As virtual worlds for kids like Club Penguin and Webkinz continue to multiply (it seems like every toy company is launching one), I continue to get a lot of questions from parents about both the educational value of these websites for children as well as concern about screen time. With Sesame Workshop, Disney and Noggin all launching sites for preschoolers, these are legitimate questions to be asking. While I don't have the answers, I did find this article in the Boston Globe about a researcher at Tufts who has developed an online experience for 11-16 year olds with some of these questions in mind. From the article:

Marina Bers, who last year was among 20 US scientists to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in a ceremony at the White House, is pioneering technology that marries two independent disciplines - child development and computer technology. From the former, she brings the widely accepted tradition of Jean Piaget, which posits that children learn best by interacting with their world. From her mentor at MIT, Seymour Papert, comes the theory known as constructionism, that if children create their own technology they will learn more than if they simply swallow information technology spits out. The software she created is called Zora. Children's Hospital Boston is using it in a pilot project where 22 transplant patients, ages 11 to 16, log on daily from around the country to build a virtual community (Interestingly, she limits her three children ages 3, 7 and 4 to less than an hour a week in front of the computer).

You can learn more about Club Zora here. And, if you haven't, check out Zoey's Room, another great non-profit site emphasizing technology, math and science for girls.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, you should check out this panel discussion I am participating in organized by Common Sense Media and The MacArthur Foundation about kids and virtual worlds. It's free, but you have to register beforehand.

Posted by anastasia at 7:19 PM | Permalink

Last night I spoke to parents in Belchertown, MA, a small community close to Springfield, as part of the Totally Wired Parent/Educator Tour. The librarian who invited me to speak mentioned that she was trying to get a parent who home schooled her kids to attend my talk, but that the mom said something along the lines of "Oh, she uses the word 'tween' and is in marketing so she's going to say everything is positive." Unfortunately, the word "tween" has become part of the media and marketing vocabulary to identify a segment of young consumers, but to me, it also just describes that developmental space "in between" childhood and becoming a teenager. The librarian said even they've adopted the word "tween" at the library. This comment made me think about my message again. I don't think I'm glossing over the negative side effects of growing up "totally wired," not in the book, and not in my talks. If anything, I'm trying to defuse the panic so parents can actually deal with the challenges but also acknowledge the benefits.

And as for marketing, if you read Ypulse, you know that while I talk about marketing a lot, I'm not afraid to be critical of it and encourage lots of dialogue around how brands are marketing to youth. I wanted to write a post for parents who are concerned about online marketing to kids and teens that offers suggestions for helping them to become marketing literate.

1. It's almost impossible to avoid...so demystify it. Unless you don't let kids watch TV or use the internet, they are going to encounter marketing in some way, shape or form. Webkinz is a virtual world created by a toy company that wants you to spend more time with its toys so you will hopefully buy more of them and get your friends to buy more. Everything Disney does is designed to sell its characters, music, theme parks and stuff you can buy in its stores. The reason you can create a customized Toyota Scion in the virtual world of Whyville is so that when you're old enough to drive, you might want to buy a Toyota Scion. Dove's "Evolution" video is a great example for tweens showing how models are made to look flawless in order to sell products.

Have these conversations with your kids. There are some virtual spaces that don't allow brands in, at least for now. Club Penguin is ad free (though I guarantee you there will be a line of penguin dolls you can buy soon). The site is now owned by Disney, so look for these penguins to get their own show, ride, etc. soon. Teen Second Life also doesn't allow brands in their world. Still, even if a site doesn't allow brands in, if teens are hanging out there, there's a good chance they're talking about brands on their own.

2. Teach them to think twice or ask you before they click. Advertisers and marketers know that kids and teens are watching less TV and spending more time online, so they are trying to reach them there. The division between marketing and content is even blurrier in the virtual space. Ads look like games but are really ads. In virtual worlds, you can dress your avatar in branded clothing or drink virtual Pepsi. It's important to talk to kids about how banner ads promoting a game are also promoting something else. Most kids sites should be running age appropriate ads, but I've stumbled across a few that have served up adult oriented banners. Plus you never know what will launch spyware on your computer. For younger kids, try an ask mom or dad before you click policy.

3. It's all about permission. You have to give permission for your child (under 13) to share any personal information at all with any website. It's the law, and it's called COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. If you didn't consent and your child is receiving marketing messages from a website, first ask your child if they lied about their age. If they didn't lie, you can call (877) FTC-HELP and report the violation to a live operator. The best approach with kids under 13 is to be there with them when they register. Talk to your kids and teens about sharing personal information online -- decide how much you and they are comfortable with. The idea is that the company wants to know more about who its customers are so they can serve you better, but if you don't want to help them, don't. If your kids are over 13, make sure they understand the concept of opting in and opting out. Teach them to look for check boxes that are checked by default to send you regular emails or offers. If you let them have an email account, teach them to identify and manage spam. Exercise your right to control at least some of the marketing you receive.

