There are more similarities than differences between cyberbullying and digital dating abuse, it appears, so let's be clear on what they are. The main difference is pretty obvious: A cyberbullying situation usually involves at least two people who don't like or have much to do with each other, while digital dating abuse involves "two people who are attracted to each other on some level," according … [Read more...] about Cyberbullying vs. digital dating abuse
cellphones
Top tech gadgets for Americans 18+: Study
Americans definitely like their technology mobile. Cellphones are the US's most popular gadget, according to a just-released study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, with 85% of Americans 18+ and 75% of US teens owning one. Among all the gadgets covered in the Pew survey, the desktop computer was the only non-mobile one. It came in second, with 59% of US adults owning one, but with … [Read more...] about Top tech gadgets for Americans 18+: Study
Texting beats driving for teens
Texting doesn't just beat out social networking for teens by more than 2 to 1, as Pew/Internet reported last spring, it also beats driving. Parent and Forbes writer Jim Motavalli has both anecdotal and numerical evidence, and I'm seeing the exact same thing at my house and in the research. Motavalli's just-turned-16-year-old is entirely ho-hum about getting her driver's license, and that was the … [Read more...] about Texting beats driving for teens
Tech-enabled dating abuse
If your kid's like mine (and has a cellphone), s/he is getting text messages all the time. What you might want to check on with him or her is whether it's all the time from one person. If it is, there could be some good reasons for this seemingly obsessive or stalking behavior – maybe the child needs help, a confidant for a few days. Another possibility is what blogger April Peveteaux at cafemom … [Read more...] about Tech-enabled dating abuse
Social location-sharing
More and more we're hearing about location-based socializing in the news – for example, Loopt and Latitude for keeping track of friends in a geographical sort of way, Facebook's new Places, the more game-like Foursquare, and Glympse for tracking kids for specific periods of time (like between 9pm and "curfew," up to 4 hours max). Well, in case you'd like a little primer on these location-based … [Read more...] about Social location-sharing