MySpace and youth social software expert danah boyd has released the full text of an email interview she and Henry Jenkins, Co-Director of Comparative Media Studies at MIT, recently did with the MIT News Office on MySpace and the proposed Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA).  Lots of good detail and analysis here, a great example of the usefulness of email interviews.  Helpful in understanding the proposed legislation, MySpace and youth social software in general and the public work of two prominent voices on these issues.  Both boyd and Jenkins are funded by the MacArthur Foundation to do academic work on these topics currently.

Here's how boyd explains her work:

"For my doctoral dissertation, I am investigating why and how youth are engaging in digital publics like MySpace, how this affects identity development and how youth socialization has changed over the last century. This work is being funded by the MacArthur Foundation to help understand the nature of informal learning. Understanding why moral panics emerge when youth socialize is central to my research."

Jenkins says about his work:
"[My work] seeks to identify the core social skills and cultural competencies young people need in order to become full participants in the cultural, political, economic, and social life of the 21st century. In doing this research, we are reviewing the current state of educational research surrounding participatory culture and examining how teachers are currently deploying these technologies through schools. We want in the long term to develop new curricular materials which help parents and teachers build a more constructive relationship with new media."

Both provide some useful thinking and talking points in regards to the much maligned sector of youth-oriented social software.