Two years ago, when "selfie" was named "Word of the Year" and the spontaneous snapping of self-portraits on cellphones was being vilified as yet another example of youth's narcissism, author and educator Rachel Simmons posted a bit of healthy disruption. She wrote in Slate, "Consider this: The selfie is a tiny pulse of girl pride - a shout-out to the self." Simmons gets it. She adds, "Some girls … [Read more...] about Social media & what our kids could be teaching us
Social Media
Social media literacy 101 (for adults)
"I can't even" possibly know what I'm seeing in teens' tweets, texts and posts. Not until I ask them. The very fact that I continued that sentence past the close quote demonstrates that. What do I mean? They hide meaning in plain site. Have you heard researcher danah boyd's term "social steganography"? It means hiding in plain view in social media. She wrote about that way back in 2010, and it's … [Read more...] about Social media literacy 101 (for adults)
Tech likely not the main problem in cyberbullying: Breakthrough study
There are some groundbreaking takeaways (and many more insights) in new research from the University of New Hampshire – "The Role of Technology in Peer Harassment: Does It Amplify Harm for Youth?" – and my headline is one of them. Another one is the answer to the question posed in the authors' headline: "no," their data indicates. But before going any further with the takeaways, a bit about the … [Read more...] about Tech likely not the main problem in cyberbullying: Breakthrough study
For kids’ sake, don’t ‘black box’ social media
For our children's sake, it's more important than ever that we not "black box" our media, whether as researchers or as parents and educators. An essay from psychologist and media professor Sonia Livingstone in the new scholarly journal Social Media + Society got me thinking about this. Dr. Livingstone observes that scholars in disciplines other than media and communications are doing that … [Read more...] about For kids’ sake, don’t ‘black box’ social media
Help us build & pilot a Social Media Helpline for schools!
Hey, everybody! We at NetFamilyNews and iCANHELP would greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about (and if possible contributing to) our just-launched crowd funding campaign at Indiegogo. We're in the process of creating a hotline schools can call for help with problems in social media which we'll pilot this coming school year in California. Please click to our page here. We'll … [Read more...] about Help us build & pilot a Social Media Helpline for schools!