danah boyd danah boyd, the founder of the Data & Society institute, spent the years 2005 to 2012 criss-crossing the United States observing and talking to youth from a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic communities. It is filled with stories by teens, themselves, on their experiences on social media. Teens use social media to meet in an informal and unmonitored environment, in contrast to the highly structured and supervised face-to-face opportunities in classrooms, after-school activities, clubs, and prearranged in-home visits. Teens are often housebound, unless their parents have the time and willingness to drive them to friends' houses or meeting places. Their lives are heavily programmed with after-school programs, sports, music and dance lessons, and extra academic classes. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not just new public spaces: they are in many cases the only public spaces where teens can meet freely with their peers.