Social graph

I am currently in Melbourne and this is the first opportunity I have had to blog since I arrived in Australia. I have been learning about a lot of the exciting digital literacy work going on in Australian schools, and discussing issues that face educators both here and in England. For example, we have talked about the need to move beyond conceptualising the digital divide in terms of access to hardware and software, although that is important. What will be of significance in the future will be how well embedded individuals are in the social graph. I for one will be well out of it, as I have resisted joining Facebook for various reasons and am willing to accept the limitations that will bring. But what are the consequences for young children if they are not able to make choices about social networking because they are not aware of the options available to them? Social capital will become social networking capital, which will relate in some ways to economic and cultural capital. I was interested to read the National School Boards Association's report in the USA in which parents expressed positive views towards their children's use of social networking sites - this report adds to other work that suggests that schools embrace and not ignore these sites. Every child needs the chance to make choices about whether and where he/she appears on the social graph.