Though Americans represent the 2nd-biggest population on Latvia-based social media site Ask.fm, they also represent only 10% of the activity on the site. But all 105+ million users will benefit from new safety measures the service has put in place, one of them being a new Safety Center, which includes a page with a clear description of how the site works. Based on recommendations from a … [Read more...] about Significant safety changes at Ask.fm
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Whisper’s popularity no longer a secret
It's being said that the preference pendulum in social media culture is swinging back from transparency (as in Facebook) to anonymity (as in Whisper). And the growing popularity of the Whisper app – where users' posts are Internet meme-style photos overlaid with text (the app makes posting easy by offering up photos it "thinks" match your text, and you get to pick one). People can respond by … [Read more...] about Whisper’s popularity no longer a secret
UK’s teen suicide tragedy: Problems, solutions
The UK has seen too much social cruelty this past week, and now tragedy as well, with the suicide of 14-year-old Hannah Smith. Though there has been plenty of news coverage and analysis already – linking Hannah's suicide to cruel comments in social site Ask.fm – a formal inquiry into what happened has only just begun, the BBC reported. And suicide prevention experts on both sides of the Atlantic … [Read more...] about UK’s teen suicide tragedy: Problems, solutions
Ask.fm: Correction from UK hotline
Last week I focused on the widely reported story about the Q&A-format social site Ask.fm in a post about the whack-a-mole tendency that surfaces whenever social cruelty shows up in Web sites young people use. My position on that hasn't changed, but I do want to publish this correction about one point: In that post, I quoted a statement by a reporter at the UK-based Daily Mail that turns out to … [Read more...] about Ask.fm: Correction from UK hotline
Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency
Remember Formspring.me? Three years ago some terrible trolling that reportedly involved teens in New Jersey made the site, which announced it was shutting down* last month, a national news story in the US. Teens' viral adoption of Formspring and its format (ask a question, get an anonymous answer) reportedly took the site by surprise. Disturbing news coverage and letters sent home by school … [Read more...] about Social cruelty on Ask.fm & the whack-a-mole tendency