In addition to the panel mentioned in my previous post about Hope North and the one I participated in, "Reaching Teens on the Digital Streets," here – in Part 2 – are some takeaways from featured speakers at South by Southwest (SxSW) last week (Part 1 is here): * From Howard Rheingold, help in making social media work for you Social media is overwhelming to a lot of us parents and educators. … [Read more...] about SxSW, Part 2: Rheingold & Salen on how to play with social media
Social Media
‘Am I pretty?’ videos by teens
There is no data cited, but the San Francisco Chronicle's Mommy Files blog reports that "a growing number of tweens and teens, mainly girls, are posting videos on YouTube asking commenters if they’re ugly." Writer Amy Graff says, "Type ‘Am I ugly?’ or ‘Am I pretty’ into the YouTube search box and dozens of videos pop up." Sexuality researcher, author and educator Kris Gowen pointed one such … [Read more...] about ‘Am I pretty?’ videos by teens
Is Pinterest an interest at your house?
It may well have come up in your household because Pinterest.com – the photo-focused social network service that started in 2008 – seems to have gone viral all of a sudden. Unique visitors to Pinterest.com grew 400% last fall, CNN reports, calling it "2012's hottest Web site." Why so viral now? FastCompany suggests it's 1) the exponential-growth factor (what I pin gets "re-pinned" by my followers, … [Read more...] about Is Pinterest an interest at your house?
Revisiting copyright law – worldwide
Shades of the US's SOPA (anti-anti-piracy legislation) debate in eastern Europe, quite literally (see this Associated Press story): Street and online protests in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, remind me of a killer TED Talk by copyright legal expert and Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig: "Reexamining the Remix." Do … [Read more...] about Revisiting copyright law – worldwide
Growing signs social media are good for us
The other night the three of us still at home were talking face-to-face with our son and brother 1,000 miles away for about an hour, for free (well, not counting the cost of our family Internet connection). While enjoying the banter, I was wondering at this ability we had to look into each other's eyes across great distances on computer screens. Only the ability to hug would be better. But having … [Read more...] about Growing signs social media are good for us