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In a three year study of 800 teens over 5000 hours of observation, The Digital Youth Project found that, contrary to what many parents feel, usage of social networking and social media is actually good for kids. Yet another positive mark for the future of social media.  Among the skills it hones are social and technical navigation.  Will Richardson highlights some of the findings in his excellent blog post:

• “New media allows for a degree of freedom and autonomy for youth that is less apparent in classroom settings. Youth respect one another’s authority online, and they are often more motivated to learn from peers than from adults. Their efforts are also largely self-directed, and  the outcome emerges through exploration, in contrast to classroom learning that is oriented toward set, predefined goals.”

The study further found that youth are mostly using social networking and social media to extend their face-to-face friendships.  They are exploiting the “always on” nature of the internet and mobile communication to keep in constant contact. However this, along with the permanent nature of so much internet interaction is not without it’s pitfalls, but therein lies another valuable lesson young people are learning: to navigate this new medium gracefully.

As Read, Write, Web puts it:

• “It’s a new world for those privileged enough to have access to the web. The consequences of these changes will unfold in years to come.”

Indeed, in the future we may very well see a break between those that have developed these skills and those that have not.

• “Contrary to adult perceptions, while hanging out online, youth are picking up basic social and technological skills they need to fully participate in contemporary society. Erecting barriers to participation deprives teens of access to these forms of learning. Participation in the digital age means more than being able to access “serious” online information and culture. Youth could benefit from educators being more open to forms of experimentation and social exploration that are generally not characteristic of educational institutions.”

So regardless of the detractors, it looks more and more like it will be a social media world in the future.  Unfortunately it might take this fresh generation of social media savvy people to transform corporate culture’s understanding and use (or misuse) of this exciting new medium.

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