Togetherville, the social network site for kids 10 and under wants them to have a voice in the big discussion about education reform (and maybe how their schools are run) – kid by kid, school by school. It just launched its School Communities program, further tying children's social networks in Togetherville into their school networks (I say "further" because kids' online social networks are … [Read more...] about Togetherville gives students a platform
social networking
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
Facebook passes up Orkut in India
Though Twitter's experiencing the fastest growth in India, Facebook moved passed Google's Orkut into the No. 1 slot for social networking there, with 20.9 million visitors in July, a 179% increase over July 2009, reports IBN Live in India, citing comScore findings. Twitter grew 239% year over year, while Orkut grew just 16% in India this past year. According to IBN Live, "more than 33 million … [Read more...] about Facebook passes up Orkut in India
For perspective: Snapshot of Brazil’s social networking
Facebook's now taking off there, but Brazil has had a vibrant, more mainstream social networking scene for some time, maybe even longer than the US has – because of Google's Orkut. When danah boyd's new article about class divisions in US social networking reached Pedro Augusto of Brazil's Center for Technology & Society in Rio, he emailed her about how this works in his country; she posted … [Read more...] about For perspective: Snapshot of Brazil’s social networking