Thing 20. Libraries and Social Networks

I opened this post with a hot cup of coffee and this photo of a child looking at the face of another child... Now it is 9:30 and I am nearly done with the assignment and it is time to blog my experience and conclusions...
Since I had set up a Facebook membership a couple of weeks ago in preparation for 23 Things I thought this thing would be a fast one. However, the first stop was the enormous Teens and Social Media Report from the PEW/Internet & American Life Project. I read through most of the 44 pages and printed out the Summary of Findings (pages 1-6) for my file. (Yes, I have a file for 23 Things.) The insights and statistics for the appeal of social networks is a revisiting of human development. The Maslow Hierarchy of Needs is a blueprint for the how and why of this appeal. The social need for belonging/love/affection/acceptance=groups,
the need for esteem/confidence/achievement/respect=offering and receiving friendship, the need for self-actualization/making and presenting the self/spontaneity/creativity=posting, sharing photos, exposure. This is life -- today made visible in social networks -- moments of understanding and happpiness alone and yet part of the world. These social networks, for all their quirks, are a sign of the culture's positive mental health.