Reading the comments: Likers, haters, and manipulators at the bottom of the web

The same premise can be discussed in James’ next chapter, which describes how online content is readily accessed, remixed, and recycled. Youth display growing concern for giving credit while simultaneously choosing to act with apathy, creating a divide between the greater understanding of how self-action can affect multiple parties: “their thinking represents a troubling disconnect between their actions and a larger trend that, by their own admission, may harm people they do care about” (p. 64). James makes the case that the online community, especially parents and teachers of youth, need to begin to understand how the effect of appropriation and property theft is becoming a prevalent issue for youth users on the Internet. Following this, the issue of participation and how youth users engage within the network is brought to the attention of the reader. The Internet connects us to social networks, without us fully understanding the intentions or consequences of these connections: “Digital qualities such as anonymity and the distance between ourselves and others online can be seized in ways that (intentionally or not) taint the moral and ethical character of online communities, thus diminishing the promise of the Internet” (p. 83). A serious matter prevailing on the Internet today, James gives youth credit for having moral sensitivity when it comes to sharing information over the Internet. The issue surrounding Internet privacy should not just be demographically driven but is an important topic for all users of the Internet. This conversation around participation allows for understanding on how youth make choices in how they participate within a digital world and within the greater scope of stewardship among Internet users. James’ work should be recommended to parents who are curious of their own participation with their children and the digital world. Adults have missed what James describes as the “mentorship gap”: “Although parents and educators may be well-intentioned in their emphasis on personal safety, their overattention to such concerns leaves little room for discussions about ethics and social responsibility on the Web” (p. 107). This mentorship gap explores the increased disposition for lack of consciousness with Internet presence by addressing ethical blind spots and disconnects. As part of a series compiled by The MIT Press that explores digital media and learning, this book emphasizes youth engagement surrounding new media. This book is beneficial to scholars of New Media because it allows one to see through qualitative research how youth explore connectivity to the digital world. The pathways in which youth decide to engage and interact with the digital age remain important to address when looking toward approaching the field with constructive methods on integration of intent within the Internet. As James concludes, the pull toward individualized thinking is abundant when addressing privacy, the moral blind spots thrive when looking at property, and there are constant misfires of connectivity when relating to participation. This book serves as an informed guideline to assist in understanding conscious connection in our sometimes-disconnected digital age.