This article was originally published March 8, 2012, then my service’s server crashed, losing months of data. So reposting 10/8/12. Has "Kony" become a household word at your house? If there are young social media users in your family and they haven't brought it up, you might ask them if they've heard about the "Kony 2012" campaign and video by the nonprofit organization Invisible Children (as … [Read more...] about (Very) mixed reactions to ‘Kony 2012’
Courageous 13-year-old change agent
Social change agents used to go to "the press" (remember that?) to expose social ills and make things better. Now they go to social media. Stop and think about what a huge difference that is, in terms of the actors, the actions, the issues, and the medium. The social activists can now be anyone. They don't have to persuade an editor that something's important. No matter how small the issue, if the … [Read more...] about Courageous 13-year-old change agent
Fresh freeze frame of Pinterest
The all-time most popular "pin" on the social site Pinterest is a recipe for cheesy garlic bread, TheNextWeb reports, "with over 91,000 pins and 12,000 likes." Thought you'd be interested in a fresh snapshot of the site that reached 10 million users faster than any other on the Web ever, according to WebDesignSolutions.com. The snapshot is from Repinly, one of those third-party entities that latch … [Read more...] about Fresh freeze frame of Pinterest
Real justice for child sex abuse victims
Amid all the coverage of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's sentence this week, David Finkelhor, who has been doing research about child sexual victimization for more than 30 years, offered some recommendations for what will go much farther toward reducing victimization – and restoring justice – than putting one monstrous offender away for a long time. In a CNN commentary, … [Read more...] about Real justice for child sex abuse victims
Does tracking our kids’ every move make them safer?
Reflecting on a cellphone app developer's claim, I'm thinking that tracking our kids' movements, moment by moment, isn't the best way to enhance "family awareness." Those are the words of Chris Hull, CEO of the company that developed the Life360 tracking app, in an interview for Time. Is that "awareness" as in "surveillance"? Oddly, Time interpreted Hull's reference to be "family awareness" as … [Read more...] about Does tracking our kids’ every move make them safer?