It's as if some reporters feel compelled to write to parents' worst fears. The headline of a USATODAY blog post about a new McAfee study about the state of youth online safety says, "Privacy doesn't matter to kids engaging in risky online behaviors." Well, maybe not to kids who want to engage in risky online behavior, but this is not true of young Net users in general (we do need to keep working … [Read more...] about Coverage of new study on Net safety: Critical thinking needed!
Archives for June 2010
Twitterers in US and Japan
Micro-blogging via Twitter has really taken off in Japan. In fact, proportionately more Japanese than Americans tweet: 16.3% of Japan's Internet users vs. 9.8% of the US's, according to an article in the Washington Post. Compare that to Facebook use in Japan at only 3% of Net users vs. 62% of US Net users also using Facebook, the article cites Nielsen research as showing. Japan's No. 1 social … [Read more...] about Twitterers in US and Japan
Teens text while driving less than adults: Study
Not by much less, but the point is that too many drivers of all ages are texting while driving. Teens are not alone. The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 27% of US adults have texted while driving, while 26% of 16- and 17-year-old drivers have. And a lot more adults have talked on their cellphones (61%) while driving than teens have (43%). What this suggests is that we adults … [Read more...] about Teens text while driving less than adults: Study
Grassroots suicide prevention in Facebook
A Canadian woman's effort to keep a San Francisco man from committing suicide is becoming something of a movement on Facebook. Days after Kimberly Furnell of Nanaimo, B.C., created a suicide-prevention Facebook group on June 5, it had 47,000 members, the Vancouver Sun reports. She'd seen a message in the anonymous postcard site PostSecret.com that read in part, "I have lived in San Francisco since … [Read more...] about Grassroots suicide prevention in Facebook
Pure kidvid: Kideos and Zuitube
For summer vacation downtime, kid-friendly online video is always an option – but it's good for parents to know there are alternatives to Safety Mode-enabled YouTube. The new kid on the block in the kid video category is Kideos.com. It joins Zuitube.com, the video part of children's Web browser Kidzui that was so popular it became its own Web site. For parents who have created "white lists" of … [Read more...] about Pure kidvid: Kideos and Zuitube