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Figure 9: Facebook image 3More is written in section 2.3.3 about the influence of technology on freedom. Here, the concernis the historical development of technology as an agent of learning, or perhaps it would be moreappropriate to say, the emergence of a range of learning technologies which afford usersopportunities for communication, collaboration and knowledge-construction. Somekh (2007)again,"The development of new social practices will therefore be transformative to varyingdegrees, depending on the affordances of the tool, the skill with which human agentslearn to use them and their ability to imagine new possible uses." (Somekh, 2007 p.13)In the examples cited it has been the academic staff who have explored the potential affordancesof 'Facebook'. This, as Somekh noted. The power of 'Facebook' and other social networkingutilities has been precisely their creators' ability to attenuate the software behind them and reiterateaccording to the needs and demands of the user. This is exactly the phenomenon thatPolsani described (see below, section 2.3.2) around a decade ago. In the 21st Centuryperformative knowledge 'flow' is both the subject and object of the global human network."Social networking (Linkedin, Facebook), blogs, webinars and microsharing (egTwitter) are all examples of different types of social media technologies that areincreasingly in everyday use both in and out of work, indicating that the appetite tocollaborate and share across networks is huge." (Robinson, 2011 p. 13)102Simon Hughes Ph.D. Thesis (October 2012)