Recently I wrote about She's Such a Geek: Women Write About, Science Technology and Other Nerdy Stuff and the discouragement women geeks face.

Justine Cassell added a different take on ways girls are disempowered as users of technology.. Her analysis, that the real reason behind the fear of girls using social networking sites is that girls’ use of technology threatens the established social order, is well worth reading.

She comments that the stories about the dangers to boys by technology focus on boys' "power and the damage they can cause to society. The stories about girls focus on their weakness and the damage that society can cause to them" and while as she says "Both kinds of stories are equally noxious; however, the ultimate result may be empowerment of boys with respect to technology, and disempowerment of girls - discouraging them from using technology."

You know I think she hit on something here