Online Social Networks are apparently a crucial part of teenagers lives. For young people OSN seem to be the current form of communication and avenue of personal expression in the virtual world. My youngest daughter (born 1988) started having a MySpace network during her high school years. It is no wonder she had no interest in decorating her bedroom, that's too slow! She has artwork and music and poetry all over the place on her MySpace, and that is constantly changing. This is the way of school and home life for many teens today.
Educationally, my daughter really depends on IM (instant messaging) and Text messaging to communicate with her friends. Many nights when she had questions about homework the best source was through IM's. Especially since her friends were online doing their homework and chatting at the same time. School homework hotlines or teacher emails would be of no help at 10 p.m! I don't consider her a techy at all, but she needs these "tools" to fit in to the modern world. The controversy about allowing OSN or IM's at school makes sense only in terms of Internet "bullies" and increased risks of online viruses. Most high school students have study blocks and are allowed to go to the library to work, so why no let them communicate with friends about classwork during this time...it doesn't usually make any noise.
Overall, OSNs seem to be the way of the present and the older generation (myself included) need to become more familiar with the good and bad about it. Technological tools are coming at the public faster and faster, the challenge is to try and stay informed so that we can have more intelligent conversations with our kids/students/co-workers.
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