BKYPENDM.RVW   20120125

"Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media: A Synthesis from the
GoodPlay Project", Carrie James et al, 2009, 978-0-262-51363-0
%A   Carrie James
%A   Katie Davis
%A   Andrea Flores
%A   John M. Francis
%A   Lindsay Pettingill
%A   Margaret Rundle
%A   Howard Gardner
%C   55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA   02142-1399
%D   2009
%G   978-0-262-51363-0 0-262-51363-3
%I   MIT Press
%O   +1-800-356-0343 fax: +1-617-625-6660 www-mitpress.mit.edu
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262513633/robsladesinterne
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262513633/robsladesinte-21
%O   http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262513633/robsladesin03-20
%O   Audience n Tech 1 Writing 1 (see revfaq.htm for explanation)
%P   
%T   "Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media"

It is not until more than a tenth of this book has passed before the
authors admit that this is, in essence, only a proposal for a study
which they hope will be carried out in future.  No actual research or
interviews have been conducted, so there aren't really any results to
be reported.  The authors hypothesize that five factors are involved
in "media-identity": "privacy, ownership and authorship, credibility,
and participation."  (Yes, I agree that it looks like four factors,
expressed that way.  But the authors repeatedly express it in exactly
that way, and insist that it makes five.)

The authors note that social networking (or social media, or new
digital media) is a frontier, and thus lacks comprehensive and
well-enforced rules and regulations.  Social media permits and
encourages "participatory cultures," with relatively low barriers to
artistic expression and "civic" engagement, strong support for
creating and sharing creations, and some type of informal mentorship
whereby what is  known by the most experienced is passed along to
novices.  The goals of the project are to investigate the ethical
values and structures of new media and to create entities to promote
ethical thinking and conduct.

The project is also to focus on "play," with a fairly broad definition
of that term, including gaming, instant messaging, social networking,
participation in fan fiction groups, blogging, and content creation
including video sharing.  Some of these activities may lead to
employment, but are undertaken without support, rewards, and
constraints of adult supervisors, and without explicit standards of
conduct and quality.  "Good play" is defined as online conduct that is
both meaningful and engaging to the participant and responsible to
others in the community in which it is carried out.

A number of questions are raised in this book, but few are answered in
any way at all.  While there is some review of existing work in
related areas, it is hardly comprehensive, convincing, or useful.  It
is difficult to say what the intent of publishing this book was.

copyright, Robert M. Slade   2012     BKYPENDM.RVW   20120125