SOCIAL NETWORKS

Nowadays, teenagers (and most of adult people) communicate via social networks. Many of us are familiarized with them, but not everyone knows how to use them or what they are used for.

A virtual community or social network is a website on the internet that brings people together to talk, share ideas and interests or make new friends. This type of collaboration and sharing of data is often referred to as ‘social media’. Unlike traditional media, that is often created by no more than 10 people, social media sites have content that has been created by hundreds or even millions of different people. 

The first network, not currently known, was called ‘Six Degrees’. This network was initiated in late 1997, but the server was released in 2001. It is currently one of the networks that have disappeared. It was founded by Andrew Winreich, and developed by the company Macroview. This site gave the users the option to create their profile and friends list. The name was based on the theory that any human being is connected to any other by a maximum of 6 known people. Nowadays, this social network has disappeared due to its low popularity.

Nevertheless, social networks continued to grow and became extremely popular. The most used ones today are: WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But do we know what they are for?

WhatsApp is a free instant messaging application for mobile phones, to send and receive messages via internet, complementing mail services, instant messaging, short message services or multimedia messaging systems. Using this app (short for APPLICATION), you can even talk to several people at the same by creating groups; and share images, videos and other data. One of its characteristics is that you can send and receive voice messages; this is useful for people that need to say several things and what to avoid writing so much. 

Facebook is a social network created by Mark Zuckerberg while studying at Harvard University. His aim was to design a space where students at university could communicate and share content easily through the internet. His project was so ground-breaking that eventually spread to be available for any user on the network. 

Twitter is a network where you can send plain text messages of short length with a maximum of 140 characters called tweets, which are displayed in the user's home page. Users can subscribe to other users tweets. This is called ‘following’ and people become ‘followers’. By default, messages are public and can be disseminated privately showing them only to certain followers. Users can tweet from the web service, with external applications, or by short message service (SMS) available in certain countries. 

It became even more popular when people started using Hashtags, which are words or phrases that represent conversations the users are having. It is preceded by a # . This trend is now used not only on Twitter, but also on Facebook and Instagram. 

Instagram is a social network application for sharing photos and videos. It allows users to apply photo effects like filters, frames, retro and vintage colours; these can be shared in different social networks like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter.

A distinctive feature of the application is that it gives a square shape to photographs in honor of the Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid cameras, contrasting with the aspect ratio 16:9 currently used by most mobile phone cameras. 

However, not all social networks are used properly. There is a lack of control and anonymity and they give access to inappropriate content.

Here are some of the disadvantages that they may present:

• They are dangerous if not properly configured;
• They are addictive;
• They are used by criminals to know the details of their victims.

When these networks are used correctly, they can be very useful to contact old friends or distant relatives; besides, their use allows communication in real time. In addition, the information is continually updated. 

Social Networks give us tools to communicate easily and quickly. Nevertheless, if used in a wrong way, they may bring problems. Remember to leave them aside from time to time and never stop talking to ‘real’ people, in real life. 

Camila Alcuri, Brenda González, Cibeles Dillon and Bruno García - 3rd Year

MOBILE PHONES

Are they a good or a bad thing?

We’ve found ourselves in this situation: we are sitting with our friends, trying to share a nice moment of conversation with them and they are all playing video games or checking ‘Instagram’ or ‘Whatsapp’ on their phones. Has this ever happened to you? 

Nowadays, teenagers are born in a generation to which using phones is a common thing, but are they a benefit?

These days, boys and girls are constantly looking at their phones and parents wonder, is it really necessary?

As teenagers, we are checking our social media all the time, it may be because we’re bored or we don’t realize we are doing it at all. However, we depend on them because is the easiest way to keep in touch with our friends no matter where we are. But when it comes to paying attention to other things like school, do they interfere?

When we talk about learning, it’s hard to concentrate having our phones next to us. We have to turn them off or silence them to focus on something. Also, when we go out with our friends is very usual to find everyone staring at theirs instead of interacting with each other.

When did we get to be this way? Why don't we enjoy a 'face to face' conversation anymore? 

In conclusion, we think phones are really necessary when it comes to being connected with family and friends but the way we’re using them might be very excessive. 

As a result, we need to use them with responsibility, so they don’t take away an important part of our lives.

Take our advice...

Analía Yonamine and Florencia Tubío - 4th Year

DO TEENAGERS READ?

It's not strange to hear adults saying that 'the habit of reading is lost' and that 'teenagers are always using computers and mobile phones but NEVER pick up a book'. We bet you know what we are talking about, whether you are a teen or a grown up. 

But, is this really true?

To find out, we asked students in our school if they ever read. If that was the case, we asked what they read and how or where. 

Here's what we came up with.

What do teenagers read?

According to our questionnaire, most adolescents read these four genres:

Horror

Horror novels are genres of literature, which are intended to, or have the capacity to frighten, scare, or startle their readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

It's usually supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. 

The genre of horror has ancient origins with roots in folklore and religious tradition focusing on death, the after life, evil, the demonic and the principle of ‘the thing’ embodied in the person. These were manifested in stories of beings such as witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts.

