Its Complicated

Danah boyd
Teens are struggling with their own sense of self, how they relate to others, and what it means
to fit into the broader world (141). Nobody likes to feel left out or like they cannot connect with
other people. Danah boyd explains this in her book, Its Complicated. Throughout the second
half of her writing, she goes into deeper details on the dangers, bullying, and inequalities that
take place online. boyd seems to be trying to get a better understanding of teens and their
online behaviors/ digital lives.
Many people, especially adults, blame the use of technology for bad decision making
amongst teenagers. From my own perspective, I do not believe the use of social networking
sites could be partly to blame for some of the bad decisions today's teenagers are making.
Technology does make it easier for teens to communicate with each other, but they would be
making these bad decisions whether we had all of this glamorous new technology or not. It is
ultimately up to the person for choosing to make a bad decision or not. I think the reason that
technology is often associated with the bad decision making of teens is that some adults do not
fully understand what teens are actually using their technology for. Most of us use it to see what
other people have been up too and talk to our peers, not to plot bad decisions we could make
this weekend.
boyd dedicated a chapter on bullying and social networking sites. As defined by a
Swedish psychologist, Dan Olweus, bullying is, Aggression, repetition, and imbalance in power.
He argued that youth aggressions was bullying when the situation involved all three
components (131). Bullying someone online is a bad decision by the bully. For example, boyd
explains the story of Amanda Todd a fifteen-year-old girl who had been bullied to the point
of taking her own life. It started when she was being harassed, stalked, and blackmailed by a
stranger. She posted a video to YouTube explaining her situation, but that was followed by
shaming, even more harassment, and physical torment. She tried switching schools and self

injuries, but this only brought more isolation and depression to her life (132). boyd further
explains, When both teasing and horrific acts of aggression become bullying, it becomes
difficult for the public to fully understand the significance of any particular bullying claim (132).
Some parents feel the need to watch over every aspect of their childs online lives. In the
beginning of the book, boyd explained Biancas situation. Her mother was a little strict on
Biancas use of technology. Boyd tells us, Not only do Biancas parents listen in on her
conversations whether they occur on the phone, via instant messaging, or in the living room
but they even interrupt to ask for clarifications (72). I think more people acting like Biancas
mother could have a negative impact on social media. Social media is not necessarily a place
for teens to go to to get into trouble and make bad decisions. Not all teenagers are bullying or
talking profanity. Sometimes parents need to have trust that their child is mature enough to have
a social networking site and use technology.
Social media is supposed to be a place for people to get together, share what they are
up too, and to communicate with each other easily. With the use of this technology, we can
literally see what is happening in the world around us. But does the use of new technology help
to eliminate some cultural divisions? boyd explains, The mere existence of new technology
neither creates nor magically solves cultural problems. In face, their construction typically
reinforces existing social division (156). boyd describes the situation of Alexandra Wallace.
Wallace attended UCLA and was annoyed with the horrible manners of the Asian students who
attended UCLA as well. To express how she felt, she posted a YouTube video criticizing Asians
for not being considerate to others (162).
Wallace's video got millions of views, as well as thousands of rude comments, and even
death threats, prompting her to drop out of UCLA and seek police protection (163). Social
networking sites were, at first, thought of to maybe help inequality issues. boyd states,
Social media magnifies many aspects of daily life, including racism and bigotry.
Some people use social media to express insensitive and hateful views, but

others use the same technologies to publicly shame, and in some cases
threaten, people who they feel are violating social decorum. By increasing the
visibility of individuals and their actions, social media doesnt simply shine a
spotlight on the problematic action; it enables people to identify and harass
others in a very public way. This, in turn, reinforces social divisions that plague
American society (163).
After reading this chapter on inequality and social media, I have come to see that these sites
and the use of technology have almost made it worse. Besides this, technology makes it very
easy to see what is happening around us and even what other places look like without going
there. With the click of a button, we can see Hawaii.
It is so easy to get information with the use of technology. You can see anything in the
world, talk to almost anyone you want too, and even find out information about people. It is
pretty scary to think about anyone who wants to can really find out a lot of information about you
your name, address, phone number, where you go to school. boyd further explains this, Not
only do other people know who you are online; increasingly, software engineers are designing
and building algorithms to observe peoples practices and interests in order to model who they
are within a broader system (160). For example, if you type your name into Google, you will
more than likely see a picture of yourself pop up, along with a tweet you might have sent or
other things you have posted online. Maybe this is why Biancas mom is so strict.
Sometimes the more strict the parents and rules, the more the teenager will want to
lash out. Many moody teens do not like to be told what to do, where they can go, or who they
can and cant talk too. boyd claims that teens flock to Internet spaces because they are denied
any privacy in spaces in the real world. Take Bianca for example. Her mother is very strict and
monitors her every move. I do not know if Bianca felt this way or not, but if it were me... that
would almost make me want to try and hide more things from my mom to see if she could find it

or not. The use of technology can be good if you are trying to hide things, especially when you
have adults trying to watch everything you do.
Social media sites are different to adults than they are to teens today. As boyd describes
it,
Teens are desperate to have access to and make sense of public life;
understanding the technologies that enable publics is just par for the course.
Adults, in contrast, have more freedom to explore various public environments.
There are more likely and more equipped to compare networked publics to
other publics. As a result, they focus more on how networked publics seem
radically different from other publics, such as those that unfold at the local bar or
through church (13).
As a teenager, I can relate. It is hard for us to find privacy in the real world. Everywhere we go, it
feels like we are being watched... which we are. Everyone is. It is so hard to find privacy. So, we
make good use of our social networking sites. We communicate over text and can even share
photos to each other of what we are doing (basically like we are together without leaving our
very comfortable beds).
The use of social networking sites has made it SO easy to communicate with others, as
well as learn information about basically anyone you want to find out about. Thinking about the
use of technology can be scary, considering anyone can find out anything about you. But it is
also very helpful and user friendly (most of the time). boyd traveled to (she didnt call, text,
skype, or snapchat) numerous states to interview and watch teens and their digital lives. She
writes about different aspects of the use of online sites with each chapter. She even goes into
further detail by creating different topics in each chapter by bold facing them and making them a
bigger font. She makes her book very easy to follow along with. boyd did an excellent job
elaborating on the good and bad views of teens utilizing these social media sites, as well as the

adult's views. Throughout the entire book, you can tell boyds main purpose was to get an inside
look at teens and their online lives and behaviors.