I'll probably come back around to this important topic again, but right now I have only two points to add to what's partly a discussion about free speech in social media, fueled in the past week by feminist Soraya Chemaly in the Huffington Post. It's difficult to talk about "controversial humor" pages in the context of free speech because this content on Facebook (and now on Tumblr, its creators … [Read more...] about Of free speech in global social media
Law & Policy
Today’s Net, kids & COPPA: Our comment to the FTC
A US law about children's online services can really only regulate US-based children's online services. It might influence foreign regulators but it has no jurisdiction over sites and services based outside the US and can't stop US users from leaving compliant services and going to noncompliant ones outside the US (or in it, for that matter). So, by the global nature of the Internet, there's no … [Read more...] about Today’s Net, kids & COPPA: Our comment to the FTC
Another high-profile sexting study: Takeaways for parents
Let's just cut right to the takeaway for parents, then some background. The takeaway, which is right in the headline of TheAtlantic.com's intelligent coverage of new data on sexting published in the journal Pediatrics: We need to talk with our kids about sexting, but I would add: that might be in the context of their developing sexuality, of the family's values, of appropriate use of digital … [Read more...] about Another high-profile sexting study: Takeaways for parents
Important for safety: ‘It Can Wait!’
There seems to be something automatic about responding immediately when a text comes in. Maybe it's because a text is just part of a conversation. But whatever that reflex is, it needs an override when we're driving – an override either in the software between our ears or some "I'm not available right now" software in our phones. AT&T has an app for that called "DriveMode" that sends a text … [Read more...] about Important for safety: ‘It Can Wait!’
The ‘minimum age’ & other unintended consequences of COPPA
It's tough to be the FTC – or anyone else trying to make rules for user-driven (social) media. It's hard enough to make static rules address fast-changing technology. Then there's the problem of changing understanding of consumers – the intended beneficiaries of the rules and the users of user-driven media – as we all adjust to having the data that represents so much of our everyday lives in a … [Read more...] about The ‘minimum age’ & other unintended consequences of COPPA