Simplicity is what Facebook says it has been hearing its users calling for, so simplicity is the main focus of the privacy-controls changes it announced today. More user control came in a close second. Here are the three key changes, which FB says it'll be rolling out "over the next few weeks": "One simple control to set who can see the content you post" – only friends, friends of friends, or … [Read more...] about This just in: Facebook makes privacy simpler
Facebook privacy flap: Some upsides
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
Social networking under age 13: Some ed experts’ views
After a UK report finding that a quarter of 8-to-12-year-old British Net users are on Facebook and a US principal calls for a Facebook ban for middle schoolers (see below), I thought you'd appreciate some perspective from some top US educators and risk-prevention specialists.... From Mike Donlin, Senior Program Consultant in Prevention, Intervention and Tech Services, Seattle Public … [Read more...] about Social networking under age 13: Some ed experts’ views
Nearly half of parents friend their kids on Facebook
A recent survey found that 48% of parents friends their kids on Facebook, Mashable reports, and 56% of the parents surveyed said 16+ was the appropriate age for kids to use the social site. Twenty-six percent of parents said "over 18," 30% said ages 16-18, 30% ages 13-15, and 8% said under 13. Among findings about other social technologies, 36% of parents of teens say they ban texting at the … [Read more...] about Nearly half of parents friend their kids on Facebook
Principal’s anti-Facebook plan: Is banning Web sites the fix?
It was an interesting pair of education news stories to break in a single week: a principal urging his students' parents to ban their kids' use of Facebook and the Teacher of the Year being honored for teaching with, among other things, Facebook (see this). In an email to parents, Anthony Orsini, principal of Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgeway, NJ, said that "the main problem is that … [Read more...] about Principal’s anti-Facebook plan: Is banning Web sites the fix?