Participation: Policymakers must look to the internet

The Carnegie Young People Initiative's Remixing Citizenship report looks at how teenagers use the internet to gather information, express themselves and exercise their power as citizens in the community.

Stephen Coleman, the report's author and Cisco professor of e-democracy at the Oxford Internet Institute, argues that much of what is offered to young people under the banner of "active citizenship" lacks appeal.

Coleman's report concludes that too many web sites simply provide information and don't offer opportunities for interaction. Many sites also lack content created by young people.

Coleman argues that decision-makers need to recognise the internet as an experimental space for young people, allowing them to "sample and remix" material by adopting what they feel is relevant to them and discarding what they view as futile and obsolete. The report is based on the views of a group of 100 young people aged 13 to 18.