It's interesting that Daily Beast writer Caitlin Dixon precedes her question "When did we let our guard down?" with the story of sleeping on strangers' couch in Italy after finding them in a couch-surfing site. Yes, she let her guard down (but the people were great hosts). What's interesting, though, is that she compared couch-surfing to connecting with people online. One could argue – and I've … [Read more...] about So we’ve all ‘let our guard down’?
Parenting
The meta-trend behind the teen (& everybody) mobile trend
As the news stories about teens' mainly mobile (digital) socializing multiply, parents seem to be turning a corner too. Monitoring kids on Facebook is "so 2009," Yahoo! News reports. Even the very tech-savvy "Online Mom" blogger Monica Vila wrote recently that "everything went mobile and I lost control" – though calmly (and I think wisely) adding that this taught her "to focus more on being a … [Read more...] about The meta-trend behind the teen (& everybody) mobile trend
Teens’ tech getting very mobile: New study
Ninety-five percent of US 12-to-17-year-olds use the Internet, 93% have access to a computer at home and 71% of teens with that computer at home share it with other family members, according to a study released today – the biggest explanation, most probably, for why teens' Net use has gotten so mobile. It allows them to keep their connectivity personal. "The nature of teens' Internet use has … [Read more...] about Teens’ tech getting very mobile: New study
PS4, gaming & the new privacy reality
One thing we all need to teach our kids now is that the privacy spectrum we really need to be aware of isn't so much private-to-public as private-to-convenient – or, from kids' perspective, private-to-social (or just to-spontaneous-&-fun). The more convenience we want (e.g., not bothering with password-protecting our phones or giving services all kinds of access to our movements so they can … [Read more...] about PS4, gaming & the new privacy reality
Apple’s settlement with parents
Interesting: On the one hand, I hear a Nickelodeon executive saying kids are hard-pressed to spend $10 in the Apple App Store, and on the other I read that Apple reached a settlement with an untold number of "parents who sued the company for making it too easy for kids to rack up charges by buying add-ons to games and other apps." That's according to the Washington Post. Parents won't be able to … [Read more...] about Apple’s settlement with parents