Dr. Carla’s Pioneering Research on Girls & Social Media Published in “Girl Wide Web 2.0: Revisiting Girls, the Internet, and the Negotiation of Identity”

I am excited to announce that my book chapter on how Black American teen girls coming of age at the intersections of hip hop and social media navigate identity, sexuality, sexualized images, and beauty ideals online (based on my research at the University of Michigan) has been published in “Girl Wide Web 2.0: Revisiting Girls, the Internet, and the Negotiation of Identity” (edited by Sharon Mazzarella).

The original volume,  “Girl Wide Web: Girls, The Internet, and the Negotiation of Identity,” was published in 2005 and quickly became one of my favorite reference books on girls and media, even though I was disheartened that Black girls’ online experiences were not adequately represented.  I began collecting data on Black girls’ social networking profiles during the pre-My Space, Facebook, and Twitter era at a time when research on social media was uncommon and assumptions about the digital divide influenced scholars’ perceptions about Black youth cyberculture (or the perceived lack thereof).  As I explored the available literature at the time, I became committed to making a meaningful contribution to the body of knowledge on Black girls’ health, sexuality and Internet habits.

Given the dearth of empirical research on Black girls’ Internet use and cultural productions, I jumped at the chance to contribute my work to this sequel.  “Girl Wide Web 2.0” broadens the understanding of girls’ media use and provides an in-depth investigation of how girls from diverse cultures and geographic regions construct identity online.  And judging by the table of contents, it promises to be a fascinating read.

The book is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

If you’ve read the book, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section.