MyKnet: Guiding Research Questions -- Youth

For the youth stream of the research, I would love to hear from both youth and adults about their own perspectives on and use of myknet.org and how they see others in the communities using the network.

Some central questions:

To ask Youth:

Which youth use myknet and which dont?
What do youth use it for?
What kinds of changes in use have occurred over time?
What other online technologies do youth use (e.g., other online social networking sites like MySpace, youtube, etc.) and how does their use of myknet.org fit into their overall use of the internet?
What is myknet to the youth that use it?
How has it affected their lives? (e.g., skill development, social networking, keeping in touch, etc.)

To ask

Parents/Adults:

What do adults think of youths uses of myknet? (both concerns and opportunities they see)
How do parents/adults use myknet with respect to the youth in their lives? (e.g., to keep in touch, to monitor, to know whats going on in their lives, etc.)

Given these questions, it would be great if I could talk to/hear from people who fit into the following groups:

Youth users (currently 18 years of age or over)
- Those who have been using myknet.org for years and have developed their page(s) over time as the network has evolved
- Current users
- Non-users (youth not interested in myknet.org or who have stopped using it)
- Resistant youth (those who may have caused concerns for the network and staff)

Parents and youth who use myknet.org to keep in touch
Parents and other adults involved in monitoring the network

Brandi ... I thought I would address some of the questions you present here in the hope that others who read this will jump into the discussion and present their perspectives as well ...

To ask Youth:

Each of these questions that you want to ask youth can also be answered by anyone and everyone who has spent any time at all visiting the MyKnet homepages. I think parents and adults also have an important perspective and information to share about each of these areas.

For example, "which youth are not using MyKnet" is one that is near and dear to my heart because I would hope that everyone is free to set up a homepage but obviously not everyone has easy access to a computer or the connections required or the literacy and support to be able to work through all the steps required to apply for and then produce their own homepage. This last piece concerning literacy (and confidence) is a challenge that each of face. One strategy that I have seen others using is to have friends or relatives go thru the steps of applying for and even creating a MyKnet homepage for them.

To ask Parents/Adults:

What do adults think of youths uses of myknet? (both concerns and opportunities they see)

As a parent, I personally appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to visit my children (and grandchildren's) homepages to see what they are up to and to learn about their friends and happenings. Some days, I am proud of what I see and at other times, I am concerned. In either case, I then have the opportunity to follow up with my children and my partner on any issues I feel need to be addressed.

As an administrator for K-Net, I have had the privilege of receiving many messages from parents and others who have expressed both concerns and thanks for having access to MyKnet. One parent wrote that she felt so grateful that she was able to identify a potential crisis in her son's life and as result she believes she was able to get him the help he needed at the time to continue living through this particular personal situation.

I do look forward to seeing what you do with this paper Brandi. The one challenge that you face is the time it takes to get to hear from all the people you describe with these questions. I hope out of this experience of producing this paper that you might consider taking the time to come and visit this region to meet some of the young people and their parents who make up this online community. I think you would enjoy yourself.

Brian

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