Her computer is in the kitchen, a public area, and we have an ongoing conversation that sometimes includes specifically what she is doing online, sometimes she brings it up, and sometimes I bring it up (based on the intensity I am observing, or the graphics I see on the screen, or the amount of text she is producing).

This post on participation resonates with me, including the benefits to young people. She has had amazing participation, in very creative ways, online. She participates in a forum site called fanfiction.com (where fans of particular fiction spin off stories, and participants all build the stories together, very collaborative, with lots of feedback and reviews). The online creativity is amazing to watch, and the quality of the writing is sometimes exceptional. She was actually interviewed by the moderators of the site because she had created four of the longest running stories in the history of the site.

Another arena is the youtube videos, which also spin off favorite fictional characters (comic book characters, as well as book series). Lots of creativity there, skill building in graphics and movie-making.

She’s not quite to the last three bullet points of civic participation, but I have hopes for the future on that count. The first six bullet points are right on, though; her online participation provides her with a rich variety of choices in creativity and voice.