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Deborah Hazen's picture

Can we think of it as a public park?

I wonder if we can think of the internet as a public park. If we avoid the park because there is some bad stuff going on out there--then we abdicate the park to those who would degrade it. If, instead, we clean up the park, install lights, ceate a neighborhood watch, plant flowers and vegetables, install playground equipment and use the park in large numbers--then it becomes ours and a place that we are happy to visit.

I've been looking, but haven't found it yet--saw an article a while back about how the increase in adult use of Facebook was actually positively influencing the kinds of postings that teens were making on the site---it was losing its Wild West feel and becoming a bit more polite. It was also resulting in some kids leaving FB for the next new technological meeting space. But that isn't so unusual or unique to the web--teens have always milled about looking for a space to be, think and act outside of adult purview.

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