The focus of Forbes's profile of MyYearbook.com is how it can monetize this "freewheeling chatfest," I guess after it burns through the $13 million round of venture capital it recently received. But it's the lead of the article that I found arresting: Forbes writer Emily Schmall tells of a 14-year-old MyYearbook user's story of self-mutilation in the site: "Her 1,240-word piece is illustrated by a … [Read more...] about Social sites: Teen ‘confessionals’?
Risk & Safety
P2P online-safety ed program
By "P2P," I mean by peers, for peers, and I'm referring to the logical idea of teen-communicated online safety ed, not the adult-taught kind - though it starts with young adult trainers. What's even more intelligent about the LEO Project in Syracuse, N.Y., is that it's really leadership training with online citizenship and safety folded in (safety in a holistic sense, involving critical thinking … [Read more...] about P2P online-safety ed program
‘Cloud filtering’
It does seem to give new meaning to the term "big brother." Zscaler cloud filtering is a filtering service for companies (maybe in future school networks, ISPs, whatever?) that intercepts all traffic coming in from or going out to the Web and "scrubs it" for content (and presumably communication) that violates company policy or is a security risk, the New York Times reports. What sounds more … [Read more...] about ‘Cloud filtering’
Heads up: New worms in MySpace, Facebook
Any social networkers at your house should be aware of the "Koobface" worms, which can turn household computers into remotely controlled "zombies." Computer security firm Kaspersky Lab reports that the worms work this way: A MySpace or Facebook user gets a message or comment from a friend whose computer has already been infected. The messages contain text such as "Paris Hilton Tosses Dwarf On The … [Read more...] about Heads up: New worms in MySpace, Facebook
Teen Second Life too safe?
I had to add this little addendum to that last item about social-networking options because you don't see comments like this in the news too often. Liz Lawley, mother of a 14-year-old and director of the social-computing lab at the Rochester Institute of Technology, told PC World she's "strongly against some of the restrictive methods used online to segregate adults from children in an attempt to … [Read more...] about Teen Second Life too safe?