Essay Example. Annotated Bibliography on the Effects of the Internet on Today's Youth

The world is changing to be more advanced technologically, and people are beginning to adapt to the changes to be part of their daily life activities, including children and youths. The internet, as such, is not new, and it is continuing to advance as time progresses. Numerous concerns have been raised regarding the effects of the internet on the youth. The audience to the depicted discussion is the youth. The purpose of the discussion is to determine the effects of the internet on today's youth and to find possible solutions to some of the generated negative effects. The criteria for selecting what is in the bibliography are the articles' currency or updates as well as the views of the authors towards the impacts of the internet on the youth.

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Strom, Paris, and Robert Strom. "Growing up with social networks and online communities." Education Digest 78.1 (2012): 48.

The depicted article focuses on how the internet, especially social media, affects the development and communication of the youth. It asks essential questions on what might take place in the future in the social networking world as well as its interaction with the growing youths. Moreover, the author claims that social networking and the internet have dark sides to the youth, which needs to be evaluated to understand their long-term effects better. On some occasions, the youth use the depicted networks as outlets for their discussions and opinions, which can either be a negative or positive thing for education. Some youths might be posting hurting or personal videos, pictures, or words that before would have been private, which might not add any impact to their educational life. The importance of the article is that it gives great insight into the idea of how the socialization of the youth is being altered but also offers inquiries on actions that should be done to keep it under control and its benefits. I, therefore, agree with the article's perspective of looking at both the negative and positive effects of the internet.

Morimoto, Shauna A., and Lewis A. Friedland. "The lifeworld of youth in the information society." Youth & Society 43.2 (2011): 549-567.

In the depicted article, the authors claim that the current information society and media are shaping the identities and decisions of the youth in social interaction. The new interaction form is a lifeworld, but excessive media use is risky for the youth. Additionally, the depicted information society is more harmful than helpful in the youth's type of growing environment. The author argues that the current new media and internet age can only be used for educational purposes if it is correctly harnessed as it gives a chance for class participation, networking, and information retrieval. However, in contrast, the depicted type of freedom creates a dilemma for the tutor and teachers to know how to operate the new technology to monitor what the students are doing. Nonetheless, the author identifies the depicted as a cultural shift that the real is virtual and will be accepted soon by everyone. The internet, thus, is becoming a community instead of personal practice. The article is important as it expounds on the fact that the internet is affecting the youth but will soon be a community endeavor and a social norm. Along with the depicted ideas, the author gives an example of an information cycle in the depicted online communities.

Boyd, Danah. "Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life." YOUTH, IDENTITY, AND DIGITAL MEDIA, David Buckingham, ed., The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (2008): 2007-16.

The author claims that the internet has created a community of youths from different perspectives. The youths might not be obsessed with the internet; rather, they have made it be their normal part of life. However, the actions return to how the internet shapes the identity and attitude of the youth regarding online and offline social interaction. Not every youth can be online, but some know about them and have opinions on making them a part of the community with their peers. The author did an extensive study with high school youths and their social media use. The article is important as it gives insights on why youths are using the internet and how it feeds into their sense of community and belonging, identity, entertainment, and helping the youths understand ways of navigating social situations world individually as well as ways of making perfect first impressions from creating a profile.

Greenhow, Christine, and Jeff Reifman. "Engaging youth in social media: Is Facebook the new media frontier?" Nieman Reports 63.3 (2009): 53.

In the depicted article, the authors claim that the internet, especially Facebook, is a positive thing in the current new plugged-in youth's society. She claims that Facebook is not only for social networking but can also be integrated into education and learning discussions. The authors also argue that there are numerous opportunities in the current Facebook age, where important information and news can be broadcasted at the hub of where youths are. The article is important as the authors were a part of an experiment they conducted when they established two applications for education and news on Facebook and watched the feedback.

Ellison, Nicole B., Charles Steinfield, and Cliff Lampe. "The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites." Journal of computer-mediated communication 12.4 (2007): 1143-1168.

The authors analyze the feeling of the youth regarding their social networking use. The youths claim that most individuals discussing the topic have it wrong. They understand their operations and how they can be damaged or excessive. The entire article is a counter-argument to the primary conversation about the negative effects of the internet. The article is important as it gives statistics that prove the negative and positive effects of the internet to the youth from different people's perspectives.