This is a sidebar to my two previous posts here and here. These are crazy times in the mediascape, and not just because of crazy valuations of startup apps. How do all these socially risky apps get out into the digital ecosphere? They don't take a lot of people, time or other resources to build anymore – not like digital media products and services of lore, anyway, as a recent NYT Magazine … [Read more...] about The app ecosystem & very public secrets
apps
Will safety ever be ‘baked in’ to social apps?
Whether or not social apps can be made as trolling- and cyberbullying-proof as possible before they hit the app stores is a question more and more people are asking – and asking that question is a step in the right direction. The spanking-new anonymous app Secret is already making some changes after a "flap" in Silicon Valley about so-called grownup users' behavior in the app, the New York Times … [Read more...] about Will safety ever be ‘baked in’ to social apps?
How Yik Yak is different from other social media
Based on news reports and conversations with educators about troubles with Yik Yak, the location-based anonymous texting app, at schools in many parts of the US, three scenarios leap to mind…. Remember that kid at school (or maybe that frat house) who felt the need or the pressure to set off the fire alarm to see what would happen, test the system, get attention or whatever social … [Read more...] about How Yik Yak is different from other social media
Students developing apps (and businesses) on the side
There's the app for cats. Yes, true – not feline iPhone users, but cats who play (i.e., all cats). The Guardian's feature on young app creators leads with Oxford physics student Owen Beckett's Cat Snaps, "a laser chasing game for cats [that] includes a function that takes a photo of your cat when it 'wins' the game." Beckett says he didn't know how to write code or make an app, but he watched … [Read more...] about Students developing apps (and businesses) on the side
Teens on what’s trending in teens’ digital media
Here's some data and some anecdotal evidence. First the data: A recent survey of teens found that "the world's largest social network has been replaced by Twitter as US teenagers' favorite social platform," Internet research firm Statista.com reported, citing research by investment bank Piper Jaffray. When asked what their favorite social media service was, 26% said Twitter, while Facebook and … [Read more...] about Teens on what’s trending in teens’ digital media