Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online [BARGAIN PRICE] (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Many of us remember watching the space-age cartoon The Jet-sons and collectively dreaming about what the future would look like..." (more)
Key Phrases: wired teens, teen blogs, danah boyd, Teen Second Life, Finding Their Space, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Goodstein isn't a parent and hails from Generation X (just after the boomers), but she has a keen interest in teenagers, a background in teen media and writes a blog (Ypulse.com) which is devoted to teen media and marketing. The author explains that she's spent her career trying to be a "voice of reason" for teens and for adults trying to reach them; in this book she continues her quest to help parents understand their kids by offering a window into their digital world. Goodstein covers the bases, including cyber bullying, blogs and "social-networking sites" such as MySpace. She asks boomer parents to remember talking on the phone for hours or writing in a diary, which she compares to chatting online and blogging. Today's teens are developmentally identical to teens who listened to Elvis and wore poodle skirts, Goodstein argues, but they have a new venue—the Internet—for exploring their hopes, desires and voices. Goodstein urges parents to take the plunge into cyberspace not only in order to keep their children safe but also to build closer relationships. "Ask them about their digital lives," she advises, "and they'll start talking about the rest of their lives." Focusing on the pros rather than the risks, Goldstein presents a solid and accessible guide to help understand the wired generation. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

"A must read for parents (and future parents) of teenagers. Consider Anastasia Goodstein as the daughter you totally 'get' - explaining all the behaviors of the daughter you totally don't 'get.' Consider this a parent/teen dictionary. Brilliant and lifesaving!"

- Atoosa Rubenstein, former editor in chief of Seventeen magazine

 

"Totally Wired is both an awakening and a comfort for adults who feel lost in the infinite alleys of cyberspace. Goodstein gives it to us straight - honestly examining the threats to kids, but also including fresh insights into the positive ways young people use the wired world in their lives."

- Joe Kelly, president of Dads & Daughters and author of Dads and Daughters: How to Inspire, Understand, and Support Your Daughter

 

Hooking up via MySpace, bullying on a blog. Using a cell phone as a tracking device? Clearly, being a teen today isn't the same as it used to be. So what are LiveJournal, Xanga, Facebook, and MySpace, and what exactly are teens doing on these sites?

 

Totally Wired is the first inside guide to what teens are really doing on the Internet and with technology today. Author Anastasia Goodstein creates an informative and accessible guide that covers topics such as social networking, blogging, cyberbullying, and much, much more.

 

Including interviews with a cross section of industry professionals and teenagers, and loaded with fascinating statistics and revealing anecdotes, Totally Wired is the first guide that explains to parents in easy-to-understand terms what kids are really up to online, and arms parents with the knowledge they need to promote Internet safety.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (March 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312360126
• ASIN: B001F0RA0M
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #33 in	Books > Bargain Books > Computers & Internet
  #72 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Home Computing > Internet > Online Searching
  #82 in	Books > Bargain Books > Nonfiction > Social Science

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading, April 20, 2007

By	T. McCool "old married guy" (Lafayette, IN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online (Paperback)

Anastasia Goodstein knows teenagers. She has studied them, marketed to them, and talked to them. Don't be turned off because the author is not a parent of a teen. Because Goodstein isn't a parent, she was able to get teens to open up about their online experiences. And she also talked to parents who share there struggles, concerns and perspectives. If you really want to know what your teen is doing online - or if your young child is just starting to go online - buy this book NOW.

What you will learn is that there are dangers on the Internet, and more often the dangers are your child's fellow students. Cyber-bullying from classmates is becoming more a danger to teens than strangers trolling for sex, and Goodstein covers the various methods of cyber-bullying. Considering that teenagers don't always make the right choices, parents do have a lot to worry about.

While Goodstein properly alerts parents to the real dangers of the Internet, she also balances it with realism. Although your teen may not always understand the consequences of what she does online, she probably already knows about the dangers of the Internet and how to protect herself. You'll read comments from real teens about their online experiences. The comments will alarm you and and comfort you all at the same time.

Helpful tips and "insider" information are peppered throughout the pages. Know what a "Code 9" is? Find the answer and more teen code in the book. (Code 9 = parent in the room). Are teens "hooking up" with other teens they meet online? Maybe not as much as you might have been told. Where is the balance between protecting your child and trusting your child? There's not an easy answer but you can find out what other parents are doing successfully.

You will be a better-informed parent after reading this book, even if you think you already know everything about teens' online life. I think of myself has a pretty online-aware parent, but I learned something from reading Totally Wired, and you will too.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Useful, May 16, 2007

By	Tonia Ries - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online (Paperback)

If you have teens in your life, you need to read Totally Wired. Goodstein de-mystifies text messaging and social networking, offers common-sense advice on how to manage the security concerns about your teens online time, and provides a `cheat sheet' to help us interpret what's really going on in our teenagers' world.

The best part is that Goodstein really gets teens. Drawing analogies to things that were familiar to us from our youth, she helps us understand that MySpace is really just another place to hang out, that personalizing your own online page is a way for teens to express themselves just as I did by hanging posters in my room or pinning buttons to my denim jacket, and that many teens do need parents to help them understand the boundaries, both offline and online. Reading this book made me remember how much fun it was to be a teenager myself (in between all the drama). And I came away with a new sense of respect for the choices that today's far more empowered teens are making for themselves.

Now if someone would only write a book to help teens understand their parents ...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every parent, every teacher, every librarian - anyone working with young people!, April 13, 2007

By	E. Helmrich "Librarian, pop-culture junkie, t... (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online (Paperback)

Anastasia know her stuff! With a thorough knowledge of the youth media landscape and an exhaustive and stellar group of people interviewed and profiled - this is a fantastic book! It's a nice and easy read with an amazing amount of information imparted. Anastasia does a great job of pairing what teens are doing online with their developmental traits and needs -- this is not a lost generation - they are simply being teens as teens have always been - in new ways. This book will calm fears, educate parents, educators, lawmakers etc. on the reality of this new wired world. The bottom line with this issue is that parents need to be educated on what their children are doing, and put their "worry" and concern in the right areas - once they learn what's really going on they won't respond to the hype and hysteria that the media at large seems intent on passing on. Every parent, every public and school library MUST get their hands on this - learn it, love it, live it!