Fan-fiction

The term fanfiction or fan fiction, often abbreviated to fanfic or fic, refers to works of fiction written by fans of a literary or dramatic work (film, novel, tv show, video game, anime...). In these stories the character, situations and environments described in the original of the author's own creation are used and new roles for these are developed. 

This kind of reading, often leads to writing: it's one of the most important sources of inspiration for teenagers to start writing their own stories. 

Romance

The romance novel or romantic novel is a literary genre. Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an 'emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending'. There are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy, historical, science fiction and paranormal.

According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a romance novel must revolve about the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and the work to build a relationship. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters` romantic love.

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginative content such as futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life. It usually eschews the supernatural, and unlike the related genre of fantasy, its imaginary elements are largely plausible within the scientifically established context of the story. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a 'literature of ideas'.

Where do teenagers read?

When people say we don't read, they may be actually wrong. Teenagers are used to reading in a very different way, far from traditional books. We might be reading in a bus, right next to you, but you think we are checking our phones or social networks. 

PDF

If you are looking for a particular book, all you have to do is Google the title up, generally followed by 'PDF'. When the results appear, you click on the site chosen and download the file. You can do this in your tablet, mobile phone, ipod and laptop -among others-. 

Wattpad

You must log in to an account in Wattpad via Internet or by downloading the application. Once done, you can follow your favourite writers to see all their publications. All novels or stories you find here are adaptations, none will be original except the stories created by users (you can also do it) and add to 'your library' what you want to read. In each text you have the option to rate and comment freely.

Facebook

This might be news for a lot of people, but you can also read books on Facebook. There are lots of FB pages that upload fanfics and stories written by several users. All you have to do is click on the album and you will find the consecutive chapters under the pictures. 

So, next time you hear someone say that 'teenagers don't read anymore', remember our words...WE STILL READ!!

Brisa Gómez and Florencia Migliavacca - 3rd Year

THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE

A virtual community or social network is a website on the internet that brings people together to talk, share ideas and interests or make new friends. This type of collaboration and sharing of data is often referred to as "social media". Like traditional media, that is often created by no more than 10 people, social media sites have content that has been created by hundreds or even millions of different people.

The first network, not currently known, was called "Six Degrees". This network was initiated in late 1997, but the server was released in 2001. It is currently one of the networks that have disappeared. It was founded by Andrew Weinreich, and developed by the company Macro View. This site gave the users the option to create their profile and friends list. The name was based on the theory that any human being is connected to any other by a maximum of 6 know people. Nowadays, this social network has disappeared due to its low popularity.

Some companies quickly enter social networks. Google launched Orkut in January 2004 to support an experiment of one of his employees in his spare time. In 2005 admitted 360 Yahoo and others.

The operation begins when once the technical support is finished, a group of initiators invite friends and acquaintances to join the social network, each new member can bring many new members and the growth of the social network can be geometric.

A good example of this is Facebook, a social network focused on students, much like Myspace, where millions registered and where there has been a major advertising investment from Microsoft users.

Another is Del.Icio.Us which has already reached a million users.

And speaking of this network Myspace.com has over one hundred million users, owned by News Corp positioning itself as the largest of its kind and includes areas as diverse as search for missing persons.

Nevertheless, social networks continued to grow and became extremely popular. The most used ones today are: WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

What are those?

WhatsApp is a free instant messaging application for mobile phones, to send and receive messages via internet, complementing mail services, instant messaging, short message services or multimedia messaging systems.

Facebook is a social network created by Mark Zucherberg while studying at Harvard University. His aim was to design a space where students at university could communicate and share content easily through the internet. His project was so ground-breaking that eventually spread to be available for any user on the network.

If we are registered on its website users, we can manage our own personal space: create photo albums, share videos, write notes, create events or share your mood with other network users.

The large number of users at its disposal, the acceptance that has had, and facilities providing accessibility, as access to the platform for mobile terminals, has allowed this network to grow rapidly in a short time.

The main use of this page is to share resources, views and information with people you already know (friends or relatives).

Twitter is a network where you can send plain text messages of short length whit a maximum of 140 characters called tweets, which are displayed in the user's home page. Users can subscribe to other users tweets. This is called "following" and people become "followers". By default, messages are public and can be disseminated privately showing them only certain followers. Users can tweet from the web service, with external applications, or by short message service (SMS) available in certain countries.

Instagram is a social network application for sharing photos and videos. It allows user to apply photo effects like filters, frames, retro and vintage colours; these can be shared in different social networks like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter.

A distinctive feature of the application is that gives a square shape to photographs in honor of the Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid cameras, contrasting with the aspect ratio 16:9 currently used by most mobile phone cameras.

However, not all social networks are used properly. There is a lack of control and anonymity and they give access to inappropriate content.

Here are some of the disadvantages that they may present:

• They are dangerous if not properly configured;
• They are addictive;
• They are used by criminals to know the details of their victims.

When these networks are used correctly, they can be very useful to contact old friends or distant relatives; besides, their use allows communication in real time. In addition, the information is continually updated.

Jennifer Dillon, Camila Alcuri, Brenda González and Bruno García - 3rd Year