It's like a moral panic on steroids. Adding to the "reckoning" already under way since the 2016 election (see Related links below) is the news yesterday of a new, high-profile coalition of some of social media's creators and backers and Common Sense Media. The steroids part is the funding ($7 million from individuals, the Omidyar Network and Common Sense Media), the PR ($50 million in donated … [Read more...] about We need to manage the social media backlash too
Parenting
Turning now to 2018: Parenting & social media’s ‘breakup’
Think about this in terms of parenting and policymaking: "social" and "media are splitting up. 2018 will be the beginning of the end of "first-generation social media," as tech reporter Taylor Lorenz put it. So when we're parenting and setting policy about young people's use of social media (at household, school and national levels), it'd be helpful to understand what's happening with "social … [Read more...] about Turning now to 2018: Parenting & social media’s ‘breakup’
The state of global youth, digitally speaking: Research
There could be no better year-end wrap-up or gift for stakeholders in youth online safety worldwide than UNICEF's just-released "State of the World's Children…in a Digital World." In it are the latest research, stories and commentaries from multiple international perspectives, including, to its credit, those of young people in 26 countries. In addition to their views and practices, the report … [Read more...] about The state of global youth, digitally speaking: Research
Facebook’s Messenger Kids: Important new digital-parenting tool
Facebook’s launch of Messenger Kids is a game-changer – but not just in the way you might think. Sure it’s the world’s largest social media service’s first product for people under 13. That’s certainly big news, and what will capture most of the headlines this week. But it’s actually a combination of that and something less noticeable and more meaningful that’s really game-changing about Messenger … [Read more...] about Facebook’s Messenger Kids: Important new digital-parenting tool
Post-FOSI: Online safety now, predictions for 2020
"Trust and civility" were, so very appropriately, the focus of the Family Online Safety Institute's just-ended annual conference this challenging year. "We have witnessed countless examples…of ways that trust in institutions, in organizations and even in each other has been eroded," FOSI CEO Stephen Balkam noted in his opening remarks. "And we have watched how basic civility has been challenged … [Read more...] about Post-FOSI: Online safety now, predictions for 2020