Parents of teens probably knew this already, but the Pew Research Center just confirmed it for everybody: YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are US 13-17 year-olds' top social media picks now – at 85%, 72% and 69%, respectively. That's according to Pew's just-released "Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018." [The percentages add up to more than 100% because, as is well known, teens use multiple … [Read more...] about How teens’ social media use changing: New Pew study
teens
Musical.ly inclined: App huge with younger users
Musical.ly just may've replaced Instagram as kids' starter app. This is an educated guess. I remember a few years ago my friend Trudy Ludwig, the award-winning children's author, observing that, based on all the elementary schools she visits throughout the U.S., Instagram was huge with 4th and 5th graders. Don't get us wrong, we know the official minimum age of these apps is 13. The reality, … [Read more...] about Musical.ly inclined: App huge with younger users
Online harassment 2016: Fresh data
I get a lot of press releases in my email in-box. This one about harassment in social media truly surprised me because it was balanced, cited data responsibly, did not appeal to people's fears and represented clear understanding of today's media environment. The survey of Americans 18+ – a project of Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.com and craigconnects.org, and social impact consultants … [Read more...] about Online harassment 2016: Fresh data
Europe’s big step backward for youth rights online, offline
Young people and parents everywhere should know that, where youth rights are concerned, Europe just took a big step backward. Even though every single one of the European Union's 28 countries has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, whose Article 12 states that "children" (people under 18) have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them, a European agreement … [Read more...] about Europe’s big step backward for youth rights online, offline
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)