High school students are displaying serious online spin control skills in their college quests. It's more like "public image management" than the reputation management so often referred to in online-safety discussions. In an interview for ReadWriteWeb.com, a high school teacher in Reno, Nev., called it "admissions jiu jitsu," referring to his students' workarounds for college and university … [Read more...] about Smart public image management in social media
Courageous 13-year-old change agent
Social change agents used to go to "the press" (remember that?) to expose social ills and make things better. Now they go to social media. Stop and think about what a huge difference that is, in terms of the actors, the actions, the issues, and the medium. The social activists can now be anyone. They don't have to persuade an editor that something's important. No matter how small the issue, if the … [Read more...] about Courageous 13-year-old change agent
Facebook passes the 1 billion mark
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's status update yesterday was about how the site had passed 1 billion active users a month, the Washington Post reported, and Business Week has an interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about his service's "next billion." In it, after the question "How big are Facebook’s ambitions in areas like health care, finance, and government?", Zuckerberg makes an … [Read more...] about Facebook passes the 1 billion mark
Hacking to get students to college
They were hacking education over at Facebook yesterday. Well, more like helping to open up the college entrance and completion process for high school students who want to go to college but face hurdles – e.g., low-quality schools, socio-economic struggles, or families not familiar with the college experience. It was a hackathon at Facebook for app developers who – with the support of the Bill and … [Read more...] about Hacking to get students to college
Facebook ‘privacy breach’: Misperception-cum-meme?
The "news" that people's private Facebook messages were appearing on their "walls" spread like wildfire earlier this week, but Slate reports that it's more meme than news. It all started in France, where users complained about finding private messages posted between 2007 and '09 on their profiles pages, but news outlets reported that "the issue is not systematic and affects only certain accounts." … [Read more...] about Facebook ‘privacy breach’: Misperception-cum-meme?