Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning Engineering Play: A Cultural History of Children’s Software by Mizuko Ito Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media by Mizuko Ito, Sonja Baumer, Matteo Bittanti, danah boyd, Rachel Cody, Becky Herr-Stephenson, Heather A. Horst, Patricia G. Lange, Dilan Mahendran, Katynka Z. Martínez, C. J. Pascoe, Dan Perkel, Laura Robinson, Christo Sims, Lisa Tripp, with contributions by Judd Antin, Megan Finn, Arthur Law, Annie Manion, Sarai Mitnick, David Schlossberg, and Sarita Yardi Inaugural Series Volumes These edited volumes were created through an interactive community review process and published online and in print in December 2007. They are the pre- cursors to the peer-reviewed monographs in the series. Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth, edited by W. Lance Bennett Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility, edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected, edited by Tara McPherson The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning, edited by Katie Salen Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media, edited by Anna Everett Youth, Identity, and Digital Media, edited by David Buckingham HANGING OUT, MESSING AROUND, AND GEEKING OUT Kids Living and Learning with New Media Mizuko Ito Sonja Baumer Matteo Bittanti danah boyd Rachel Cody Becky Herr-Stephenson Heather A. Horst Patricia G. Lange Dilan Mahendran Katynka Z. Martínez C. J. Pascoe Dan Perkel Laura Robinson Christo Sims Lisa Tripp with contributions by Judd Antin, Megan Finn, Arthur Law, Annie Manion, Sarai Mitnick, David Schlossberg, and Sarita Yardi The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please e-mail special_sales@ mitpress.mit.edu. This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ito, Mizuko. Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out : kids living and learning with new media / Mizuko Ito. p. cm. — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series in Digital Media and Learning Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01336-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Mass media and youth—United States. 2. Digital media—Social aspects– United States. 3. Technology and youth—United States. 4. Learning—Social aspects. I. Title. HQ799.2.M352I87 2010 302.23'108350973—dc22 2009009932 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To the memory and ongoing legacy of Peter Lyman. His vision, passion, and leadership have guided this project and animated its spirit of interdisciplinary, collaborative work. Contents Series Foreword xi Acknowledgments xiii Notes on the Text xvii INTRODUCTION 1 1 MEDIA ECOLOGIES 29 Lead Authors: Heather A. Horst, Becky Herr-Stephenson, and Laura Robinson Box 1.1 Media Ecologies: Quantitative Perspectives 32 Christo Sims Box 1.2 Michelle 42 Lisa Tripp Box 1.3 “You Have Another World to Create”: Teens and Online Hangouts 50 C. J. Pascoe Box 1.4 The Techne-Mentor 59 Megan Finn Box 1.5 zalas, a Digital-Information Virtuoso 67 Mizuko Ito 2 FRIENDSHIP 79 Lead Author: danah boyd Box 2.1 Sharing Snapshots of Teen Friendship and Love 85 Katynka Z. Martínez viii Contents Box 2.2 From MySpace to Facebook: Coming of Age in Networked Public Culture 92 Heather A. Horst 3 INTIMACY 117 Lead Author: C. J. Pascoe Box 3.1 The Public Nature of Mediated Breakups 133 danah boyd Box 3.2 Bob Anderson’s Story: “It Was Kind of a Weird Cyber Growing-Up Thing” 142 Christo Sims 4 FAMILIES 149 Lead Author: Heather A. Horst Box 4.1 The Garcia Family: A Portrait of Urban Los Angeles 158 Katynka Z. Martínez Box 4.2 The Miller Family: A Portrait of a Silicon Valley Family 168 Heather A. Horst Box 4.3 The Milvert Family: A Portrait of Rural California 186 Christo Sims 5 GAMING 195 Lead Authors: Mizuko Ito and Matteo Bittanti Box 5.1 Neopets: Same Game, Different Meanings 204 Laura Robinson and Heather A. Horst Box 5.2 First-Person Play: Subjectivity, Gamer Code, and Doom 210 Matteo Bittanti Box 5.3 Learning and Collaborating in Final Fantasy XI 216 Rachel Cody Box 5.4 Machinima: From Learners to Producers 224 Matteo Bittanti 6 CREATIVE PRODUCTION 243 Lead Authors: Patricia G. Lange and Mizuko Ito Contents ix Box 6.1 “MySpace Is Universal”: Creative Production in a Trajectory of Participation 257 Dan Perkel Box 6.2 All in the Family 263 Patricia G. Lange Box 6.3 Making Music Together 270 Dilan Mahendran Box 6.4 **Spoiler Alert**: Harry Potter Podcasting as Collaborative Production 285 Becky Herr-Stephenson 7 WORK 295 Lead Author: Mizuko Ito Box 7.1 “I’m Just a Nerd. It’s Not Like I’m a Rock Star or Anything” 311 Mizuko Ito Box 7.2 Technological Prospecting in Rural Landscapes 316 Christo Sims Box 7.3 Being More Than “Just a Banker”: DIY Youth Culture and DIY Capitalism in a High-School Computer Club 320 Katynka Z. Martínez Box 7.4 Final Fantasy XI: Trouncing Tiamat 326 Rachel Cody Box 7.5 Eddie: Neopets, Neocapital, and Making a Virtual Buck 331 Laura Robinson CONCLUSION 339 Appendix I: Project Overview 355 Appendix II: Project Descriptions 361 Appendix III: Project Index 371 Bibliography 373 Index 399