Tweens: Practicum Project Blog 2

I always thought tweens were interesting--it's that awkward period of time right before high school and right after elementary school where you think you are extremely mature ("We are so much cooler than everyone because we are seventh graders") and gossip at school ranges from who has a crush on who to who committed the heinous crime of not dressing up for Spirit Week.

Going into this practicum project, I thought this "awkward" period of time would be reflected in tweens' activities and posts on the Internet. This hypothesis resonates with the thesis I posted in my first practicum blog post: Tweens use the internet both as a medium for self-expression in a world where they perhaps are not taken as seriously as they want to be taken, and to come to terms with their changing thoughts and bodies during these critical years.

I am going to use this practicum post to detail topics that I have found while browsing Allykatzz. I'm especially interested in the differences between tweens' posts on Facebook and tweens' posts on Allykatzz. So far, I've organized a selection of topics that are covered on Allykatzz. On Allykatzz, which is mostly frequented by tween girls, topics covered include bullying (asking for help in problems at school), personal anecdotes ("Today is my birthday and I went to the mall..."), identity ("I'm emo," "I'm African-American"), and academics (book reports). I've further organized these topics into 3 main reasons for why tweens use Allykatzz: for its anonymity, for a "cyber playground,"

and for a "cyber classroom."

Allykatzz's anonymity provides a perfect setting for users to ask for and receive help on personal topics, like bullying (refer to screenshot posted). Allykatzz thus functions as a sort of anonymous help group; all active users appear to be mean well when giving advice. The web forum is also a "cyber playground," or an alternate online addition to tweens' social lives. In this "cyber playground," tweens make friends with and share personal stories with other forum users. The "cyber classroom" aspect of Allykatzz functions as a place for tweens to share things like tutorial videos of nail polish designs, self esteem videos and book reports.