Reading a talk by danah boyd on Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace. Besides fascinating insights into online youth culture that danah brings so well, I find something that connects well with my own work – a piece on public, private and controlled spaces for adults and teens:
In this context, there are three important classes of space: public, private and controlled. For adults, the home is the private sphere where they relax amidst family and close friends. The public sphere is the world amongst strangers and people of all statuses where one must put forward one’s best face. For most adults, work is a controlled space where bosses dictate the norms and acceptable behavior.
Teenager’s space segmentation is slightly different. Most of their space is controlled space. Adults with authority control the home, the school, and most activity spaces. Teens are told where to be, what to do and how to do it. Because teens feel a lack of control at home, many don’t see it as their private space.
To them, private space is youth space and it is primarily found in the interstices of controlled space. These are the places where youth gather to hang out amongst friends and make public or controlled spaces their own. Bedrooms with closed doors, for example.
Adult public spaces are typically controlled spaces for teens. Their public space is where peers gather en masse; this is where presentation of self really matters. It may be viewable to adults, but it is really peers that matter.
Reading this helped my framing my research interests in yet another way – I’m interested in uses of technology on the intersection between private, public and controlled spaces in a case of knowledge workers.
However, before getting further with the distinction I have to figure out from there it comes. Any references to other work?
Tags: city, papers, public vs. privateArchived version of this entry is available at http://blog.mathemagenic.com/2006/06/20.html#a1782; comments are here.