Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out : Kids Living and Learning with New Media

Conventional wisdom about young people's use of digital technology often equatesgenerational identity with technology identity: today's teens seem constantly plugged in to videogames, social networking sites, and text messaging. Yet there is little actual research thatinvestigates the intricate dynamics of youths' social and recreational use of digital media.Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out fills this gap, reporting on anambitious three-year ethnographic investigation into how young people are living and learning withnew media in varied settings -- at home, in after-school programs, and in online spaces. Integratingtwenty-three case studies -- which include Harry Potter podcasting, video-game playing, musicsharing, and online romantic breakups -- in a unique collaborative authorship style, Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out is distinctive for its combination ofin-depth description of specific group dynamics with conceptual analysis.

This book was written as a collaborative effort by members of the Digital Youth Project, a three-year research effort funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California.