Tweens are no longer little kids, but they’re also not yet teens. Like all their peers, younger and older, 9-to-12-year-olds love to explore and mess around with media, especially video. They want to be safe so they don’t have to worry, which means they really don’t mind a little help from parental types, but they also don’t want to be contained in an app for “little kids.” YouTube Kids, which … [Read more...] about Finally! A YouTube (flexibly) designed for kids 9-12
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An Oversight Board & what’s actually, urgently, needed
Below you'll find background and context to this pivotal point for social media. For a more prescriptive view, click to "Social media's turning point: 5 steps needed now, no turning back." Suddenly things that looked like important, almost radical (potential) fixes a few months ago now seem like “band-aids” or symptom treatments. Suddenly we need a great deal more. By “we,” I mean us, our … [Read more...] about An Oversight Board & what’s actually, urgently, needed
How teens’ social media use changing: New Pew study
Parents of teens probably knew this already, but the Pew Research Center just confirmed it for everybody: YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are US 13-17 year-olds' top social media picks now – at 85%, 72% and 69%, respectively. That's according to Pew's just-released "Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018." [The percentages add up to more than 100% because, as is well known, teens use multiple … [Read more...] about How teens’ social media use changing: New Pew study
How to choose (or make!) an anti-bullying video that helps
Recently a graduate student was given the assignment to find videos on YouTube that are "helpful to kids in confronting bullying." The criteria given the student were: Make sure the video… 1. presents accurate information about both the problem and what bullying is (sometimes behavior's just rude or mean, not bullying) 2. is made by kids for kids 3. shows kids standing up for … [Read more...] about How to choose (or make!) an anti-bullying video that helps
In 2017, chatbots & other imaginary friends
I am not kidding: The latest tech developments – and certainly not just those aimed at kids – remind me of the much-loved cartoon show of the last decade, "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends." There are all kinds of imaginary friends emerging, from the toy kind to the digital kind to the kind kids believe they are and have as fans of each other. That probably doesn't make complete sense yet, so … [Read more...] about In 2017, chatbots & other imaginary friends