It's an interesting experiment: The creators of Snapchat, the social app for sharing photos that disappear in seconds, have just introduced SnapKidz, a non-social photo app for kids under 13 with Apple mobile devices (it's not yet available for Android). So, true to its name, it's basically the snap without the chat. It's also the ephemeral photo-sharing app without the ephemeral part. Kids' … [Read more...] about Snapchat’s SnapKidz: All snap, no chat
Parenting
Parenting the littlest media users: Important study
Increasingly, digital media are just part of the rhythm of everyday US family life, a significant new study of parents of young children indicates. The study, "Parenting in the Age of Digital Technology," conducted by Northwestern University's Center on Media & Human Development, surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 2,300 parents of children 8 and under about how media – … [Read more...] about Parenting the littlest media users: Important study
Undercover mom on Instagram
One of her aliases is CupcakePuppy44. That's parent, author, and former teacher Sharon Duke Estroff's Instagram handle. She created a join account with her 10-year-old after some stonewalling and some external investigation (with kids, fellow parents, and psychologists), not to mention a certain amount of hounding by her daughter, who – not unlike other 4th- and 5th-graders – indicated she was … [Read more...] about Undercover mom on Instagram
Exploring what parenting & social media are teaching us
NetFamilyNews is less and less about tech parenting and more and more about just parenting (and in every other way working with) children and young people in this networked world. That's because – over the 15 years I've been on this beat, this exploration – it has become clearer and clearer that this time of discontinuity (and how we're dealing with it) is so much more about our humanity than our … [Read more...] about Exploring what parenting & social media are teaching us
Help with mobile apps kids love
I am delighted to announce the release of our new parents' guides to two of the most popular social apps among teens, Instagram and Snapchat. You can read or download and print the free guides at ConnectSafely.org. Just 6 pages – including the "Top 5 Questions" parents have about each app right up front – the guides are meant to demystify these mobile apps so parents and kids can have an informed … [Read more...] about Help with mobile apps kids love