Category: Communications

Pew Internet Report: Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks

This recent report from Pew Internet & American Life Project reviews How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace.

Some interesting findings:

1. Boys and girls have different views/behaviors on privacy
2. Half of all American online teens use a social network
3. Teens treat various types of personal information differently

This report is important because it is describing tomorrow’s college students. We need to understand students’ use and perceptions about technology. Our IT folks need understand this so that our technology infrastructure can continue to evolve at an appropriate pace. Our administrators need to understand this so that we can anticipate how to respond to issues related to privacy, and ethics, and the many other areas. Our faculty need to understand how students will expect these technologies and behaviors to translate into the classroom. Our Student Affairs folks need to understand how these behaviors will translate into behaviors outside the classroom. The list goes on, but the additional point is that we should be doing this collectively: having conversations across campus about the next generation of students that will be here soon.

(Side note: seems as if these “generations” come more and more quickly. The baby boomer generation is generally accepted as being post-WWII through the very early 1960s, where as “Generation X” and “Generation Y” and now the “Net Generation” have all followed in quick succession.)

Looking for an Online Social Networking Product

In response to a request from Campus Activities here at NC State, I am  currently researching different products that could be used for university-sponsored online social networks.  I had hoped that the Libraries here at State were developing something on this front (as they have for wikis and blogs) but no such luck. (I can see where this actually is outside the realm of the Libraries, but it never hurts to hope!) Nothing like this going on out of ITD, and I still need to check with DELTA.

I’ve played around with Ning, and there are certainly others, and I’ve found one review (so far) of several products. However, providing such a tool is fraught with all sorts of problems: accessibility, privacy, and so on. Some colleagues at the University of Minnesota are engaged in a similar project so I hope to get some good ideas from them.

ELI07: Interactive Theatre

Today we had the University of Colorado at Boulder Interactive Theatre Troop perform for us. It was amazing on a couple of levels. I should explain that interactive theatre is (as I understand it) an experience where the actors engage in a short play, then stay in character while audience members ask questions and interact with them.

First, in general, interactive theatre seems so powerful, and I could see us using it across the Division. Health Promotions used to have a small group that did something like this, but I think it’s been several years since they did this. I’m wondering if we could run something like this out of University Theatre. John McIlwee’s could recruit, train, supervise and otherwise manage the students in the troop, and then units in the Division could request their use on any number of topics. It could be run as a for-credit course. Imagine being able to portray student experiences and issues (like GLBT issues, race issues, rape and sexual assault, alcohol ab/use, talking to faculty….the list is endless) to other students to education them. Or to staff (Student Affairs, and other staff on campus).

Second, specifically, the troop performed a piece called “Facebook” and it was phenomenal! It’s one thing for DSA staff hear me blather on about online social networking, or to hear “experts” discuss the issues during our panel last January. It is a completely different thing to hear students talk about their experiences (quasi-) first hand. I say “quasi” because it is acting from a script, but the script is written by students and the director and it is acted by students. It was truly so life like. Key concept: students now have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. It’s a pain to keep up with, but they are addicted…and/or don’t want to seem lame to their “friends” and others. Students (both in character and out) described it as a procrastination activity…but they loved keeping up with people from different and past circles of their lives.

It was fabulous! I’m going to see if they will share their script. I’d love to have this performed somehow for our Division/campus.