[Air-L] Fwd: Ofcom publishes extensive research into social networking sites

[Anderson, Ben]

fyi - from the UK comms regulator:

"Several of the issues around the use of social networking sites are important from a media 
literacy standpoint. Section 11 of the Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to promote 
media literacy. We define media literacy as 'the ability to access, understand and create 
communications in a variety of contexts'. In practice, this means that we are seeking to bring 
about and encourage better public understanding and awareness of the digital media in use 
today. 
One element of Ofcom's Media Literacy Strategy is to provide a robust evidence base to 
help define future priorities for Ofcom. Research helps us identify the issues, direct our 
activity and inform progress towards achieving our goals. The purpose of this report is 
therefore to provide evidence-based insights into the social networking phenomenon which 
can be used to inform current understanding of usage and behaviour in the UK, and to help 
identify some of the current and potential future issues around people's use of social 
networking sites."

Begin forwarded message:


	From: Media Literacy <Media.Literacy at ofcom.org.uk>
	Date: 2 April 2008 14:05:40 BST
	To: Media Literacy <Media.Literacy at ofcom.org.uk>
	Subject: Ofcom publishes extensive research into social networking sites

	Ofcom has today published extensive qualitative and quantitative research into adult and young children's use of social networking sites and their attitudes towards them.
	 
	The research reveals just how quickly social networking sites have become parts of Britons' lives and suggests typical profiles of social networkers.
	 
	The full news release can be found here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2008/04/nr_20080402 and the research here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/



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Dr Ben Anderson
Technology & Social Change Research
University of Essex
+44 (0) 7710 187 806
http://chimeraweb.essex.ac.uk/tasc