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If you are one of the readers of this blog who works with teenagers either in youth ministry or some other fashion, you need to become familiar (if you are not already) with a researcher named Dr. Danah Boyd. Boyd conducts her research at Microsoft Research New England and is a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Aside from having this super cool bio, she is a true expert on all things social media. I stumbled upon her work last year and have benefited greatly from it. She’s pretty cool.

Anyway, she recently wrote a paper and gave a corresponding talk that got my attention. This is the link to her blog (I suggest you add it to your blogroll) where you will find the paper and talk I am referring to.

The talk that got my attention is Boyd making the case that the various social and even racial divisions that play out in the real world are alive and well on social network sites (i.e., Facebook and MySpace). This concept fascinated me. So, thought I’d share and get your comments.

Here’s a super-quick and, admittedly, drastically oversimplified summary of what Boyd found:

• Facebook and MySpace are “neck-and-neck” in terms of users. This means MySpace has pretty much stayed the same while Facebook has shown dramatic growth. No surprise here.

• Overwhelmingly, teenagers seem to be choosing Facebook or MySpace. Some do both. Not many. Not a big deal in itself, but look what Boyd has found . . .

• Boyd writes, “[Choosing Facebook or MySpace] isn’t about features of functionality. It’s about the social categories in which we live. It’s about choosing sites online that reflect ‘people like me.’ And it’s about seeing the ‘other’ site as the place where the “other” people go.”

She includes a quote from a 14-year-old girl that seems to back this up:

“I’m not really into racism, but I think that MySpace now is more like ghetto or whatever, and Facebook is all . . . not all the people that have Facebook are mature, but it’s supposed to be like oh we’re more mature.”

Boyd points out that as teens made their decisions about what sites they would network on, the sites themselves began to break down along many of the same “label lines” (my word, not Boyd’s) that stratify teenagers’ social lives. Many (if not most) of the cool, popular, smart, white, middle-to-upper class kids chose Facebook, leaving MySpace as (mostly) the realm of minorities and sub-groups. Sound like a bold statement? Keep reading.

I want to leave with a quote from the end of Boyd’s talk, and then pose some questions. Boyd was examining the data about the transition of teenagers from My Space to Facebook as Facebook was beginning to emerge and catch on. Boyd said:

Whites were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. The educated were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from wealthier backgrounds were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from the suburbs were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those who deserted MySpace did so by “choice” but their decision to do so was wrapped up in their connections to others, in their belief that a more peaceful, quiet, less-public space would be more idyllic.

Now here are some questions to those of you who work with teenagers, especially in a ministry capacity:

• Do you see these social divisions play out on the pages of your students?

• Do the different “cliques” in your youth groups break down along the lines Dr. Boyd mentions?

And a larger question . . .

• Are you actively teaching your students to apply the same biblical principles in cyber-space as they are in the real world?

In other words, are you challenging your students to conduct themselves as Christ-followers on social networking sites? Are you addressing this behavior? What are you finding? What are the results?

To me it’s such a captivating thought to consider  how spiritual development bleeds over into “virtual” environments. I’d love to hear what you think.