Kik Messenger, which claims to be the US's 7th most popular social app and ranks even higher in some other countries, today released a new version that gives its 120 million+ users more control over who can text them. Over the past year, its creators at Waterloo, Ontario-based Kik Interactive noticed the app has become "the leading cross-app messenger," they claimed. That means that people who … [Read more...] about Kik Messenger’s smart new safety features
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A little social media news roundup
A flurry of social media news stories hit the airwaves this past week from Google, Facebook and Snapchat. Here are the ones most of interest to parents and educators: Snapchat: The Federal Trade Commission has apparently been wanting Snapchat to be much clearer about just how ephemeral its disappearing messages really are. The Commission filed a complaint and reached a settlement with Snapchat … [Read more...] about A little social media news roundup
Cross-cultural in so many ways: Insights from ‘Digitally Connected’
It was a small but mighty gathering at Harvard's Berkman Center this week – mighty in diversity of geographical, personal and professional perspective (40% of the participants were from the global South). It was called "Digitally Connected," but it was about a more inclusive and, I think, more lasting, holistic sense of what "connected" means. It was co-organized by UNICEF and Harvard University's … [Read more...] about Cross-cultural in so many ways: Insights from ‘Digitally Connected’
In the face of school violence, what do we default to?
Certainly what all the coverage of the Murrysville, Pennsylvania, school stabbings indicates is a society trying to make sense of a so far inexplicable tragedy, but there is no – zero – sense or accuracy in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's "report" that this is "the latest face of the national epidemic of school violence." There is no such epidemic. In fact, the latest national data available shows a … [Read more...] about In the face of school violence, what do we default to?
What’s (importantly) different about Snapchat
It's not what you might think – or what you might've read in the news. What makes Snapchat stand out in the crowd of social media apps, in fact what makes it "matter," as social media researcher danah boyd put it, "has to do with how it treats attention." Snapchat users don't just swipe through a gazillion photos in a stream or album. The app doesn't work that way. They actually pause and pay … [Read more...] about What’s (importantly) different about Snapchat