The ultranet as a future social network: An actor-network analysis

Community development is seen as an increasingly important role for government and the potential of Web 2.0 tools to aid in community development seems obvious. An experimental technology relating to e-government is being introduced by the State Government of Victoria, Australia. This involves a closed social network called the Ultranet which is intended to support communities of parents, teachers and students in State schools. As the Ultranet has only recently come into operation, this paper cannot present an analysis of its operation, only a theoretical investigation of its possibilities.