[OYAN] Are teens replacing Facebook with another social networking tool?

[Katie Anderson]

Hi! At the YALSA teen summit in January there was a panel of 6 teens. Based on this small sampling, this is what I learned:

5 of the 6 teens agreed that they only use facebook because "we have to". That is how their soccer coach, drama teacher, and other adults communicate with them. It is also how they stay connected with family members they aren't close to. The one teen who disagreed was 13 and just allowed to get a facebook account for the first time so was really into it.

The 5 older teens use Tumblr A LOT and blogs. They report sharing via blogs their own creations (self-made videos, photos of pottery they made, writing, etc) and sharing via Tumblr things they find online that other people created that the like. Blogs = this is me, tumblr =this is what I like/my community.

Communication about everything seems to take place via texting. One person's coach would even send a text to teens telling them to check their email or FB to make sure they were getting important information.

When it came down to it... face to face was still HUGE though. For example, a girl's pottery teacher encouraged her to explore a specific type of pottery, she then started looking for online communities about that specific thing via a wide-range of social media (more interested in the community than the type of social media). Her online community recommended some books which led her to go to the library. Once at the library she connected with the teen librarian who eventually convinced her to come to a program. After becoming a library user, then she started following the library's FB page to stay informed about what was going on at the library. Each teen on the panel had a similar story about how they use social media and connect with the library.

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>, 503-378-2528

From: oyan-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:oyan-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Kristy Kemper Hodge
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 6:10 PM
To: oyan at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [OYAN] Are teens replacing Facebook with another social networking tool?

Hi all,
I've been just learning about teens moving away from Facebook as a social networking tool of choice, and wondered if you have found this to be the case of teens in your libraries? And, if so, if they are talking about other online hang-outs or social media tools that they're using?
I've found some interesting articles, like this one<http://www.buzzfeed.com/jwherrman/are-teens-abandoning-social-networks> and this one<http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/10/facebook-still-reigns-supreme-with-teens-but-social-media-interest-dwindling/>, about national trends, but wondered about connecting with local teens and their trends. Any insight for a n00b librarian??

Thanks!
Kristy

Kristy Kemper Hodge
Youth Services Librarian
Silver Falls Library<http://www.silverfalls.plinkit.org/>

kkhodge at ccrls.org<mailto:kkhodge at ccrls.org>
503-873-7633
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