In Danah Boyd’s article Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life, she discusses MySpace and its effects on youth between the 
ages of fourteen and eighteen years of age. Danah Boyd is an American social media researcher known for her public commentary on the use of social networking sites by youth. The article studies American youth engagement in networked publics and considers how properties unique to such mediated settings affect the ways in which youth interact with each other and their identity formation.
I argue that social network sites are a type of networked persistence, searchability, exact copyability, and invisible audiences. These properties fundamentally alter social dynamics, complicating the ways which people interact.
Boyd explains that in everyday life we use our bodies along with our speech to express information about ourselves. This process is extremely important for being socialized into a society and teenage years are ideal for developing these skills. But in cyber space the physical body does not exist so the impression management skills take on a whole new meaning,
people must “learn to write themselves into being”.
I did find her article to be out-of -date seeing as since most teens are now completely on Facebook. However, I did find her argument, on networking sites as a structured-free environment for teens, to be very interesting. Boyd contends that online access offers a whole new social realm for youth, allowing teenagers to take part in an unregulated space while being in an adult-regulated world. I agree with Boyd in saying this. Social networking sites make it easy for the younger generation, to quench their boredom and curiosity in a society where their lives are highly structured with school and afterschool activities, after which they are expected to either study or spend time with their family. The social networking sites, like myspace and Facebook allow them the freedom that isn’t really offered in their real world. However, how does this affect the core skills (needed to be socialized into a society) that are developed through real experience?
I thought Boyd made a good point about social networks changing the way people interact because they do add another dimension to socializing. They add another method to connect to people, and with that people have to adjust the way they communicate as well. To answer your question these social networks can either enhance or hurt peoples social experiences outside of digital socializing depending on the person. People who feel more comfortable socializing online will become less comfortable socializing outside online networks, but some people find a good balance.
I also agree that this feeling of being in an “unregulated space while being in an adult-regulated world” defines why so many youth choose to access these social networking sites. They have great freedom in what they want to say, “do”, and think.
I like your question as to how this affects our skills that are developed through life experiences. Honestly, I have found that those people who choose to engage themselves solely on the Internet are quite awkward and socially unacceptable in the real physical world. This is because they are unaware of the common norms, such as facial and body expressions and movements. They may be slow at sarcasm and other social conversation cues. However, sadly I am unaware of the positive effects that may occur when engaging in social networking sites regularly. Possibly having extensive general and personal information on others? Not sure how this may help with real life experiences but it may come in handy at some point.
Good job boiling the reading down to its most interesting points and then adding your own perspective