Book review: “It’s complicated: the social lives of networked teens” by: Danah Boyd

An excellent book about teens today

Boyd’s ambition is to describe the teenager’s use of social media from their perspective, and she does it brilliantly! We get to come into a world where teens try to create their own identity, where friends are essential and where various dramas occur every day.​
First of all, Boyd wants to punch holes in the term “digital native”. The expression is sometimes used about the young generation that has grown up with digital tools and social media. She believes that the term indicates that these youngsters are born with some kind of “superpowers” when using digital devices – and they are definitely not!

On the contrary, she believes that we need to pay attention to all the young people who cannot keep up with the digital world and which problems many teens actually face. She describes it as a “digital divide” that has arisen between those who have access to digital resources and those who do not. When schools increasingly assume that students have the technical knowledge, it might increase social inequalities, which was supposed to be what digitalization should counteract! In this matter, schools have a great responsibility to work against inequality and offer everyone the same opportunities.

One more thing that Boyd contradicts is that social media would increase bullying at school and that they should, therefore, be avoided. She believes that bullying is not increasing through social media at all. She believes that the posts and “attacks” that occur should instead be described as “drama” because they rarely live up to the definition of bullying. Teens write posts that are sometimes cryptic or hidden, and their entire social interaction is a complex social game of “likes” and comments, but this only reflects the relationships young people have in real life. They don’t change the structures that already exist.

Boyd’s recommendation to teachers who want to enter social media is to get a teacher’s account on social media and then let students add you as a friend. In this way, you don’t get directly involved, but you give the students the opportunity to quickly socialize on their own terms. It’s a great way to reach your students and let them contact you as a teacher. Whether you choose Facebook, Instagram, or something else is up to each one.

In conclusion, I think the book was a wake-up call, and it opened my eyes to how complicated the lives of teens actually are. The book also made me remember my teenage years in a fun and almost embarrassing way. The secrets, the desire to be seen, the intriguing. . . . . .

It feels good to know that not that much has changed after all. Teens will always be teens, I guess. . . .​