more on online social networks

I wanted to say a little more about online social networks that I didn't elaborate on in my last post. One thing that I thought was interesting is danah boyd's comment that MySpace was started by 20 something's who are into indie music because I had heard that it was actually initially populated by the queer (mostly gay men I believe) and Burning Man communities. Has anyone else read/heard this? I was also unaware of the strong teenage presence on MySpace.

On another note, I think that Jenkins brings up a good point in Discussion: MySpace and Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) about how young people in the "information age" need to be able to "play" with information and social networks in order to learn how and when to use them. If they are denied this overprotective parents, teachers, and librarians they cannot learn how to participate fully in the information society and furthermore know how to protect themselves. Parents need to offer guidance about online issue and media literacy needs to be incorporated into curriculums in order to teach youth to navigate online worlds with awareness of the risks and opportunities. This cannot happen if young people do not have the chance to engage in online social networks. Boyd brings up some good points about the fear of online social predation in this article as well- breaking down the statistics to illlustrate that most of the fear is overblown.