The hack against Snapchat at the turn of the year appears to have done more awareness-raising than harm, but awareness – on the part of users and their parents as well as startups and young digital media companies – is crucial. The publishing of the screennames and partial phone numbers of 4.6 million users was a "white hat" hack, CNN reported, meaning that it was meant to expose a security … [Read more...] about The Snapchat New Year’s hack: Fuel for discussion
online safety
AG’s office apologizes for a school Net safety preso
There was good news and bad news in a story coming out of Pennsylvania last week, and the good news is a clear sign of progress. The bad news happened first: As part of Pennsylvania's attorney general's "Operation Safe Surf" program, 4th and 5th graders at Merion Elementary School, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, were "warned of serial killers, sex offenders and Al-Qaida," WPVI-TV … [Read more...] about AG’s office apologizes for a school Net safety preso
Media siege mentality: Antidote for parents
Over the 15-or-so years I've been covering family technology, I've noticed a kind of siege mentality that developed among parents about kids' use of digital media. Then, a few years ago, when sociology professor David Finkelhor at the University of New Hampshire gave his milestone talk, "The Internet, Youth Deviance & the Problem of Juvenoia," I heard him offer the most plausible reason I'd … [Read more...] about Media siege mentality: Antidote for parents
Less bullying & fear at school: Fresh federal data
Do people ever consider the possibility that, if they're exposed to increased reports about a social problem, it's the reporting that has increased rather than the problem? It's increasingly clear that this is the case with school bullying: Only news reports about it have increased, not the behavior itself. In fact, both bullying and fear of it are down among US middle school students (the grade … [Read more...] about Less bullying & fear at school: Fresh federal data
Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency
Remember Formspring.me? Three years ago some terrible trolling that reportedly involved teens in New Jersey made the site, which announced it was shutting down* last month, a national news story in the US. Teens' viral adoption of Formspring and its format (ask a question, get an anonymous answer) reportedly took the site by surprise. Disturbing news coverage and letters sent home by school … [Read more...] about Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency