Onderzoekster Danah Boyd over het angstbeeld dat media schetsen over de wijze waarop jongeren internet gebruiken (smoelenboeken, chatten, cammen, etc.):

"I'm tired of mass media perpetuating a culture of fear under the scapegoat of informing the public. Nowhere is this more apparent than how they discuss youth culture and use scare tactics to warn parents of the safety risks about the Internet. The choice to perpetually report on the possibility or rare occurrence of kidnapping / stalking / violence because of Internet sociability is not a neutral position - it is a position of power that the media chooses to take because it's a story that sells (...) We fear our children. (...)"