As the Deleting Online Predators Act makes clear, some lawmakers are determined to keep public schools and libraries from letting students have access to social-networking sites. That will not be very popular with the teachers and librarians who would normally be in charge of computer-usage policy. After all, many of them are starting to grow fond of social networks, as Wired reports.
MySpace and Facebook aren't all that long on academic uses, but upstart programs like Elgg — a social network designed by researchers at the University of Brighton — are designed specifically for scholarly interaction. If it takes off, a tool like Elgg could force lawmakers to rethink the vague language they have used to dismiss social networks. –Brock Read