We live in a heavily branded world -- online and off. Unless you really go off the grid, it's almost impossible to avoid marketing targeting you or your children. Rather than let them just encounter it (and have it just wash over them, subtly sinking in), take a proactive stance, engage with them around what it is and how it works. By demystifying the "great and powerful Oz" that is marketing, you are empowering your kids to make conscious choices and to think critically.

Posted by anastasia at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm in Huntington, Long Island, getting ready for a talk at the Book Revue tonight at 8 p.m. I spoke to a group of YA and children's librarians earlier today in Syosset. The Q&A was interesting. There was definitely concern around our cultural obsession with fame and how the internet is fueling that for teens as well as the desire (expressed by another librarian) to share the accomplishments of teens like Ashley Qualls, who have used the internet to launch their own companies or publications as inspiration for other teens who may need it. It made me think about the notion of fame or wanting recognition. There's wanting to be famous for being famous, a trend many attribute to heiress/ex-con Paris Hilton and the other starlets and reality TV stars who are all hungry for their "moment." Then there are people who are entrepreneurial, who are starters of things, launchers of blogs and websites either intentionally or accidentally. Some of them end up liking the spotlight that comes with success and others may want to stay behind the scenes. The more stories of these young entrepreneurs we can share with young people (whether they become millionaires or just start something cool), the more we can inspire them to seek out a different kind of potential "fame," one more lasting and less transient. I also think it's important to talk about how Ashley hired her friends -- teens she trusts to help run her company. Not every teen is going to be a leader or founder, but those who are, can't do it alone.

I led a workshop once for teens at 826 Valencia in San Francisco on how to launch a magazine (gasp, seems so dated now). I based it off of the magazine final project graduate students complete at the Medill School of Journalism. The teens broke up into groups and each came up with a fully thought out concept for a magazine from the pub's personality, cover lines and table of contents to how they would market it. You could do this type of workshop with any group of teens (and about magazines, websites, video games, etc.) -- letting them dream up their own media idea or project. It's also a great way to teach teens about the media business and teach media literacy (why do you need ads? which ads will you accept)?

I'll be posting sporadic reflections and thoughts while I'm on the road as part of the Totally Wired Tour (sponsored by Beinggirl.com).

Posted by anastasia at 9:41 PM | Permalink

I found this article on CNET's News.com for businesses concerned about their online reputations. I'm adapting the tips for teens (and their parents). Here goes...

Prevention is always best.

- Always strive to view anything you put online under your name through the eyes of not only your friends, but any adult (potential employer, grandma, teachers, etc.) who may "stumble upon it"

- Create a public blog, profile or portfolio site that always puts your best foot forward, leave thoughtful comments on other people's blogs under your name. The more positive public content you put out there under your name the higher it will rank in Google search results (pushing down the not-so-positive stuff you can't get rid of)

- If you do see something negative posted about you without your permission, try to have the site or person delete it or take it down.

- If there are photos of yourself you wouldn't want copied and pasted anywhere else online, remove them from your profile or ask your friends to remove them.

Keep tabs on your virtual identity

- Use Google and Yahoo email alerts for your name, as well as "Googling" yourself in all major search engines regularly

- Also keep an eye on the blogosphere -- using sites like Technorati to search under your name or blog URL (Technorati now indexes MySpace blogs). You should also regularly monitor your Facebook Newsfeed and check to see if anyone has mentioned you or tagged you in a photo you don't know about.

And...

- Decide whether a response or discussions are better suited for offline, one-to-one conversations

- Take time before responding to remove any chance of emotions tainting your response (that you might regret later)

- If you're responding to something that has pissed you off, have a friend read it first (whether it's a comment, email, IM or any digital form of communications)

- Remember that what you say privately could be made public by others

- People have always been able to say negative things about you; now it is just easier to do it publicly, but it is also easier for you to counter this with positive information you can post about yourself.

Posted by anastasia at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Anyone who doesn't know who Vanessa Hudgens is, does not have a tween in their lives or is not tuned into pop culture. She's the female star of Disney's hugely popular "High School Musical" franchise, and last week, she apologized for the nude photographs that "appeared" on the internet. Allegedly, they were meant for her boyfriend and co-star Zac Efron's eyes only. Cynics in Hollywood believe they were leaked on purpose as a way to communicate to the industry that she's ready for more "mature" roles and doesn't want to remain a tween queen forever. Still, I guarantee you that teens all over the world have heard about the scandal and have probably seen the photos, which is why I think it's a teachable moment.

It means that when you take a sexually explicit photograph of yourself or someone else in one context, that it can resurface later in another. Just because you think it's private, and your boyfriend or girlfriend assures you it's just for the two of you, situations change. You could have a bad break up and the photos get posted as revenge. Your boyfriend's annoying friend could discover it while surfing on his computer and post it for the whole school (and world) to see. The internet has fundamentally redefined our sense of what can stay private. If it's digital (or can be digitized), you cannot guarantee it will stay private. This includes photographs, audio recordings and video, all of which can be taken or recorded without you even knowing it.

danah boyd posted some helpful tips for teens and adults about managing their online identities and maintaining a certain degree of privacy (or just making the more private parts of your online identity harder to find). She suggests:

Create a public Internet identity. I strongly recommend blogging, but even a homepage will do. Have a genuine all-accessible identity online that you're cool with grandma and your boss reading. Don't make it uber drab, but do provide context for who you are, what you do, what you're passionate about, etc. Think of it as a digital body and dress it up as if it were going into a job interview. Blogging is especially good because you can keep updating your identity over time in a way that shows that you think. It's much easier to get a sense of someone through their commentary on public affairs or life around them than through a static page.

