| From an educational perspective, social networking sites have received ambiguous reviews. By some they are criticized for posing personal risks while others applaud their rich learning opportunities. In either case, solutions to risks of engagement tend to focus on matters of use. Eliciting critical theory of technology, this study reorients this focus to the politics of technological design. The purpose of this study was to generate insights with respect to what a critical analysis of the Facebook social networking site might yield for citizenship education. Based on a single embedded case study, the results demonstrate how commercial values underlie the site's design where a narrow definition of privacy informs practices that favour corporate interests and undermine privacy as a social good. It calls for educational practices that equip young citizens to question the technologies with which they engage and democratically participate in shaping technologies that might better reflect the public interest. |
