Via this post on Henry Jenkins’ blog (who is moving his blog to his new digs at USC– hopefully this address will stay the same with no problems) comes information and a recommendation for “digital_nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier” from PBS’ Frontline. It looks cool; I’m not sure if it’s aired yet or not, but there are some interesting video clips. It could be good for 516, and even for the first year writing class I’m teaching right now where there are some students working on social networks for their research projects.
On the other hand, I have to say that I’m not entirely a fan of some of the people featured here. For example, I personally have yet to be convinced that danah boyd’s work youth culture online is based on anything beyond common sense, her own gut feeling, and some experiences talking with kids. Maybe her talk at U of M in a couple of weeks will change my mind. And I think that Marc Prensky’s idea of “digital natives” is pretty much wrong in all sorts of ways. But hey, these are the folks that PBS is talking to, and these are the folks who are leading, for better or worse. And even if I think they’re wrong, they’re still interesting.