Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Film 136C

Meadow Rhodes, Author

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Racial Issues with Technology

danah boyd

danah boyd is an influential social media researcher.  She focuses on teenagers and their voices within technology.  She is interested in the holes in society and how teenagers are filling them.  For instance, in this interview she talks about why teenagers are reaching out to strangers on the internet as opposed to their own peer group.  The lack of personal connections could be a factor in why social media is so popular.  By having hundreds of online “friends” you feel more loved than having real friends.  Also in this interview, boyd mentions how teens just want freedom.  This desire for freedom is carried out in every aspect of their behavior.  During Junior High school kids feel a great need to find their own freedom and individuality.  This freedom spurs a search for online friends and the desire to be popular on social media.





MySpace vs. Facebook

In boyd’s essay Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace, she lays out the differences between MySpace and Facebook.  “For all of 2005 and most of 2006, MySpace was the cool thing for high school teens and Facebook was the cool thing for college students”.  Another key difference was the safety factor that came with these sites.  MySpace had a reputation of being “sketchy” while Facebook was much more clean.  Boyd says that out of these differences came a divide.  This divide was established out of social classes.  Boyd explains how back in 2007 the “good, white, educated kids” were going to Facebook while MySpace was mostly filled with Latino teens from a lower class.  MySpace was also the perfect fit for mischievous kids who were into music and bands.  Teens on Facebook all knew of MySpace but many MySpace users were not aware of Facebook.  Since Facebook was mostly college students at its start it makes sense that people of lower classes, and users of MySpace, don’t know anyone in college.  Boyd brings this topic of discussion into the real world, “as a society, we have strong class divisions and we project these values onto our kids.  MySpace and Facebook seem to showcasing this division quite well”.  She acknowledges the class divide without arguing a specific point.  She expresses her opinions on these two websites and feels as if this should be a clue to change our ways.  She says, “many of our assumptions are problematic and the internet often reinforces our views instead of challenging them”.  The internet, unfortunately, often follows stereotypes.  The divide between MySpace and Facebook follows these social class stereotypes.

It is interesting to read this article knowing that soon MySpace will be obsolete.  Today, technology can follow racial lines and still cause issues within society.  Whether it is marketing toward a specific racial group or just the chance that a specific race likes a product more, race is always tied into the grand scheme of technology.  For example, someone of a low social class might not be able to afford a piece of technology.  Social classes can still follow a certain racial stereotype as well.  Therefore, social classes, race and technology are all intertwined. 
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Racial Issues with Technology"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path How Technology Has Affected Middle Schoolers, page 7 of 9 Next page on path