No pressure or anything, but we'll be watching GromSocial.com – a social network site for people under 16 – to see if it isn't one of the best ways for kids to learn safe, constructive use of social media. It was started by 13-year-old Zach Marks in Florida after his parents kicked him off of Facebook, Florida Today reports. Even the county sheriff, Wayne Ivey, believes that there is no better … [Read more...] about GromSocial.com: By a teen, for teens
Youth
Major update from Pew on teens’ privacy practices in social media
Contrary to how they're typically represented in the news media, "few teens embrace a fully public approach to social media," Pew Internet reports in a major new study, "Teens, Social Media and Privacy." Yes, they share more about themselves than we did as teens (publicly, anyway), but "they take an array of steps to restrict and prune their profiles." Pew turned up a lot of intelligence on … [Read more...] about Major update from Pew on teens’ privacy practices in social media
Kids, Instagram & its new feature ‘Photos of You’
Instagram is nothing if not creative – the app itself and its users. When I'm in it watching how the kids who encouraged me to follow them use it, I can't help but smile. They are creative in/with all parts of the experience – the photos, the filters for messing around with photography, the emoticons, the hashtags, and the writing of captions and comments – but in a fun, light way. It's not all … [Read more...] about Kids, Instagram & its new feature ‘Photos of You’
Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency
Remember Formspring.me? Three years ago some terrible trolling that reportedly involved teens in New Jersey made the site, which announced it was shutting down* last month, a national news story in the US. Teens' viral adoption of Formspring and its format (ask a question, get an anonymous answer) reportedly took the site by surprise. Disturbing news coverage and letters sent home by school … [Read more...] about Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency
Australian teen panelists on social media: Meaty insights
My visit to Australia for the World Congress on Family Law & Children's Rights has been rich in hospitality and insight – I've had the privilege of talking with people in government, online-safety advocacy, industry, school (students!), primary and secondary education, research, of course many parents and grandparents, and even "Australia's Dr. Phil," as Michael Carr-Gregg has sometimes … [Read more...] about Australian teen panelists on social media: Meaty insights