(2013-05-31) Two Boys Social Media Habits

Having run across two "interviews" of teenagers that attempt to draw lessons about the present/future of Social Media/Social Networking, and noting that

• there's a lot of creepy/sad stuff in there
• both interviewees are girls, who I suspect have a greater tendency toward creepy/sad drama...

For balance: “Teens Are Leaving Social Media in Droves Oh My God We’re Doomed Hold Me”

But I figured it would be foolish not to take advantage of The Boys...

Number Two Son: finishing 7th grade (Jan'2015: mid-9th)

• main computer is IMac in family library
• Mobile is Android MyTouch slider (Jan'2015: IPhone)
• he has a GMail account
• he does not have a FaceBook account, but he wants one, though he's not sure why. "Actually my friends use Instagram a lot, but I don't want to."
• he doesn't use Text Messaging/Instant Messaging much either, doesn't think his friends do, either.
• he uses EMail a bit, but not heavily
• if he needs to discuss something with a friend, he uses our landline, looking up his friend's home landline number in the paper school directory. (The directory isn't available online, and doesn't include any email addresses.)
• He does love to track memes and related silliness (ReddIt). This may be a loophole of him being given limited Computer Game time...
• so he's basically anti- or pre-social. It sounds like his friends are, too. This may be a Boy thing, or a Geek thing.

Number One Son: finishing 9th grade (Jan'2015: mid-11th)

• main computer: MsWindows Lap Top (high-end for gaming) (Jan'2015: cheaper/lighter laptop)
• Mobile is Android, but he wants IPhone because one group of friends uses Group Messaging a lot - 2013-05-01-Android[[Group MessagingBroken]]. (Jan'2015: IPhone, uses IMessage Group Messaging heavily)
• He and other friends use FaceBook a lot, for general chatting. He's in a couple class-specific Groups that stay on-topic. Mainly people use Facebook Messenger for Group Messaging - which he uses more by Mobile than Lap Top.
• Uses SnapChat a bit mainly for sending expressive selfie along with text message.
• if he needs to organize something Real World across groups of people, he can't easily use a single medium for it - a couple people have no Mobile, some use EMail but not FaceBook, vice versa (those people may use EMail, but he doesn't have their address)....

Also note I don't find their abilities to support the Digital Native theory.

• they're not very good at using Search Engine-s to find anything subtle/precise/actionable.
• they're not good at figuring out how to use new apps (e.g. shared calendar, changing to Instant Messaging), and are resistant to trying.
• they're not very good at fixing problems with apps, OS, etc.