Online social networks have become so central to teens’ lifestyles that some would consider their ability to access them during working hours when weighing up a job offer. In a recent survey, more than half (58 percent) said they would consider their ability to access social networks at work when considering a job offer from a potential employer. Anyone who is a parent of teenagers will probably not be surprised by this.

According to the survey of 17-year-olds conducted by Junior Achievement, nine out of 10 teenagers use social networks every day, with 70 percent saying they participate in social networking an hour or more daily. I can certainly testify that this happens in our house!

However more than a third of respondents said they did not consider the reactions of admission officers, future employers or their parents when posting content. Well why would they, they are kids after all. However, 16% admitted to blatantly unethical behavior such as “posting content embarrassing to others, spreading rumors and pretending to be someone other than themselves.”

Ainar D. Aijala, global managing partner, Consulting, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu rightly points out “Teens who will soon be entering the workforce must understand the value of their ‘personal brand,’ that their online postings live in perpetuity.”

Social networks may be ‘a bit of fun’ but what we post on the internet lives forever. Think before you press ’send’.

Research by The National Literacy Trust on 3,001 children from England and Scotland showed that schoolchildren who blog or own social networking profiles on Facebook have higher literacy levels and greater confidence in writing.
The key objectives of the survey were to explore how much young people enjoy writing, what type of writing they engage in, how good at writing they think they are, what they think about writing and what the role of technology is in young people’s writing.
So what were the key findings?
75% of young people said that they write regularly. Technology-based formats were most frequently written. For example, 82% of young people wrote text messages at least once a month, 73% wrote instant messages (such as messages on AIM or MSN), and 63% wrote on a social networking site.
61 per cent of bloggers and 56 per cent of social networkers claimed to be good or very good at writing, compared to 47 per cent of those who had neither.
Pupils who write online are more likely to write short stories, letters, song lyrics or a diary, the research revealed.
Most young people said they used computers regularly and believed that computers are beneficial to their writing, agreeing that a computer makes it easier for them to correct mistakes (89%) and allows them to present ideas clearly (76%). Overall, nearly 60% of young people also believe that computers allow them to be more creative, concentrate more and encourage them to write more often.

Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, said: “The digital age often gets a bad press but the findings of this report demonstrate that social networking sites and blogs are linked to young people’s more positive attitudes to writing. “Confidence and enjoyment are closely linked to the development of skills. Therefore, in order to improve standards we need to encourage children to write more and to enjoy writing, which could be supported by celebrating forms of writing they enjoy. Our research indicates that, for many, these are without doubt technology-based forms.”

Full report available here

Do you think computers are a help or a hinderance to children’s writing?

Cheaper e-books and the emergence of an Apple e-reader are reported as the main factors in driving digital publishing forward, according to a landmark survey of more than 1,000 book trade professionals by Bookseller. The survey found that 88% of respondents thought bookshops would lose out from the growth in digital sales.

The majority of respondents said that e-books should be priced at the same cost as a paperback book (30.1%), or cheaper (53.6%) but there was also concern that low priced e-books could devalue other editions. One respondent stressed that it was “important not to devalue the work that has gone into writing, editing and formatting the content”.

Apple was named as the company which would come out ‘top’ in the e-reader wars with support from 52% despite not even having a dedicated e-reader out on the market as yet: Amazon was a close second, with Sony third.

Whilst customers may expect ebooks to be cheaper than their paperback counterparts the publishers are still seeking to cover the front end costs of production of the original work.

So the discussion continues on digital books, e-readers, pricing and formatting. Ultimately it will be the consumer that decides.