Alexander outlines a range of applications associated with Web 2.0 collectively known as “social media” and discusses the paradigm shift that would appear to have accompanied their emergence. Lankshear and Knobel examine this same issue from an educational perspective. Their “Mindsets” table points to, among other things, shifts in thinking around authorship and ownership of information. Although we have remarked in class about the need to be wary of great-divide theories, the table nevertheless may serve as a useful catalyst for this week’s discussion. Other of our readings remark upon the sorts of social interaction and exchange promoted by emergent “networked publics” in consideration of particular populations (e.g., youth).

I welcome your thoughts on issues emerging from these readings. In consideration of the fact that our topic is social media, you may also wish to further the wiki narrative, or to harness other forms of social media (e.g., Twitter or YouTube) to make contributions to the discussion. (Considering the wiki narrative, which we’ll discuss first thing next week, do take a look at Jeff’s post below, along with the comments in that thread, if you haven’t already done so.)