SYN (Student Youth Network) is a media organization run by people between the ages of 12 and 26. In this 'coming of age story,' Life of SYN follows the SYNers as they build Australia's most unusual media empire against enormous odds. Over the course of SYN's history, social networking becomes the most popular internet activity and traditional media institutions are forced to acknowledge the rise of amateur content. In response, SYN rethinks its approach to the online environment, kills its print publication, deals with the introduction of digital broadcasting, and explains a new kind of literacy to schoolteachers. In just two years, dozens of careers are launched, and the SYN radio audience doubles in size. Life of SYN takes on the big issues of the media through the story of a small media organization. With humor and insight, it describes a media environment in flux, where audiences and producers express their freedom in unruly and contradictory ways. The book gives structure to the new media world without curtailing its inventiveness and possibility. Life of SYN combines story with media theory, encompassing digital literacy and media participation, the future of community media, youth media, and media industries.