I don’t use social networking to replace traditional media. My friends don’t either. So it seems silly to me that Keen and others like him think that they are a threat. Come on! We use social networking to invite people to events, let our friends know what’s going on in our lives, share our interests, etc. I don’t use it to ask my friends, “So, what’s happening in Iraq?” — unless they are actually in Iraq.

If anything, I think social networking might actually help bring more people to traditional media since it gives a forum for our generation to discuss what we read — and its harder to discuss something if you haven’t read what’s being discussed.

Plus, people seem to forget that blogging and reading blogs is a great way for younger people (and older people, too) to improve their reading and writing skills through good ol’ practice. Sure, a 6th grader’s blog isn’t going to look like that of a Pulitzer prize winning journalist, but I bet their writing skills are going to be better than if they just played video games all day. I think that the internet in general has been a great to get people interested in reading and writing again. I’ll admit, before the internet, the only time I really wrote was either in class or when I had to write short thank you notes.