Media Ecology Interview Highlights
Austin is 17 years old, an only child, and lives with his
parents in a rural area. He doesn’t have
any neighbors his age. He will be
entering his senior year of high school in August. His parents are college graduates with
degrees in Education and Mechanical/Civil Engineering. Austin isn’t quite sure about what he wants
to study after high school. He expresses
some interest in the health/medical field.
During the interview, Austin was texting his friends to
agree on a meeting time to play golf, texting his dad to tell him happy
birthday, calling his grandma, and playing a golf game on his phone. It took me some time (over the past few years)
to understand this type of multi-tasking, and it doesn’t bother me any
longer. If he is able to complete and
understand whatever it is he is working on, then so be it.
Excerpt #1: Q: What
is your favorite activity on the computer?
A: Playing online chess and interacting with people from all over the
world. I like my chess skills to be
tested. Q: Why do you play online and
not in a club at school? A: No way, I’m not joining a club. I don’t want
to be told when and where I have to meet, I want to play on my own time. Q: Do you have online rules to follow from
your parents? No, not really. They talked to me a lot when I was much
younger about giving out personal information, and told me talk to them if I
had questions. I knew they would be “in
the know”, so I didn’t try to hide a lot.
Excerpt #2: Q: Do you feel as if your mom and dad understand
today’s youth and new media? A: Well, my mom and dad both use technology such
as cell phones, computers, ipads, and ipods.
They use the technology for many things, but do they understand youth,
probably not. Mom just doesn’t get the
fact that when a friend sends a text, I don’t have to immediately respond! Q: So,
you don’t feel as if you have” rules” to follow with your friends? A:
What? No, we don’t have rules about how fast we answer text messages. We just text when we feel like it. Q: What
would you do if you didn’t have a cell phone? If I didn’t have my cell phone, I
would feel a lot less social! How would I keep up with my friends?
Excerpt #3: Q: Since you don’t have a Facebook account, do
you feel left out of the loop? A: I was never told that I couldn’t have a myspace
or facebook account, my parents actually encouraged me to get one. Honestly, I just didn’t want to set up an
account, and keep up with everything going on. Sometimes my friends talk about FB in our
conversations, but I don’t feel like I’m missing anything. I do have a Twitter account, it’s easy to
use, and I like it.
I find his answer to the questions why he doesn't join a club at school very interesting! I think one of the best things about social media is that I can participate at my leisure rather than a designated time too! The way the Internet has changed time and space boundaries has afforded new ways to participate in our social worlds!
ReplyDeleteP.S I'm at ISTE right now and really wish you were here. Next year for sure!