I just had to write about this, thankful as I am to feel so close to my family and friends new and old while working 12 time zones away. I'm in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the 2012 Internet Governance Forum, for which I'm co-leading a session on digital citizenship involving teens and young adults from here, Georgia, Iran, Egypt, Europe, and Hong Kong, and where my ConnectSafely.org co-director Larry … [Read more...] about The sweetness in social media use
Social Media
Teens, social media & trolls: Toxic mix
This is and isn't about technology. Mostly isn't. But digital media allow for and expose a dangerous blend of two very different aspects of humanness, one destructive, the latter normative: social cruelty and teenage vulnerability (a lot of focus recently having been on the female variety). The cruelty, the extreme version called trolling – which feeds on outrage and weaponizes cultural … [Read more...] about Teens, social media & trolls: Toxic mix
Young change agents leveraging social media
This article was originally published July 19, 2012, then my service’s server crashed, losing months of data. So reposting 10/20/12. I hope parents and educators have seen these two clear signs of how kids are using social media to "be the change." There's 14-year-old Julia Bluhm in Maine who noticed that friends in ballet class were always criticizing their bodies and spearheaded a protest in … [Read more...] about Young change agents leveraging social media
What defeats cyberbullying: Viral kindness
This is how it's done in social media. Viral kindness. If social cruelty can get piled on in social media, so can compassion. Just watch "We Are All Daniel Cui," which shows how more than 100 students at Hillsborough High School in northern California defeated cyberbullying by swamping it with support for soccer goalie Daniel Cui, after somebody in his school created a "Worst Goalie Ever" page. … [Read more...] about What defeats cyberbullying: Viral kindness
12-year-old New Zealander’s mixed-media publishing business
I'm a long-time fan of Marie Forleo and other 21st-century media moguls and gurus, interested as I am in how people of all ages make (and make a living with) media in a digital age. So I've been following Marie's story and noticed an interesting plot twist this week. In her MarieTV video, she says she's been hearing from more and more parents who are sharing her messages of self-love and … [Read more...] about 12-year-old New Zealander’s mixed-media publishing business