Response and Summary

Henry Jenkins argues that the resources and communication on the internet have opened

a whole new educational world for teenagers. These resources allow teens to work and

participate in art, culture, and even politics. The resources and activities are podcasts, video

games, blogs, stories, etc... Jenkins says that this “informal learning community” is different

from the formal one in that it gives more freedom for teens to pursue what they are interested in

and on their own time. This environment creates “affinity spaces,” a place that harbors online

learning and development across all demographics. Jenkins cites Pew Research data showing

that people of all race and/or gender participate in the internet resources.

A key concept is that because there are very few limits to your imagination online, you

can use your very own ideas. This can be applied to writing. When it is left completely up to us

to write, we can be more creative and expressive. Jenkins expands on the benefit of communities.

In a community, people can support each other in their work and writing. The online spaces

talked about did just that. Receiving feed back from others within our community can help

forward the quality of our writing.

Personal Response

I have seen how the internet has been beneficial for teens and young adults. People

launch their careers on YouTube, creating their own original content. Most of the time I have

observed them, the YouTube community have each other’s back. They are supportive of each

other, collaborating to make content and giving shout-outs to other channels. The limitless ability
that Jenkins describes is one I can relate to. I have personally seen and experienced this freedom

to write about various things. And I understand the benefits of writing within a community.

When I did ENC 1101, other students gave me revising suggestions and tips. These helped a lot.

However, there was one section in Jenkins paper that I disagree with. In my opinion,

Jenkins gave too much credit to gamers. While the other online creators were worth the

recognition, gamers don’t exhibit the same amount of creativity as the others do. Gaming is more

of a pass time activity, unless you are developing one. Creating podcasts and stories is more real

than playing a game.