US Study explores benefits of Social Network Sites

Research just published by the University of Minnesota has explored the positive benefits of Social Network Sites and has found that not only are young people gaining technical skills and proficiency from using social network sites, but the sites are also providing a positive platform for young people's creativity - encouraging young people's informal learning in areas such as music and video production.

You can watch a short overview of the research below, and you can see an interview with researcher Christine Greenhow on the University of Minnesota website.

From the video:

...as a result of maintaining their own MySpace profiles, students in Minneapolis have learned advanced technological skills, such as how to create blogs and Web pages and upload music, movies and pictures...

...much like how a parent or teacher helps their child learn how to drive a car, which can be dangerous …in today’s world, parents and teachers also need to help their students learn how to use potentially dangerous social networking sites safely and to their advantage.

For youth work, the same can hold true. There is a need to help young people find positive uses of social network sites, and the wider social media side of the internet, that are to their benefit.