Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media

Publication Date: November 2009

Publisher: MIT Press

Author(s): Lisa Tripp; Christo Sims; Laura Robinson; Dan Perkel; C. J. Pascoe; Katynka Z. Martinez; Dilan Mahendran; Patricia G. Lange; Heather A. Horst; Becky Herr-Stephenson; Rachel Cody; Danah Boyd; Matteo Bittanti; Sonja Baumer; Mizuko Ito

Research Area:

Keywords: Social media; New media literacies; Digital media and learning; Digital youth

Type: Book

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Conventional wisdom about young people's use of digital technology often equates generational identity with technology identity: today's teens seem constantly plugged in to video games, social networks sites, and text messaging. Yet there is little actual research that investigates the intricate dynamics of youth's social and recreational use of digital media. Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out fills this gap, reporting on an ambitious three-year ethnographic investigation into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings - at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. By focusing on media practices in the everyday contexts of family and peer interaction, the book views the relationship of youth and new media not simply in terms of technology trends but situated within the broader structural conditions of childhood and the negotiations with adults that frame the experience of youth in the United States.

Integrating twenty-three different case studies - which include Harry Potter podcasting, video-game playing, music-sharing, and online romantic breakups - in a unique collaborative authorship style, Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out is distinctive for its combination of in-depth description of specific group dynamics with conceptual analysis.