There’s an interesting ongoing debate on news sites around the Web about what the digital natives are doing to their reputations and future job prospects with all this public blogging and social networking. At first glance I thought this USATODAY column was just another commentary about how doomed teen social networkers’ reputations are. Then I got to the part with some good advice (maybe I’m just … [Read more...] about Online spin control
Social Media
Bullying made easy
University of Michigan student Emmarie spent “countless hours” as a teenager “justifying [her] online journal to her parents,” she writes in her university’s student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. They didn’t understand why she wanted to make her private thoughts so public, but she said it made her “feel connected knowing that someone knew my exact mood at that moment … and my side of the latest … [Read more...] about Bullying made easy
‘Growing up in public’
Interest in youth’s limited interest in privacy (except where parents are concerned) is growing, and commentaries are multiplying. “The future belongs to the uninhibited,” suggested New York magazine (see this in NetFamilyNews). Across the pond, The Telegraph reported that, for today’s online youth, closeness, intimacy, the sharing of secrets is distributed rather than individual and private (see … [Read more...] about ‘Growing up in public’
Parenting with profiles?
I co-wrote a book for parents that includes instructions on how to create a MySpace profile. I’ve often suggested to parents that they create their own profiles so they can monitor their kids’ social-networking activities. But I have no illusions that this is the solution for every household with teenagers. Fellow mom Michelle Slatalla’s fun-to-read account in the New York Times of where creating … [Read more...] about Parenting with profiles?
Hanging out with Sprite?
I’m not sure how well social-networking services created by advertisers purely for marketing purposes go over with teenagers (Wal-Mart tried one and quickly abandoned the project, and Anheuser-Busch’s BudTV failed). But Coca-Cola has created one called Sprite Yard, the New York Times reports. It’s a social site for cellphones. “Consumers will be able to set up personal profiles, share photos and … [Read more...] about Hanging out with Sprite?