I took my sons out for sushi the other night and, to my amazement, heard them telling me something very similar to what Susan Maushart, a New Yorker who was living in Western Australia, writes in her new book about totally unplugging her teenage kids for six months. My very social sons, 13 and 18, whom I have not unplugged, told me that "all this technology we [teenagers] constantly use is hurting … [Read more...] about ‘Tiger mother’ or not
Social Media
Study shows Net supports civic engagement
Certainly "clicktivism" isn't the all of social activism – it's a complement to it – but it's clear the Internet is an increasingly important support to civic engagement in this country, a just-released Pew/Internet survey shows. According to Pew's report, 75% of US adults are active in some kind of voluntary group, and 80% of those who use the Net are (compared with 56% of non-Internet users). … [Read more...] about Study shows Net supports civic engagement
New CA law against fake profiles
California has updated its impersonation law to include online impersonation, or pretending to be someone else in email and social network sites. "Using a fake online profile or email address to harm others can lead to a fine of up to $1,000 and one year in jail," the San Francisco Examiner reports. The Examiner cites the view of one law enforcement officer that, on the surface, the law looks … [Read more...] about New CA law against fake profiles
Learning how to save lives in Facebook
In a very sad story reported in the London Evening Standard, hardly any of the 1,048 Facebook friends of Simone Back of Brighton, UK, did anything to try to prevent her suicide after she posted a status update saying goodbye, she was taking "all my pills." Her mother, who called the UK equivalent of 911 after someone texted her about the post, told the Evening Standard that no FB friends local to … [Read more...] about Learning how to save lives in Facebook
Amber Alerts on Facebook now
This makes sense – to extend the reach of missing-child alerts into social media. "Amber Alerts for missing children are now available as a news feed on Facebook," the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children announced today (here's coverage in WashingtonPost.com). It's really a sign of the times: Since people are now spending more time online than they are watching TV, according to a … [Read more...] about Amber Alerts on Facebook now