1. YOUTH AND SOCIAL NETWORKING
Word 'online' is very common these days among irrespective of age or generation gap. In my
term paper, I will look at social networking and youth. Here I will be looking at implications of
social networking on youth which will be negative specifically. We all live in a world where
access to internet is 24X7, which made us available on various social platforms like Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat etc. And here comes the question of creating your virtual identity.
New media refers to on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as
well as interactive user feedback, and creative participation. Another aspect of new media is
the real-time generation of new and unregulated content.
It's not wrong if I say 50% people came across profiles, which were fake and we can claim them
as cyber-crime cases and the person who faced it as victims. Whether the information provided
on cyber space and social platforms are reliable? As questioning the integrity of information
about the person's identity is more crucial nowadays (No one wish to chat with a fake person,
and end up being a victim of cyber-crime, Oops those blind dates...Bizarre! )Accessing or
allowing the world to know about you, as a netizen (a combination of inter-NET savvy citizens),
with rights to speech and expression, according to layman terms it is to share your point of
views via social platforms where you will feel connected to people around the world and
believes that you are taking stand for a cause until and unless govt. invades in and try to set
rules on what to post and what not to post! (With respect to recent case in Mumbai where two
girls were put in bars, for updating and liking the status against a political party, under Section
66 in year 2013).
If we look at the statistics, 93% of youth are active users of internet and 83% own a cellphone
(smartphones). Every smartphone has internet connection and it’s user who is holding a virtual
profile on general social networking platform. Internet goes with a blend of net savvy citizens
and often called as ‘netizens’. As we know that we have limited self-regulation when it comes
to internet. Generally peer pressure and experimenting with newer technologies are the reason
to influence youths. Various social networking platforms which are influencing youth includes
Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace and older versions like orkut attracted many young interests
though. Presently, the audience and young consumer is mopped by instant messengers like
Whatsapp, Viber, Line, Hike etc. From picture sharing applications like Instagram and dating

2. applications like tinder or confessions apps like whisper. All this creates a need to stay online
and be a part of discussion, which leads to the origin of Fear of missing out or FOMO.
Cyber-crime statistics are staggering. Computer crime is one of the fastest-growing types of
illegal activity. While the Internet links people together like never before, it also provides
endless opportunity to criminals seeking to exploit the vulnerabilities of others. These types of
crime are notoriously hard to solve and sometimes occur without the victim ever knowing
anything illegal has taken place. Despite the risks, there are things you can do to help protect
yourself from becoming one of the many cyber-crime statistics.
Is it important that you share your information?
Some might think it is important, as you are creating a virtual identity where you are telling
your audience (people you talk to or will be talking to) about who you are and what you do? As
to some people it is building their own network or circle of people e.g. workplace, educational
institution, society etc. or may be for personal purposes. For some they consider any wrong
information about themselves as fraud, which will sweep them directly under an act of cyber-
crime. And on the other hand to some people, sharing everything about yourself (personal
information) is next to invasion of unknown people to trace you and about your life, in terms of
internet activities like Geo tagging, tagging pictures and people. There are different viewpoints
by different people on this issue which vary mostly. And we do find some people who do not
use social platforms as a way of communication, as they believe it as a non-reliable source to
trust and question the idea of authenticity of information about a person, and henceforth there
are more chances of virtual identity to be vague.
Based on nationally representative data, a study conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation in five-
year intervals in 1998–99, 2003–04, and 2008–09 found that with technology allowing nearly
24-hour media access, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has
risen dramatically, especially among Black and Hispanic youth. Today, 8–18 year-olds devote an
average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media in a typical day (more
than 53 hours a week) – about the same amount most adults spend at work per day. Since
much of that time is spent 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they
actually manage to spend a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content in those
7½ hours per day. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 96% of 18–29 year
olds and three-quarters (75%) of teens now own a cell phone, 88% of whom text, with 73% of
wired American teens using social networking websites, a significant increase from previous

3. years. A survey of over 25000 9- to 16-year-olds from 25 European countries found that many
underage children use social media sites despite the site's stated age requirements, and many
youth lack the digital skills to use social networking sites.
The role of cellular phones, such as the iPhone, has created the inability to be in complete
solitude, and the potential of ruining relationships. The iPhone activates the insular cortex of
the brain, which is associated with feelings of love. People show similar feelings to their phones
as they would to their friends, family and loved ones. Countless people spend more time on
their phones, while in the presence of other people than spending time with the people in the
same room or class.
Interactivity has become a term for a number of new media use options evolving from the rapid
dissemination of Internet access points, the digitalization of media, and media convergence. In
1984, Rice defined new media as communication technologies that enable or facilitate user-to-
user interactivity and interactivity between user and information. Such a definition replaces the
"one-to-many" model of traditional mass communication with the possibility of a "many-to-
many" web of communication. Any individual with the appropriate technology can now
produce his or her online media and include images, text, and sound about whatever he or she
chooses. Thus the convergence of new methods of communication with new technologies shifts
the model of mass communication, and radically reshapes the ways we interact and
communicate with one another. In, "What is new media?" Vin Crosbie (2002) described three
different kinds of communication media. He saw Interpersonal media as "one to one", Mass
media as "one to many", and finally New Media as Individuation Media or "many to many".
New Media has also recently become of interest to the global espionage community as it is
easily accessible electronically in database format and can therefore be quickly retrieved and
reverse engineered by national governments. Particularly of interest to the espionage
community are Facebook and Twitter, two sites where individuals freely divulge personal
information that can then be sifted through and archived for the automatic creation of dossiers
on both people of interest and the average citizen.
When we think of interactivity and its meaning, we assume that it is only prominent in the
conversational dynamics of individuals who are face-to-face. This restriction of opinion does not
allow us to see its existence in mediated communication forums. Interactivity is present in
some programming work, such as video games. It's also viable in the operation of traditional
media. In the mid-1990s, filmmakers started using inexpensive digital cameras to create films. It
was also the time when moving image technology had developed, which was able to be viewed
on computer desktops in full motion. This development of new media technology was a new
method for artists to share their work and interact with the big world. Other settings of
interactivity include radio and television talk shows, letters to the editor, listener participation

4. in such programs, and computer and technological programming. Interactive new media has
become a true benefit to every one because people can express their artwork in more than one
way with the technology that we have today and there is no longer a limit to what we can do
with our creativity.
The new media industry is noted as cool, creative and egalitarian. The working environments
are thought of as relaxed and non-hierarchal. When depicted in television shows and films,
standard tropes are used to show how workers are creative, hip and come from diverse
backgrounds.
Nalini Prasad
2nd
year (5th
semester)
B.A. Journalism