 2008 election. Watkins also debunks popular myths surrounding cyberpredators, Internet addiction, and social isolation. The result is a fascinating portrait, both optimistic and cautious, about the coming of age of the first fully wired generation.
Review
With thorough research, deep thinking, and lively prose, Watkins adds enormously to our understanding of how the combination of new media and a new generation is changing the world. Read this refreshing book to understand our future!”
Don Tapscott, co-author of Wikinomics and author of Grown Up Digital Why does Facebook have the same appeal as gated communities? Is distraction more concerning than addiction? How do video games like World of Warcraft value friendship? Bracing yet reassuring, often surprising, and always substantive, Craig Watkins acts as an honest broker, testing the contradictory claims often made about young peoples digital lives against sophisticated fieldwork.”
Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide The Young and the Digital is the best and most nuanced report yet from the digital frontier. Watkins tells us not only what is happening with todays digital natives, but what it all means and where it may be taking us as a society.”
James Paul Gee, Mary Lou Fulton presidential professor of literacy studies, Arizona State University, and author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy Amidst the sensational headlines about Internet addiction, sexting, and how social networking is destroying young attention spans, The Young and the Digital is a breath of fresh air. Watkins shows how young people are really using technology, including the good, the not so good, and the many shades of gray in between. A must read for parents and educators!”
Anastasia Goodstein, author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online New communication technologies are usually one step ahead of our ability to understand their social and political implications. By using a mix of methods, Watkins convincingly captures the digital world inhabited by todays young adults while illustrating what the digital landscape means for our future.”
Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Synopsis
In
The Young and the Digital, S. Craig
Watkins skillfully draws from more than 500 surveys and 350 in-depth interviews with young people, parents, and educators to understand how a digital lifestyle is affecting the ways youth learn, play, bond, and communicate. Timely and deeply relevant, the book covers the influence of MySpace and Facebook, the growing appetite for “anytime, anywhere” media and “fast entertainment,” how online “digital gates” reinforce race and class divisions, and how technology is transforming America’s classrooms. Watkins also debunks popular myths surrounding cyberpredators, Internet addiction, and social isolation. The result is a fascinating portrait, both celebratory and wary, about the coming of age of the first fully wired generation.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Synopsis
In
The Young and the Digital, S. Craig
Watkins skillfully draws from more than 500 surveys and 350 in-depth interviews with young people, parents, and educators to understand how a digital lifestyle is affecting the ways youth learn, play, bond, and communicate. Timely and deeply relevant, the book covers the influence of MySpace and Facebook, the growing appetite for “anytime, anywhere” media and “fast entertainment,” how online “digital gates” reinforce race and class divisions, and how technology is transforming America’s classrooms. Watkins also debunks popular myths surrounding cyberpredators, Internet addiction, and social isolation. The result is a fascinating portrait, both celebratory and wary, about the coming of age of the first fully wired generation.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
About the Author
S. Craig Watkins writes about youth, media, technology, and society. He is associate professor of radio-TV-film at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of
Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement and
Representing: Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Table of Contents
Introduction The Young and the Digital
One Digital Migration: Young People’s Historic Move to the Online World
Two Social Media 101:What Schools Are Learning about Themselves and Young Technology Users
Three The Very Well Connected: Friending, Bonding, and Community in the Digital Age Four Digital Gates: How Race and Class Distinctions Are Shaping the Digital World
Five We Play: The Allure of Social Games, Synthetic Worlds, and Second Lives
Six Hooked: Rethinking the Internet Addiction Debate
Seven Now! Fast Entertainment and Multitasking in an Always-On World
Eight “May I have your attention?”: The Consequences of Anytime, Anywhere Technology
Conclusion A Message from Barack: What the Young and the Digital Means for Our Political Future
The Making of This Book: Research, Methods, and Acknowledgments
Notes