Today's growing connectivity – including keeping it safe and productive – is only partly about technology. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman applies Conservation International's "Lost there, felt here" to global economics, as in "Lost in Athens, felt in Berlin. Lost on Wall Street, felt in Iceland." The same goes for families, school communities, virtual worlds, texting friends, classrooms, … [Read more...] about The ‘Era of Behavior’ online too, of course
Archives for May 2010
Avatars & virtual penguins vs. real-life dolls
Sales of Barbie, Liv, Moxie Girlz, and other dolls have declined 20% in the US since 2005, and kids as young as 8 and 9 are passing them up for the live "doll play" – or avatar play – of virtual worlds, the Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported, citing NPD Group figures. It tells of 8-year-old Paige, who says she finds playing with dolls boring after a while, and of a Manhattan dollmaker, who … [Read more...] about Avatars & virtual penguins vs. real-life dolls
This just in: Facebook makes privacy simpler
Simplicity is what Facebook says it has been hearing its users calling for, so simplicity is the main focus of the privacy-controls changes it announced today. More user control came in a close second. Here are the three key changes, which FB says it'll be rolling out "over the next few weeks": "One simple control to set who can see the content you post" – only friends, friends of friends, or … [Read more...] about This just in: Facebook makes privacy simpler
Employers checking the Web: Study
This isn't about summer jobs for teens, necessarily, but teens may want some hard evidence that their social networking profiles and other online activities could factor into their job searches going forward. So here's some data from Microsoft: a survey of "1,200 hiring and recruitment managers and 1,200 consumers in the United States, the UK, Germany, and France." In its coverage, a MediaPost.com … [Read more...] about Employers checking the Web: Study
A new kind of online kid monitoring
Kid online safety needs to be a conversation. You know what I mean. The part of the Net that really interests youth is the user-driven, social part that is, by definition, unruly. SO safety on it is an ongoing conversation at home and school, in the community, among policymakers, etc., and any tool or talking point promoting that conversation promotes safety. SafetyWeb could just be considered a … [Read more...] about A new kind of online kid monitoring