It's hard to tell how far-reaching the current social-Web privacy flap will be, but Facebook is certainly working on damage control. In a commentary in today's Washington Post, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said FB has is responding to calls for simpler privacy controls: "In the coming weeks, we will add privacy controls that are much simpler to use. We will also give you an easy way to … [Read more...] about Facebook privacy flap: Some upsides
danah boyd
Formspring: What’s really going on?
Nobody's completely sure – even social-media researchers who talk to teens a lot – but it is clear that the Formspring phenomenon didn't come out of nowhere. Remember those personality tests and fashion-sense quizzes in teen magazines? In the digital-age versions, danah boyd writes in DMLcentral.net, teens would – through questions and answers in pre-Web public online spaces like Usenet; "chain … [Read more...] about Formspring: What’s really going on?
Social Web privacy: A new kind of social contract we’re all signed onto
1993: In a famous New Yorker cartoon, a dog at a computer says to his canine buddy looking up from the floor, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Fast-forward 13 years.... 2006: "On the Internet, EVERYBODY knows you're a dog," declares the subhead to a Michael Kinsley essay in which he wondered at how narcissistic the social Web was (before that became a cliché). Fast-forward only … [Read more...] about Social Web privacy: A new kind of social contract we’re all signed onto
Teens, age segregation & social networking
"Kaitlyn" doesn't use Facebook to hang out with school friends because it's "for old people!" she told danah boyd. She and her friends use MySpace, but Kaitlin does mix it up with her own relatives (grownups) in Facebook. "She sees her world as starkly age segregated and she sees this as completely normal," danah writes. "'Connor,' on the other hand, sees the integration of adults and peers as a … [Read more...] about Teens, age segregation & social networking
Teen social-networking fatigue?
Now that parents are flooding Facebook, might it be losing cachet for teens? The fastest-growing age breakdowns in the past three months were women 55-65 (175.3% growth), 45-54 (165%), and 35-44 (154%), according to InsideFacebook.com (the site also just passed the 200 million mark for users worldwide, the San Jose Mercury News reports). Not that it's a quid pro quo, but people who follow this … [Read more...] about Teen social-networking fatigue?