Finding a youth work perspective on social networking

If you've been waiting for the interim report of the Youth Work and Social Networking project then straight to the point you can download it here:

• Full Interim Report (PDF)

We'll try and make an online blog or wiki version available soon.

And if you'd like a bit more context, please read on...

Sketching out the youth work perspective
Over the first five months of this year online social networking has rarely been out of the news.

Since 2005 the rapid growth of online social networks has opened up a raft of new opportunities for young people and professionals working with young people, alongside a range of new challenges, or familiar challenges in new guises.

There are many perspectives on online social networking and young people (at least 35 are suggested by Marlene Larsen) - ranging from those that see online social networks as presenting young people with dramatically increased risk of harm, through to those perspective (not necessarily mutual exclusive) that see online social networks as providing new spaces and tools for informal learning, for young people's creativity and for youth political engagement.

Youth Workers have long been established as key actors in supporting young people's informal learning; their personal and social development; and their empowerment. The Youth Work skill set is frequently employed in supporting young people to avoid or to navigate risky behaviors and situations. It's because of this that we've sought to set out some of the ground work for developing a clear 'youth work perspective' on online social networking.

The Interim Report published this week offers:

• Four vantage points on online social networking - providing managers and practitioners with complementary conceptual frameworks for looking at social network sites and online social networking;
  
• A clear assessment of the evidence base on different opportunities and risks that young people may encounter through online social networking;
  
• An snapshot of the access to technology and current skills and experience of the current youth work workforce when it comes to online social networking;
  
• A summary of the priorities, concerns and opportunities identified by youth workers and youth work managers with respect to online social networking;
  
• An assessment of possible youth work responses to online social networking both on the local and strategic level;

This report will inform a series of action research projects and case study gathering which will be featured on this blog throughout June and July.

Our hope is that this further research, and the many conversations already taking place which this research can contribute to - will lead us closer towards a clear youth work perspective, and practical youth work responses to support young people in navigating the risks and making the most of the opportunities that the rapidly developing work of online social networking brings.

Please do use the comments feature below to offer your feedback on the report, or to pose any questions for us, or other readers to explore / answer...