Week 4 discussion activity #ci2312
According to authors Wängqvist & Frisén (2016), online contexts are important settings for adolescent identity development because of all the social networks that open up and the endless possibilities of meeting people and connect to peers you may never have had the chance to connect with before. I think this has the possibility of holding true for adults, but many of adults already have an established identity and it will be hard for them to venture off their current path, especially when they are “socially awkward” to social media in a sense.
The Bozkurt & Tu (2016) article presents research that attempts to answer the question, “How can social networks impact learning through digital identity formation?” I would answer this question with a few complex thoughts and ideas. The first being that you are force fed information on social media and through social networks that can be both good and bad. Having adverse affects. It can be beneficial in a way that you are comfortable with your “peers” that you have met through these social platforms which can make you more comfortable.
In Alec Couros’ final slide in his TEDtalk that I watched this week he asks, “How do we help … kids discover and experience the many emerging possibilities [of the Internet] for networked, human connection while allowing them to safely grow and share their identities and the identities of others?” I had a tough time answering this question for myself. There is a very fine line on the internet and it is often times hard to see. You can find many beneficial things out there, but there are just as many, if not more negatives out there that we try to shield kids and younger people from. It can be a very messy and scary place, but I think a good way for us to help is to monitor what they have access to, while also giving them the freedom to learn from their own mistakes and experiences. It’s like telling a 4 year old not to touch the hot stove, you can tell them all you want, but they will never truly understand until they touch it and learn that they don’t want to do that again.
