Even though she reigned supreme on Web 1.0, as more and more kid-oriented virtual worlds like ClubPenguin and WebKinz open on the Web, Barbie’s struggling to keep up, according to a CNET analysis. “Mattel's Barbie.com and EverythingGirl.com have the highest concentration of girls age 2 to 11 on the Web, according to researcher Nielsen NetRatings, but their overall audience hasn't grown much over … [Read more...] about Barbie vs. the penguins
Social Media
Cyworld’s ‘video studio’
The social networking service that started in South Korea and launched in the US last summer is kicking video-sharing up a notch. Social Computing Magazine reports that it has launched its “Video Studio and Plaza, a forum for members to upload, edit, mix and share videos or photos.” With this feature, social producers or video sharers can use effects like “slow motion, cross-fades, color … [Read more...] about Cyworld’s ‘video studio’
Videogames, boys & ‘muscularity’
The University of Illinois released an unusual study about youth and videogames. Researchers there “discovered exposure to video gaming magazines has a stronger influence on pre-adolescent boys' drive for muscularity, or desire for muscle mass, than does exposure to magazines depicting a more realistic muscular male-body ideal,” United Press International reports. It’s the extreme muscularity … [Read more...] about Videogames, boys & ‘muscularity’
Social Web’s complexity: Illustration
The story on WhosaRat.com, though not about youth, clearly illustrates how complicated the user-driven Web is. The site - whose mission is to out “rats” (informants or what judges call “cooperators”) by publishing court records – is a lot like a social-networking site. It “offers biographical information about people whom users identify as witnesses or undercover agents. Users can post court … [Read more...] about Social Web’s complexity: Illustration
Defaming site: 3 teens accused
The profile, which was online for four days in February, impersonated the father of a classmate of one of its alleged creators and “featured a confederate flag and racial slurs,” the Carlisle (Penn.) Sentinel reports. The town police chief Alan Houck said he wasn’t sure why the kids created the MySpace page but thought they might’ve decided to “smear the family name” because of a disagreement with … [Read more...] about Defaming site: 3 teens accused