STUDENTS' ! WORLD'S ! INTERNET

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Taylor Lorenz, an Internet culture reporter, discussed the tech she's using.

Tech We're Using :
You often wrote about what young people are doing with tech. [O.K. boomer!] What tools do you use to keep the finger on the pulse?

I spend a lot of time on social media. I'm on Twitter pretty consistently throughout the day to keep up with breaking news and what people are talking about. I also spend a great deal of time on Instagram and YouTube.

On Instagram, I create tons of boards of different things I come across on the Explore tab that I think are interesting. I have several Instagram accounts just for lurking.

On YouTube I watch a lot of YouTuber vlogs, recap shows including Philip deFranco's and drame/tea channels to keep up with the stuff people are talking about.

I'm in a lot of Telegram groups and Discord servers for different meme pages and influencers. I also spend time on Facebook groups about celebrity news and pop culture.

My favorite podcast is ''Who? Weekly,'' and I've gotten tips on stories from its Facebook group. Before I go to bed, I usually spend an hour [or more] on Tik-Tok.

In addition to social media, I subscribe to a bunch of great newsletters that help keep me in the loop on things I may have missed. I love Casey Newton's The Interface and this automated one I get of the top links from Hacker News.

I am big Business Insider reader, and it just started a newsletter about the business of the influences world, which I'm excited about.

I also cruise around a website called Product Hunt every week or so to check out new apps and platforms.

I'll sign up for pretty much anything with a login page, and I love talking to product people about what they're building, so Product Hunt is great for finding people like that. It's also just a great community.

So that's how you stay on top of what young people are doing?

One thing I never, ever do is start with the premise ''What are young people doing?'' I always start with an interesting user behavior, or trend, or meme I see emerging, and look at why it's being expressed in a certain way or how how it evolved.

For instance, I would never ask, ''What new memes are middle schoolers sharing?''

But I might observe a new meme format emerging on Instagram Explore, like niche memes, then interview people on what it is about that particular format that allows them to express themselves in a better way, or what emotions it allows them to to communicate better, or what tools they're using and how they could be improved.

The fact that mostly middle and high schoolers are the ones sharing niche memes is relevant, but somewhat secondary.

I also don't think young people are the only ones using the Internet in new, interesting and creative ways. Probably because I'm in my 30s, I've been really interested lately in the ways parents use tech to connect with one another and just generally parent culture online.

For instance, I recently wrote about how pineapples became a meme in the world of in vitro fertilization, and the struggles of parenting a teenage social media star.

The honor and serving of this delightful post, continues to Part 2. The World Students Society thanks Taylor Lorenz for her experiences and insights.