The Daily Telegraph in Australia reports a rise over the past two years in requests for restraining orders against online stalkers by young Australians, "claiming they are victims of intimidation." Restraining orders are called "AVOs," for apprehended violence orders, in Australia, and an attorney there "said this sort of behaviour could happen through a combination of mediums such as Facebook or … [Read more...] about Social-media-based stalking on rise in Oz
A teacher on Facebook at school
Teachers and parents concerned about social media in school might have a look at "10 Ways Facebook Strengthens the Student-Teacher Connection", by New York City educator Lisa Nielsen. She wrote this blog post after attending the just-held education conference Educon in Philadelphia. She'd heard a panel of students who, she writes, "shared the importance of, 'teachers relating to them as people, … [Read more...] about A teacher on Facebook at school
Social media: Adapting to us, not vice versa?
In his review in the New York Times of MIT Prof. Sherry Turkle's "fascinating and readable" but "one-sided" book Alone Together – in which her mid-'90s optimism about digital media is "long gone," he says – author Jonah Lehrer makes an important point: "We are so eager to take sides on technology, to describe the Web in utopian or dystopian terms, but maybe that’s the problem [I think so; it's … [Read more...] about Social media: Adapting to us, not vice versa?
Facebook an antidote for shyness: Study
A University of Texas study found that Facebook is helping people on the shy side of social. "Surveying 900 current and recent college graduates nationwide, Craig Watkins and Erin Lee of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas examined the impact of Facebook on users’ social lives," the New York Times reports. "Four to five years ago, Dr. Watkins said, young people’s … [Read more...] about Facebook an antidote for shyness: Study
Following Egypt’s story on Twitter, YouTube
We have been watching history happening in realtime this weekend with the unprecedented help of social media. To me, this 3:30 video interview with Waseem Wagdi, an Egyptian in the crowd outside his country's embassy in London, says it all – what's on Mr. Wagdi's face and in his words is clearly what's in his heart and many others'. Most of the short video is in English, but he speaks in Arabic at … [Read more...] about Following Egypt’s story on Twitter, YouTube