I'm tooting our ConnectSafely horn, here, but we had a launch of our own this week: that of our Google+ guide for parents. You can download the PDF at PlusParents.org, or read it chunk by chunk at the Google Safety Center. In it, my co-author and ConnectSafely co-director Larry Magid and I offer you a little context on where this service fits into both the rest of Google and teen social networking … [Read more...] about Check out our ‘Parents’ Guide to Google+’!
Google+ for teens launched
Google has just made its Google+ social networking service teen-friendly. What that means is, all the features that some 90 million Google+ users have now – Circles, Hangouts (group videochat), photo-sharing, games, etc. – are available to people under 18 but now with added protections in place. For example, the San Jose Mercury News reports, "Google+ will ask [teens] to confirm a public post … [Read more...] about Google+ for teens launched
Google’s data-security ed campaign & site
This week Google launched an ad campaign and Web site headlined "Good To Know," according to a report at the Washington Post. Aimed at teaching Net users the basics of protecting their data in our increasingly social media environment, the campaign has ads appearing in "dozens of U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and magazines, including Time … [Read more...] about Google’s data-security ed campaign & site
Google’s new social search results: Media literacy opp
Google just added to its regular search results the posts, photos, etc. of your social circles, as they appear in Google+ (if you use it), YouTube, and other Google social products*. It's called "Search, plus Your World." Even though you and your kids can opt out entirely to get your Google searches back to the general results you've always gotten, the move has created a fairly predictable fracas. … [Read more...] about Google’s new social search results: Media literacy opp
Parenting & the mobile app ratings in the works
As mobile apps multiply like rabbits and the number of kids downloading and playing with them seems to keep growing, the usefulness of app ratings to parents seems to be growing too. CTIA – the mobile phone industry trade association – gets this. It recently announced an app rating system it has been working on since 2010, Investors.com reports. The system, which CTIA worked on with the … [Read more...] about Parenting & the mobile app ratings in the works