The company behind Rounds – a video hangout app for mobile and Web – has decided to keep the socializing just among friends. Referring to its "young user base" (it says 70% of its users are under 25, though it has yet to catch on at my son's high school), this week announced that the less than 3-month-old app was "retiring" its "Meet New People" feature "to focus on longer, more meaningful video … [Read more...] about Details, context on Rounds, Vine & other video-sharing apps
Thoughts on social media time-outs (for all ages)
I can see why Pew Internet looked only at Facebook for its just-released study, since it's the 600-pound gorilla of online socializing in the US and now used by 67% of US adults. Pew found that 61% of those Facebook users say that at some point they've "voluntarily taken a break" from using the site for several weeks or more, and 20% of the online adults who don't use Facebook "say they once used … [Read more...] about Thoughts on social media time-outs (for all ages)
Making Digital Learning Day meaningful
"Powered up, self-directed students" using digital tools "to lead their learning" is how Leslie Wilson, CEO of the One to One Institute describes what Digital Learning Day (today, Feb. 6) needs to be about in her commentary "Connected Students and Agency." It's that blend of agency (self-directed participation or action) and connected technology that New York Times columnist Tom Friedman says has … [Read more...] about Making Digital Learning Day meaningful
Great opportunities launched on Safer Internet Day
Now here's an interesting question, one that young digital media users don't hear a lot: "What does the good side of the Internet look like?" They're invited to submit a creative answer to that question in video format, either as individuals (aged 13+) or as students on behalf of a particular school, for the 2013 "What's Your Story" contest launched today, Safer Internet Day, Feb. 5 (for more on … [Read more...] about Great opportunities launched on Safer Internet Day
Tech parenting smarts from teens: Australian study
Perfect for making Safer Internet Day 2013 smarter is a new study from Australia about how Net safety works best: open communication and growing competency on the part of parents every bit as much as kids. That's really boiling down an insightful study from the "Living Labs" at University of Western Sydney that paired up teens and peers' parents in front of computer screens to gain insights into … [Read more...] about Tech parenting smarts from teens: Australian study