Everybody's, including kids', texting and talking options continue to multiply like rabbits. First there was texting from your mobile carrier, then phone-based texting like Apple's iMessage and voice via computers (later adding in phones) as with Google Voice and Skype. Along came texting apps too, such as the simple and spare WhatsApp now owned by Facebook and the something-for-everybody, … [Read more...] about Texting options multiplying like rabbits (even more now)
smartphones
Apple’s newest smartphone ‘parental control’
Apple unveiled a whole slew of features coming in the next iterations of its operating systems for the iPhone (iOS 8) and Macs (OS X Yosemite), coming to a device near you in the fall. Among them was an iOS 8 feature called "Family Sharing," a little bundle of convenience and control. The feature will "let up to six users share any apps or media content they buy using the same credit card. … [Read more...] about Apple’s newest smartphone ‘parental control’
Risk implications of kids going mobile: Research
Even back in 2010, the EU Kids Online researchers in 25 countries noted that "the ways through and the locations from which children go online are diversifying, and this trend is continuing." It has indeed continued. Increasingly obvious to parents, the mobile platform enables "ubiquitous internetting," as Dutch researchers put it way back in 2006). At the same time, mobile represents the most … [Read more...] about Risk implications of kids going mobile: Research
About the worldwide ‘selfie’ phenomenon
A nice switch from that other Guardian piece I blogged about was one about the Selfiecity Project. Have you heard of it? It was a project about a global phenomenon reinforced by Oxford Dictionaries declaring "selfie" the Word of the Year late last year (not to mention President Obama's selfie at Nelson Mandela's memorial service). Selfiecity was a project at City University of New York that … [Read more...] about About the worldwide ‘selfie’ phenomenon
Posting, sharing, shooting video: Study
Posting videos in apps and Web services has become a mainstream online activity, and not just for our kids. More than three-quarters (78%) of US adults watch online videos and the percentage of them who post them has more than doubled since 2009, from 14% to 31%, according to the Pew Internet Project. "That includes 18% of adult internet users who post videos they have created or recorded … [Read more...] about Posting, sharing, shooting video: Study