Ch. 3 Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out Chapter Summary

1. CHAPTER 3 (HANGING OUT, MESSING AROUND AND GEEKING OUT)
NICHOLAS BODLOVICK
Intimacy

2. YOUTH DATING CULTURE
 - Teens are the developers of
contemporary youth dating, they
tend to use new media for their
way of expressing their romance.
 - “Given that teens have been the
developers and shapers of
contemporary youth dating
culture, it makes sense that they
would quickly put new media to use
in the service of their romantic
pursuits” 118.

3. USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR DATING
 - As we all know, a good majority of teenage
relationships tend not to last long because of
all the stages they go through in life. When a
relationship goes wrong, most of the time
teens do not have the courage to break up in
person, so they rely on media.
 “Social media technologies have provided a
more extensive private sphere in which youth
can communicate primarily with age-clustered
friends, acquaintances, and sometimes
strangers; These more private channels of
communication have allowed an elaboration of
teens’ intimacy practices, especially
informing, maintaining, and ending romantic
relationships” 120.

4. MEETING AND FLIRTING (DIGITAL COMMUNICATION)
-Teenagers have a hard time having
a face-to-face conversation
especially when it comes to
meeting somebody of attraction and
flirting with them. With new media it
provides teen to have access on
collecting more information on the
person they like which gives them
confidence to talk & flirt.
-- “New media have provided a
variety of venues for teens to meet
and or further potential romantic
interest. Instant messaging, text
messages, and social network
messaging functions all allow teens
to proceed in a way that might feel
less vulnerable than a face-to-face
communication” (123)

5. COMMON FORUMS OF MEDIA USE
 Instead of talking on the
phones, teens’ tend to
text each other more to
communicate. Texting
plays a significant role in
today’s world of
communication
 Facebook today is one of
the most popular sources
teens will use to
communicate with one
another and gather
information about one
another as well.

6. PURPOSE OF USING DIGITAL MEDIA
 Teenagers use Digital media for multiple
purposes.
 - “Mobile Phones provide youth a way to maintain private channels of
communication, maintain continual contact, and also serve as a “leash”
through which teens in a relationship keep “tabs on” one another” (120)

7. DATING AND EXPECTATIONS
 “Teens in relationships have high
expectations of contact with and availability
of their significant others as well as
expectations that the relationship will be
publicly acknowledge through digital media”
(128)

8. BREAKING UP
 - As most of us know, breaking up in
High School seemed like it was the
biggest thing in life and couldn’t
make sense to why the relationship
was over. Now with digital media it’s
harder to indulge in the break up
because you are still able to see
that former significant other through
digital media.
 “New communication practices
often require that teens take a
variety of steps to sweep up the
digital remnants of a given
relationship and to deal with access
to and the continuing digital
presence of their former significant
others” (132)

9. PRIVACY
 - In any relationship especially teenage relations, do not
have much privacy of their own. The only time teenagers
have privacy is when they are not with one another, other
than that teens tend to monitor on each others privacy just
incase they feel something is wrong or just have trust
issues.

10. “THE ABILITY TO MONITOR ONE ANOTHER AND BE MONITORED, EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL
VULNERABILITY, AND TENSIONS AROUND PRIVACY THREAD THROUGH THE VARIETY OF INTIMACY
PRACTICE IN WHICH TEENS ENGAGE. DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS ALLOW TEENS A SPHERE OF
PRIVACY, WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE THEIR OWN SPACES, TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS THROUGH A CIRCUMVENTION OF GEOGRAPHIC AND INSTITUTIONAL
CONSTRAINTS” (138)
 “ The aspects of digital media that let teens be constantly in
touch also allow them to monitor one another more intently”
(139)

11. CONCLUSION
 With the lack of privacy due to social media teens are always going to
invade their significant others privacy and monitor their every step. This
usually causes a shortage in the relationship because teens tend to not
trust each other. Teens also do have other interest in people so they’re
always searching.
 “Teens can meet people, flirt, date, and break up beyond the earshot
and eyesight of their parents and other adults while also doing these
things in front of all their online friends” (145)

12. WORK CITED
 Numerous Authors. Hanging Out, Messing
Around, and Geeking out. Cambridge, MA.
2010
 Images were provided through
Google, which can be provided through
request.