“That Tiger Beat poster on the wall now talks to you.” That rather ominous statement is the way one industry insider described what followers get from today’s teen stars. They follow them on Vine, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and a host of social platforms with names unfamiliar to even the most Internet-addicted adults. It’s reality TV meets social media meets adolescence; and its huge. Rolling Stone’s Benoit Denizet-Lewis follows a guy named Christian Leave to better understand the strange life of a teen social media celebrity.

+ Slate’s Amanda Hess on YouNow: Teens are getting famous on a social network you’ve probably never heard of.

+ “Millions of teenagers in high schools nationwide are using a smartphone app to anonymously share their deepest anxieties, secret crushes, vulgar assessments of their classmates and even violent threats, all without adults being able to look in.” WaPo on the After School app (like real life adolescence, it can get pretty dark).