As with any research method, there are biases and design effects that need to be accounted for—which is why we feel it’s important to be as transparent as possible about disclosing our methods in every report. The methods section of the “Teens, Social Media and Privacy” report is available here.

But part of what I think danah was trying to get at with her post is how some of these differences among African-Americans have been echoed in her own ethnographic research as well as across multiple studies of ours (among adults and teens, and in both the survey data and focus group findings). With respect to Twitter use, in the latest report we point to previous studies of teens that have indicated higher usage levels among African-American youth. In addition, we have also noted the same gap repeatedly in our adult data.

From our perspective, far from using that data to make sweeping claims to try and sell something, we think these multiple indicators suggest interesting questions to explore further in future research.

I would love to see the racial differences teased out by socio-economic status as well as whether they were rural, suburban or urban youth because I wonder if it’s race or class that’s playing the bigger role here. Will a black 16 year old from a middle class home in the suburbs more closely resemble the baits of other black youth or those of her or her white white neighbors?

This report also seems to confirm something I’ve seen within the past six months or so, young people don’t seem to be as enthusiastic about FB as they were a year or two ago. Or at least that’s my perception. In the past few months I know at least three teen agers who hid their FB profiles and another who deleted it. I also don’t hear my nephew’s 10 and 11 year old pals talk about wanting to be on Facebook.

While I don’t think this bodes any imminent doom for the social network behemoth, I can’t help but remember that looking at the history of social network sites you wrote with Nicole Ellison, SNSs seem to have a lifecycle. I think FBs was much longer than earlier SNSs for a couple of reasons but I also don’t think they can remain king of the mountain forever. Like MySpace I think that they are going to one day contract and reinvent themselves. Of course I don’t see this happening for about a decade but I think it will happen eventually.

Thank you for the analysis. I’m sincerely interested in the concept of social steganography and will be giving your paper a read through.

P.S. If you find time for it, it would be wonderful if you could write up a detailed How To for email sabbaticals. (Unless you already have and I’ve missed it.)

I always love to hear that people who I admire are becoming mothers.

That is one lucky baby.

Wishing you all the best in the world.

drugs have always been and always will be a problem for every society. but those of us who the medications were designed for should be shown more respect. just because you can’t see my injuries doesn’t mean they aren’t there. the only way i can even attempt to be a productive member of society is with medication. and maybe i’ll be on it for the rest of my life. but i’d rather be on it then the alternative.

and for the “pharmacist” who doesn’t believe my condition is real. yeah maybe i won’t die from it today or tomorrow but without the meds i wouldn’t be able to live a productive life either. not to mention severe anxiety causes all kinds of other medical problems if left untreated. but maybe i should wait till i get some of those other medical conditions before I’m taken seriously.

According to the American Pharmacist Association (2013) “Pharmacists are health professionals who assist individuals in making the best use of medications”. The Code of Ethics that pharmacists are supposed to abide by can be retrieved from: http://www.pharmacist.com/code-ethics. I do not see anything on this list stating that a pharmacist has the right to make their own clinical decision regarding the patient’s need for the medication they are attempting to fill simply by observing the patient for the brief moment that they are standing in the “drop off” lane. If this were the case then what is the need for the doctor’s visit in the first place?? I mean if pharmacists have some superficial power to make a clinical diagnosis by “simply looking at an individual for 3 seconds”, which would obviously mean they possess some form of supernatural, psychic ability, unknown by all other medical providers that have spent years in training to fine tune this skill, then PLEASE, by all means, let’s get these extremely talented individuals that have been granted a gift beyond the limitations of humanity to determine these complexed medical decisions!! Why don’t we put them to work as a means to solve the shortage that is about to hit the medical field?? …………… I hope my sarcasm is apparent!! My point is that an array of information is gathered, including a thorough patient history and physical assessment, in order to arrive at such a medical decision. I thought this was common sense, but apparently there are some individuals out there that are confused as to what their role is and need a little more detailed description. This process, is mandated by law, to be determined by a skilled and competent provider that possesses the required amount of medical & academic knowledge, as well as clinical expertise in order to make these type of clinical decisions. THIS IS NOT THE ROLE OF A PHARMACIST!!! They dispense medications that the provider has decided on as the best treatment for that given person. The pharmacists area of expertise is to know the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the drug & to determine any contraindications, or drug interactions that could potentially harm the patient by filling the prescribed medication, as well as to educate patients and help them with any concerns they may have (which all of these are also the responsibility of the provider). If the pharmacist wants to refuse to fill the medication based on one of these principles, because they feel it may harm the patient, than this decision is well understood and expected. They should NOT, and do not to my knowledge, have the authority to override a physician’s order for any other reason, unless they are given some reason to believe that the prescription is a fake!
In the situation that I experienced, the pharmacist’s REFUSAL to fill my daughter’s medication placed A CHILD IN HARMS WAY & caused her to be at risk for withdrawals by withholding a prescribed medication that she had taken daily for years, which defeats the sole purpose of the pharmacist, which is to “assist an individual in making the best use of medications”!!!! What really put me over the top with this situation was that the pharmacist’s excuse for refusing to fill it was because I was not a “local resident” although, she could see the long term history of her being prescribed this medication in the computer. She also stated that she MUST verify the script with the doctor’s office and since it was after hours she would not fill it (it was 8pm, not in the middle of the night). So, I put a call into the physician on call at her doctor’s office and asked the on-call physician to please verify the script with the pharmacy. The doctor called while I waited next to the pharmacy window. The pharmacist refused to get on the phone because the doctor on call wasn’t the doctor that actually wrote the script THIS TIME, although she was the doctor that had prescribed it for her in the past MANY, MANY TIMES!!!! I must give credit to the doctor because she REALLY DID put up an argument with them and she filed a complaint of her own without me voicing that I wished she would! She was great!! I got the pharmacist’s name and the management’s information and I will definitely be filing a complaint of my own!! Even if a pharmacist is going to “practice” outside the parameters of their ethical code, there are ways to do it with a bit more class and professionalism! I know everyone makes mistakes and our medical system is far from perfect, but this type of discrimination happens far too often and someone needs regulate the ethical obligations of these pharmacists to prevent them from riding this power trip that they don’t have the clinical authority to navigate!!

I MUST ADD THAT THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD PHARMACISTS OUT THERE AND I DO NOT WANT MY CRITICISM TO BE GENERALIZED TO ALL PHARMACISTS ACROSS THE BOARD!!! There are bad role models among all professions and my intention here is NOT TO place all pharmacists in this category by any means. It just happens to be that from my experience, the chances of me encountering this type of interaction are quite high and the script is not even for me, which I think reveals the severity of the issue!! I understand that there is a lot of prescription misuse and abuse in Florida and I am all for putting this to an end, but this medication was for a minor and the pharmacist was provided sufficient validation for the supposed concerns, and I still met resistance, and this is not right!