Ok, full disclosure: I know my antennae are up when I read the news. I've been questioning reflexively negative pronouncements about social media for years. But the reason is all the fear about the impact of social media on our children, not to mention the human race, that has been swirling in the air for a decade now. Negativity has become our default, and I don't think that's good for us, our … [Read more...] about Not defaulting to default thinking about social media
kids
‘Game of 72’: Let’s apply a little ‘social norming’
This is a perfect example of why we need to apply what we know about social norming to social media panics. And in a rare show of levelheadedness from the news media, Global News in Canada helps us get there. "The Game of 72 – a viral prank urging kids to disappear for 72 hours – is the latest in a series of risky pranks being done by kids and then shared to social media. But the prank, and … [Read more...] about ‘Game of 72’: Let’s apply a little ‘social norming’
The universe in an app: Will youth create a trend within the trend?
The days of simple, single-use apps may be over. Or not, depending on the user, his or her context and a whole lot of other factors. But there is a bit of a trend among messaging apps. Not all apps – particularly the No. 1 messaging app, Facebook's WhatsApp with 600+ million users – are part of it, though, so where you are in the world has been a driver of this trend so far. The trend, … [Read more...] about The universe in an app: Will youth create a trend within the trend?
‘Disconnected’: Crucial book for closing the ‘ethics gap’ online
I don't know about the millions of people in developing countries going online for the first time with mobile phones but, here in the developed world, something strange happened when we moved onto the Web nearly 20 years ago. It's as if we checked our thousands of years of social-norms and ethics development at the door of cyberspace. Somehow we saw that space as "technology" and got stuck there – … [Read more...] about ‘Disconnected’: Crucial book for closing the ‘ethics gap’ online
A YouTube for the littlest video viewers
Think of YouTube Kids as digital training wheels for the little video viewers at your house - something a lot of parents have been wanting for a very long time. We all know how popular but not always appropriate YouTube is for kids. Problem solved. Designed for kids through age 8, YouTube Kids carefully screens videos so the littlest online viewers can satisfy their seemingly over-active curiosity … [Read more...] about A YouTube for the littlest video viewers