I take my cue from Marshall McLuhan, who noted that each technology has its own “grammar” …. He was referring to the way different methods of communication change the lifestyle and thinking of users.
If that’s the case, then much of our research shows that the grammar of the internet is to create and foster communities. In most instances, these internetaided communities look and feel like communities of the past, but there are new dimensions that are particularly important for librarians to understand….The big story with these devices is that large numbers of people,
especially those under age 25, are sharing pictures and videos online – 51% of young adults have shared pictures and 22% have shared videos. For these young people, photos and videos have become a currency of conversation and community.
Read Communities, Learning and the Internet (pdf) from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Previously from WNM: The user-centered web is ruled by teenagers and Teens and New Media: IM = I and Me
