Waddling around the digital iceberg: Use of virtual spaces and environments by children, preteens, and teens

Abstract

Emerging technologies, including Web 2.0, are offering new opportunities and possibilities for youth to create, organize, represent content, read and learn, exchange and share information, and to fulfill a need to communicate with others. MySpace, YouTube, Google Video, blogs, podcasts, del.icio.us, and Flickr offer seamless functionalities and capabilities that young users find fascinating. Virtual environments available for children, preteens, and teens are growing in popularity. Children of various ages are contributing to the Web not only by creating content, but also by tagging information to represent content.