Things Aint What They Used To Be

The Center for Digital Media and Learning has published the findings of its three-year ethnographic study of youth and digital culture. There's great stuff in here, like this description of a 17 year-old romantic couple who use a variety of technologies to be in constant contact with each other:

Each day, the couple wakes up together by logging onto MSN to talk between taking their showers and doing their hair. They then switch to conversing over their mobile phones as they travel to school, exchanging text messages throughout the school day. After school they tend to get together to do their homework, during which they talk and play a video game. When not together, they continue to talk on the phone and typically end the night on the phone or sending a text message to say good night and “I love you."

If these technologies had been available when I was in high school, I would have used them like a fiend. The important finding of the study, though, is that the technologies don't create new relationships, only extend and enhance existing ones.

Here's the lead researcher, Mizuko Ito, explaining some of the findings.