Just as about every other human (and other animal) behavior has turned up in social media, so has "neknomination" (or "neck nomination," "neck and nominate," etc.). It keeps evolving, but it's now a blend of online dare game (e.g., "Truth or Dare" or "Top This") and drinking game that's thought to have started in Australia (UK reporters say). It began getting mainstream media coverage across the … [Read more...] about From stupidity to kindness: ‘Neknomination’ and ‘RAKnomination’
10-year-old Facebook: Data
How could anybody so young have a following in every country on the planet? Facebook turns 10 today and – as of December 31 – has 1.23 billion active users, CNET reports. More than 750 million of them are active on the site daily. Looking at US Facebook use, the Pew Internet Project provides even more insight in a blog post timed to the site's birthday. Pew reports that 57% of US adults use … [Read more...] about 10-year-old Facebook: Data
Teens on social media’s impact on relationships: Survey
Today a guest post that shows how much we need to understand the relationship between social media and social life – in other words, get more granular in our understanding of how social media affect the relationships in our lives (our lives as a whole, not just the online parts)…. Guest post by Kris Gowen The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) for My Future-My Choice, a peer-led sexuality education … [Read more...] about Teens on social media’s impact on relationships: Survey
Balancing external with internal Internet safety ‘tools’
In preparation for a new year, some thoughts on the promise and protective properties of compassion and resilience for our children (and all of us)... In the US and probably many other countries, the Internet safety discussion has focused largely on external safeguards: filtering, monitoring and other parental control tools, household and school rules, state and federal laws. Those can be … [Read more...] about Balancing external with internal Internet safety ‘tools’
How social media helped save a life this week
Rarely do we see news stories about how social media can save lives, but that's literally what happened in the metropolitan New York area this week. An 18-year-old posted in Facebook that he was thinking about jumping off the George Washington Bridge, and "a concerned Facebook user who saw the post contacted local New Jersey police, who then called the Port Authority Police Department, which has … [Read more...] about How social media helped save a life this week