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Childnet International’s mission is to work inpartnership with others around the world tohelp make the Internet a great and safe placefor children. In all its work, Childnet( 
www.childnet.com
 ) seeks to take a balancedapproach, promoting the positive andhighlighting the creative and inspiring waysin which children and young people use theInternet for good, as well as taking a practicalresponse to potential risks.
Digizen’s rst research programme similarly aims to
support the modelling of good practice by youngpeople online, focusing on the use of social networkingservices and tools to develop and demonstrate voice,engagement and positive change. This project focuseson how social networking services can be used withinformal and informal learning contexts. This reportis designed to support teachers and lecturers withan interest in using social networking services andinnovative curriculum approaches, as well as those witha responsibility for e-safety, cyberbullying awareness anddigital literacy of both staff and students.This project has been generously funded by Becta( 
http://becta.org.uk
 ), the UK Government’s key partnerin the strategic development and delivery of its ICT ande-learning strategy. The project has been led by JosieFraser, Social and Educational Technologist, on behalf ofChildnet International.The research is available to download and redistributeunder a Creative Commons licence:( 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/  by-nc-sa/2.0/uk
 ). Under the terms of the licence thatapplies to this version of the work, other people arefree to copy and display this work or to make derivativeworks. They must, however, give the original authorcredit and not use the work for commercial purposes,and any derivative works must be released under anidentical licence.The online version of this work is available at Childnet’sDigizen website ( 
www.digizen.org
 ).“Digizen” is a composite of the words “digital” and“citizen”. In keeping with both Childnet International’sethos and the approach outlined in the UK’scyberbullying advice and guidance for schools (work ledby Childnet International on behalf of the Department forChildren, Schools and Families;
www.dfes.gov.uk
 ), theDigizen project:looks at how children and young people can use the*Internet safely to change the world for the betterrecognises the huge positive potential young people*have and the vital role they have to play in shapingthe worldseeks to celebrate the unprecedented opportunities*the Internet affords children and young people: todevelop a voice, to collaborate, to organise, to debate,to create, to share, to learn, to develop essential skillsand, above all, to participate.Childnet has designed the Digizen site and its resourcesto provide practical support to young people in makingtheir impact on the world a positive one.
Young People andSocial Networking Services:
 A Childnet International ResearchReport
 
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1. Introduction
Young People and Social Networking Services: A Childnet International Research Report
1. Introduction
The project is designed to investigate howsocial networking services can and are beingused to support personalised formal andinformal learning by young people in schoolsand colleges.
The work opens by asking “
What are socialnetworking services?
” This section investigates current
denitions of social networking services and provides
a comprehensive review of current social networkingservice types and activities.In
Evaluating social networking services
, this reportthen describes how to use a toolkit – a social networkingevaluation chart covering six different social networkingservices, and an accompanying checklist, which areavailable to download from the Digizen website:( 
www.digizen.org/socialnetworking/  checklist.aspx
 ) – to evaluate services. The chart is not
denitive, but provides a comprehensive frameworkcovering signicant relevant issues such as site age
restrictions, the presence of adverts, collaborative tools,security issues and data management restrictions.
Benets and opportunities
 
evaluates the potential
educational benets to individual users, as well as
outlining some of the opportunities that educatorsand schools using social networking services mighttake advantage of. This section looks at issues arounddigital literacy and social engagement, skills and identitydevelopment, and opportunities for better understandinge-safety and data management issues. 
Barriers and risks
looks at current barriers tousing social networking services within education,including staff development and support issues, andrisk evaluation and management approaches. Riskareas that educators should be aware of are outlined,and approaches to manage these are addressed.Issues include users’ perceptions of the environmentthey are posting in, personal data management, andcyberbullying and potentially illegal behaviours.
Ideas and examples
showcases innovative practice,providing links to a range of projects and exampleswhere social networking services have been successfullyused to support both teachers and students. Links to
current debates around specic services are
also included.Finally, the
Glossary 
describes some terms that readersmay be unfamiliar with.
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