Take-aways from Kylie Peppler and Nancy Baym
First, Multi-media learning possess a really important literacy, which is accessible and adaptable to most users, especially youth. It increases engagement. The framework of thin/thick engagement is a continuum, not a binary. With the popularization of media, it lowers the threshold of engagement and makes participation easy from the start. Once a broader user arises the awareness in the first place, more and more people will take action to the next step. The hardest part is the raising of awareness, but media makes it easier, then the "thin engagement" will gradually become the "thick engagement". Muti-media learning not only gives youth accessible online resources, which links individuals with similar interests. It also creates the interest-driven learning environment. I think multi-media learning carries forward activism, broaden people's reach and accrete the diversity of the audience. Student become innovators instead of consumers of media, which create the new participatory culture.
But, with this been said, multi-media also broaden youth's reach to fake news and inaccurate resources. Especially, most of youth have not yet been trained with critical mind. It is difficult for them to identify what is useful information and what is not. It can cause information or cognition overload. How to monitor youth's activities on cyberspace is critical. Self-regulation and the access to peer mentors is the key to regulate youth's behavior. Secondly, social media gives youth a platform for self-branding. In the age of social media explosion, Children manipulate their online image and market this image as a product to others. For me, this trend is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the online application provides youth with a platform to showcase their life and expand their network by building up the weak ties. But on the other hand, they spent a lot of time dealing with news and information, they are easily affected by others and tend to follow the trend or social hyper. As the result, it is impossible for them to find the inner balance and the inner peace. They are messed up by the information overload and ignore the importance of the offline relationships with others. I can't stop wondering do student gain more freedom or imprisoned by the hyperactivated social media?
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