Here we are again. Remember “Blue Whale,” then “Momo”? Well, the B.W. challenge, or self-harm “game,” has been warmed over and repackaged with a new name and face with the creepiness of a Momo. This time it’s a weird, scary version of the cartoon character Goofy. [I don’t know—does familiarity make it less scary or more so?] In any case, its predecessors were both hoaxes, so it would be hard for … [Read more...] about Yup. New ‘Blue Whale’ with a Momo-style twist
Search Results for: Safety by design
New org for content moderation pros
This is a world first and great news at a time when everybody could use a bit of that: The Trust & Safety Professional Association opens its doors today. TSPA is a membership organization designed to support the content moderation community, the people all over the world who do the extremely challenging work of protecting social media users and freedom of expression at the same time. The … [Read more...] about New org for content moderation pros
An Oversight Board & what’s actually, urgently, needed
Below you'll find background and context to this pivotal point for social media. For a more prescriptive view, click to "Social media's turning point: 5 steps needed now, no turning back." Suddenly things that looked like important, almost radical (potential) fixes a few months ago now seem like “band-aids” or symptom treatments. Suddenly we need a great deal more. By “we,” I mean us, our … [Read more...] about An Oversight Board & what’s actually, urgently, needed
Screens kids use, Part 2: Research turning a corner
This subject – at this writing, about 3 weeks after I posted Part 1 – almost seems like that of a previous era, with all we’ve experienced since then (see this in The Atlantic from history professor Rebecca Spang). But we, societies around the world, will still be wrestling with this question of humans and screens in the pandemic’s aftermath, so I'm keeping going. Here’s Part 2, taking stock of … [Read more...] about Screens kids use, Part 2: Research turning a corner
Screens kids use, Part 1: Everywhere and ‘irrelevant’
The webinar was set up as a debate, a transatlantic one between psychology Prof. Sonia Livingstone at the London School of Economics and health sciences Assoc. Prof. Kristi Adamo at the University of Ottawa. They were asked to talk about “screen time” by their hosts at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity – whether it’s good, bad or both. Dr. Livingstone was … [Read more...] about Screens kids use, Part 1: Everywhere and ‘irrelevant’