Teaching and Digital Technologies Big Issues and Critical Questions

Introduction

The digital world offers a glittering promise of ubiquitous connectivity, with friends, entertainment and information at our fingertips. It is not surprising that young people are choosing the online environment as a principal mechanism for socialising, communicating and exploring. Conversely though, we are told that the internet is a very dangerous place, particularly for the young. A dominant focus of contemporary political and academic investigation relates to the risk perspective of children and young adults using the internet. The goal of this chapter is to question the moral panics that surround social networking and online technologies and to present a more considered and balanced perspective. It should be possible for young people to ‘grow up digitally’ in a protected and supported environment, which minimises risk while building important skills for life in the digital world.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS

The rise of social networking

The term ‘social networking’ has been coined to describe the use of online sites to facilitate social connections between people. When people first join a social network, they are likely to communicate mostly with people they know in the physical world. However, as they become familiar with the environment, their network is likely to expand to include ‘friends’ who they only know in the online context. The goal of social networking is to build and extend the net of connections.