Social network sites, online games, video-sharing sites, and gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones are now fixtures of youth culture. They have so permeated young lives that it is hard to believe that less than a decade ago these technologies barely existed. Today’s youth may be coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity as did their predecessors, but they are doing so amid new worlds for communication, friendship, play, and self-expression.

We include here the findings of three years of research on kids’ informal learning with digital media. The two page summary incorporates a short, accessible version of our findings. The White Paper is a 30-page document prepared for the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Series. The book is an online version of our forthcoming book with MIT Press and incorporates the insights from 800 youth and young adults and over 5000 hours of online observations.

Political analysts have long been forecasting a high number of young voters in this presidential election — but there’s always that niggling fear that young people will do what young people are known for: flaking out, slacking off and failing to show up when it counts.

But this time, young people turned out to vote in droves. An estimated 22 to 24 million young people voted in this election, an increase in youth turnout by at least 2.2 million over 2004, according to CIRCLE.

“(The youth vote) is turning states that (Obama) would’ve lost or barely won into more comfortable margins,” says John Della Volpe, the director of polling for the Harvard University Institute of Politics. “Not only are they voting in higher numbers, they’re voting more Democratic.”

If you had had the right to vote in the US, who would you have voted for?

There will also be some great work presented at E.magiciens festival in Valenciennes in the north of France on November 26th- 28th.

I’m the type of person who usually sifts through online content and rarely digs very deep into marketing campaigns. In this case, I was hooked on this for about 20 minutes. Somebody else’s phone is a new Nokia campaign advertised in London that does a great job of depicting the life of an early to mid twenty year-old through their text messages, MMS and pictures. Really impressive and also really interesting how you can grab people’s attention by catering to their voyeuristic tendencies.

- Their parents were as old as most of the parents of the people attending the symposium who were mostly in their 30s. They said their parents didn’t know how to text on phones and didn’t understand what the value of Facebook was.

- They didn’t read any books that didn’t directly relate to schoolwork.

- They didn’t think much about the value of open source software as their all had laptops given to them with all the software they needed already.

- They had laptops since the 6th grade.

- They didn’t really write anything down anymore as they didn’t feel the need to, having access to laptops.

- They hardly used their cell phones. ( This is unsurprising and probably a by-product of the US being so far behind in terms of cell phone penetration.)

Overall, I thought some of their comments were the true and extreme results of having been exposed to technology fairly quickly and at a young age and being from wealthier backgrounds. One of them, a young woman very active with extra-curricular activities, had a better camera than most people in the room. The thoughts from the attendees were that these young people didn’t represent the majority at all, just a part of the elite, and generally didn’t know what to do with their comments or how to interpret them in any meaningful way. When faced with the challenge of understanding young people and their relationship to technology, when does a small sample become “the norm” in the eyes of an audience of adults. Hard to tell.

Common Purpose and Deutsche bank are organising this contest in the UK and I thought this was very much in tune with the Shift6 audience. If you know someone who fits the bill, check it out!. Deadline 12th of January 2008.

It has been designed to recognise the achievements and ambitions of young people, between the ages of 11-18, who want to speak out and create positive change.

The awards have nothing to do with academic achievement or exam grades, but everything to do with good citizenship and positive action.

Campaigns covering all topics are welcome and can be really big or really small. The judges are looking for achieveable ideas and determination to make them happen, or evidence of a campaign that has had an impact in the way it has been delivered.

A new addition to a fairly traditional and slightly geriatric list published yearly by the Evening Standard is Jourdan Dunn who is just 18! A pioneer in the world of modeling, she’s got a great attitude as well.

“London’s not a white city, so why should our catwalks be white?” So said the Hammersmith-born model who appeared in 75 catwalk shows last season. Her outspoken views on race, combined with her extreme beauty, have already radicalised the fashion industry, with American and Italian Vogue fighting over her for their covers — virtually unheard-of for a black model.

Maybe she should be on Blyk too :)

I just spent 2 weeks in Montreal and saw ads all over town for new kid on the block Koodo (only in Canada as far as i can tell). I wasnt sure who they were trying to target, but as a 27 year old, I can’t say the reminder of Olivia Newton John’s Physical video is an appealing way to get me to sign up to a phone provider. *Shudders*

In so many ways it seems Blyk is the strongest contender in the 7th Mass Media industry as previously launched Mosh Mobile(in the US) and MobiK (in Australia) seemed to have either gone the “reward points” way or pear-shaped entirely.

I’m interested in this idea of rewards though, which at first glance seems to introduce the idea of gaming into mobile usage, not unlike Tamagoshis. If you think a little further though, this introduces the idea that the mobile content isn’t that interesting and that you should get rewarded for it, like your mom used to give you a cookie if you ate your pea soup. Not a very attractive prospect really.

Blyk tends to offer you free minutes and texts of course, but they are not specifically seen as a “reward”, just as something you get for joining. Part of the terms and conditions if you will. This I think adjusts the balance of power in a users mind about what the service is there for and puts a much more positive spin on its usage.

If you live in London and are interested in the creative industries and design, this year’s London Design Festival should be on your calendar. I’ll be checking it out and finding cool work to report back here. There are literally hundreds of events around London, usually free and that give you a great insight into the schools, businesses and freelancers involved in the meta conversation around design in London and around the world. Really worth checking out.