Teen Troubles with Twitter

Teenagers simply don't get Twitter, and it's a problem. It's a problem for Twitter as a business, but more importantly, it's a problem for society at large.

Teenagers invented a social norm on Twitter called the “follower ratio." They worry about following more people than those who are following them back. It's a sign of status to have more people reading your tweets than tweets you're reading. We see this phenomenon on Instagram and Snapchat too. On Snapchat it's slightly different, it's a fear that a teen sends more snaps than he or she receives.

Because of the social status associated with ratios, teenagers are using Twitter incorrectly and it's stunting their intellectual development. I have written about how teenagers can learn tons of valuable information from Twitter. Twitter is an amazing global network that has an endless flow of information to feed any person’s intellectual passion. But the biggest barrier teenagers face to their ability to learn on Twitter is their reluctance to allow their following ratio to balloon. To do so would deflate their social confidence. As a result, teens only receive updates from their friends and accounts dedicated to reaching teens with quotes, gifs and memes. Twitter becomes an echo chamber of social anxiety and pressure. As a result, they'd much rather converse with multimedia on apps like Snapchat, Instagram, or Vine rather than use Twitter for educational purposes.

The only way for teens to learn on Twitter is for them to enter the global space where they can read, form opinions, curate and share content, and create their original work. If we can't get our teens to add stuff like Vox, Slate, Mashable, the New York Times and FiveThirtyEight to their Twitter feeds, we're robbing them of valuable knowledge that they could gain every time they log in.

In addition to following content, we need to guide our teenagers into academic hashtags, as hashtags can be robust learning spaces. Ironically, most teenagers don't even know how to use a hashtag; I'd estimate one tweet in 100 for teenagers actually goes to a hashtag to backchannel something interesting or meaningful to them (and I'm being generous). Instead, teens use hashtags for a throwaway joke on the back-end of a tweet. That Twitter doesn't sound like much fun. I would leave Twitter for other social media apps too if that's all I saw on it too.

That's where we, as mentors, have to step in. There's information on Twitter. There’s a wealth of fascinating subjects about which one can learn on Twitter. There's a tremendous intellectual world out there that can enhance users’ knowledge, creativity, critical thinking, and technological literacy skills. Twitter is not Snapchat, Instagram, or Vine, which are overwhelmingly filled with silly (and time-consuming) photographs and videos.

Teenagers should use some of their social media time learning, and Twitter should be the vehicle through which they do so. Of course, Twitter, needs young users to love its product. Perhaps if the company and its supports can dispel this silly "ratio" issue with teenagers. It will take effort from both the company and teachers, parents and mentors in communities around the country. If we can help students find the accounts and hashtags that deliver learning, we can help Twitter regain its place in society as a democratic, global learning network that we have loved since its inception in 2006--and that helped usher in important events and conversations like the Arab Spring and the Black Lives Matter movement.

We, as a society, are in a similar place we always are with Teens. Teens get too concerned with their social life and it hinders their intellectual development. We can make a change on social media--a place where teenagers want to spend their time. Let's talk to our teens about Twitter, dispel the notion of a "ratio," tap into the great global network and let the learning begin.

Teen Troubles with Texting

On October 12th, Roni Rabin penned an article for the New York Times called "Compulsive Texting Takes Toll on Teens" that highlighted a study arguing that many teens appear to be addicted to texting. In a study of 8th and 11th graders, the study found that 12% of girls and 3% of boys are "compulsive texters." The article also cited a Pew poll from 2012 that found "the median number of texts sent by teens is 60 a day, with older girls having a median of 100 text messages a day and boys a median of 50."

As someone who works with teens every day, I've pin-pointed a leading cause of this problem: it's group chats. That's where a bulk of the texting occurs between our teenagers. And it's absolutely affecting their sleep, their homework and their emotional well-being.

The other day I inquired informally with a group of 11th grade girls who admit that within the last week they've been a part of between 5-8 group chats. A group chat contains multiple recipients, and in general, the more people involved, the more messages sent and received. I work at a 1:1 school where students send and receive messages from their computer too--often during class. In one day, I had one girl project her phone screen as part of a presentation. The messages app on her phone contained 269 unread text messages. In the subsequent period I helped a 9th grader for five minutes on an essay, she received a text while I was typing on her computer from a friend. I noticed it was the 13th text she had received since she last checked them.

I was stunned; these interactions concern me. I can't imagine having 269 unread texts, that would take a year! I can't imagine having 13 text messages waiting for me on my phone... unless I was in a group-chat with a group of close friends. And that's precisely the problem with our teens.

So how do we deal with a problem that's only increasing in its frequency and its affect on our teenagers? In an age where it's so easy to end up in a group-chat and so hard to get out, and even I struggle to resist the allure of a shiny new text message buzzing my phone? "The study of more than 400 8th graders and 11th graders found that many teenage texters had a lot in common with compulsive gamblers, including losing sleep because of texting, problems cutting back on texting and lying to cover up the amount of time they spent texting."

Schools want to address problems of stress, sleep and attention/retention with school-work. So it's in a schools' best interest to acknowledge this problem and think about how to alleviate the problems associated with high volume texting. Fortunately, most teenagers will admit that texting (and multi-taking in general) hurts their studies. Regardless, there's a learning process that needs to happen.

• In schools we need to discuss social norms and dispel those that invite compulsory texting. 
• We can also help equip students with tools that will help them avoid the allure of getting lost in lengthy, timely text-message and message conversations. 
• Educators need to teach the science behind these issues so our students are aware of how much texting hurts their social-emotional well-being. 
• There's a certain amount of follow-up required by the classroom teachers, the learning center, and the school counselors to remind students of the negatives associated with extensive texting. We need to be vigilant and willing to discuss and discipline in ways that enhance healthy habits. 

Finally, It's imperative that we extend this teaching and learning to our parents as their support in this endeavor is imperative for its success.