Bebo, once one of Britain's top 3 social network sites, is likely either to be shut down or sold by AOL, which acquired it two years ago for $850 million, according to numerous news reports. Citing comScore figures, The Guardian reports that "Bebo's global unique visitors in February totalled 12.8 million," down 45% from the February 2009 figures. That's compared to this past February's traffic … [Read more...] about Once-popular social site may soon go away
social networking
Lots of underage social networkers
Thirteen is the minimum age of the world's most popular social network sites, including in the UK, and a quarter of British 8-to-12-year-olds who use the Net at home have profiles on social-network sites, according to study by UK regulator Ofcom. Given similarly high levels of Internet use on both sides of the Pond, I doubt US figures for underage social networkers would be much different (I'm … [Read more...] about Lots of underage social networkers
‘Smartbooks’ (more than netbooks) aimed at teens
They're different, Forbes points out, though the names of the devices are very new, and "smartbooks" haven't even hit store shelves yet. The jury's out on whether teens will want the latter, but marketers have been plans for the teen market. Qualcomm and Sharp "expect at least a dozen smartbooks incorporating their chips to debut in early 2010." Here's the theoretical difference: "Smartbooks will … [Read more...] about ‘Smartbooks’ (more than netbooks) aimed at teens
YouTube, Facebook & friends’ videos
YouTube's getting a little more social with Facebook. It's a little buggy as yet, CNET reports, but "YouTube is pushing its Facebook Connect integration further by allowing its users to see the videos that their friends share on Facebook. YouTube users had previously been able to find their Facebook friends on YouTube as well as update their Facebook profile with their various actions from the … [Read more...] about YouTube, Facebook & friends’ videos
‘Claiming’ & social norming in social sites
When she found that about half of teens' social media posts "refer to drinking, sex, or violence," University of Wisconsin pediatrics professor Megan Moreno wondered how much of those posts were just claims, USNews.com reports. She still wonders – hard data is hard to gather – but she "thinks some of it is, some is nonsense, and some is a 'gesture of intention'," where someone might be thinking … [Read more...] about ‘Claiming’ & social norming in social sites