Tech Thursday: Digital Media and Teens/Kids

Sometimes, as a 20-something year old (I can still say that for another 6 months), I believe that my generation rules the world. We are the ones developing the cool social media tools. But I really think that social media explodes when the next generation gets involved. 

I have a niece who is on Instagram and she explodes my feed when she's with her friends. I love it but let's be honest, she's going to keep Instagram going, not me who uploads every few days (and if we're honest, it's mostly of food).

The following is an infographic I found about how "youth" (or teens/kids as I like to call them) are using social media:

 [source]

I love infographics. Really, if I could be a graphic designer, I would love my life. But I just don't think that way. 

The most interesting finding to me is that information skills are acquired through personal and social activities can benefit learning in the academic context. It's really important that with all of the social media teens and kids are exposed to, that they have an opportunity to interact in real life and learn important skills that are necessary for their further success.

So, while we let the kids and teens on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, let's make sure that they're also hanging out with their friends IRL (in real life).