Say NO! to Facebook's public search option. Click "privacy" - "search." Under "Who can find my public search listing outside of Facebook?" uncheck both boxes. Be proactive about this. You might not think you care now, but having your Facebook profile at the top of a search for your name might not be what you want when you're looking for a job.

Expect unexpected audiences. Your profile on Facebook and MySpace might be "private" but when you join the Los Angeles Network or when you accept someone who knows someone, you might find that the audience viewing your profile is not who you expected. Are you prepared for this? Make sure that profile says what you want it to say, even to those you don't expect. If you want to be a porn diva and make it in Hollywood, put up that slutty photo, but if you want to be a lawyer, you might regret that photo a few years from now. Of course, I'm sure there are porn stars who later became lawyers, just like there are actors who became governors.

Write blog comments as though you're writing your own blog. The more popular a blog, the more likely the comments from that blog are to show up high on Google's lists. If you write inflammatory [comments] on those blogs just to piss people off, it will come back to haunt you. (It depresses me that a huge chunk of the comments on BoingBoing's new comment system are extremely negative.) Personally, I don't think that you should be anonymous on a blog. I think that you should stand by your name, but write articulately. And blog on your own blog so that the comments are not at the top.

Treat video and audio just like text. Right now, video and audio aren't searchable, but they will be. Don't think that you can say or do anything you want on a video and it will never come up. That Neo-Nazi video you made and put up on YouTube cuz you thought it was funny will eventually be searchable and associated with your name. Are you really ready for that to appear at the top of a Google ego search?

Posted by anastasia at 6:45 PM | Permalink

Two stories this week reminded me of how a determined teen can hack through just about anything. The first was that a 17-year-old from New Jersey unlocked the iPhone. He spent 500 hours of his summer vacation freeing the device from AT&T (the exclusive carrier for the iPhone) and then, of course, sold his phone on eBay. The second story was about a 16-year-old Australian who hacked through the government's $84 million pornography-filtering software in less than a half hour. These are obviously very high profile hacking cases, but I bet there are countless similar stories of teens disabling school filters, breaking into servers to change grades or find old term papers or tests or figuring out ways to get something for nothing online.

It's not that teens want to "break the law" in the high profile cases or even look at the content you're attempting to block - they hack because it's a challenge -- it's exciting. USA Today reported that according to an anonymous survey of about 4,800 San Diego area high school students presented at the American Psychological Association conference:

- 38% said they copied software without permission.
- 18% went into someone's computer or website without permission, and 16% took material.
- 13% changed a computer system, file program or website without permission.

Boys were far more likely than girls to hack and illegally copy software. But only about one in 10 teens said they did it to cause trouble or make money. Many more cited learning about computers or because "it is exciting and challenging" as their main motives.

When I was writing Totally Wired, I remember interviewing a teen in Atlanta who told me that his school's administrator encourage him and his friend to try to hack into the school's network. He said, "Look for holes, and when you find them tell me." I love that this network administrator empowered the teen by leveraging his hacking skills to improve the school network's security. Apple should hire the New Jersey teen right after he graduates from the Rochester Institute of Technology. By channeling teens' tech talents into something more positive and productive, you not only validate their know-how -- you also gain an edge by making your own software or network or website more secure.

Posted by anastasia at 4:01 AM | Permalink

We live in a consumer culture that is saturated with marketing. Short of going off the grid and living like the Amish, it's hard to avoid someone trying to sell you something. Because of the increased number of "screens" (computers, cell phones), kids and teens are spending lots of time away from where traditional advertising used to be - in between TV shows and clearly labeled in the pages of magazines. Brands are now integrated seamlessly into content (product placement), and online destinations are either flooded with online ads or corporate entities trying to be your friends or they are created by brands, i.e. Webkinz. Because of this new landscape, parents have to educate kids and teens to identify marketing and explain the real motivation behind a certain viral video and that the real goal of a brand's website is to ultimately get them (or you as the parent) to buy certain products.

That said, if a brand happens to create a website that offers educational opportunities, as long as you teach marketing literacy, I don't see a problem with allowing your kids to spend supervised, limited time on these sites. Evidently a few brands have created online destinations kids can actually learn something from. Stars for Kids (a market research firm) asked teachers to rank which of these branded sites could actually be useful. Here's more from their report (.pdf):

Using a National Learning Standards Checklist with over 1,000 discrete elementary school grade standards across all curriculum areas, 80 teacher/evaluators measured the potential for learning enrichment on the studied 100+ sites. They were also asked which branded websites they would use to enrich their classroom lessons. The following five sites came out on top:

1. Planet Orange
Teaches: Math, algebra, measurement, economics, geography, social studies, language arts

2. Crayola
Art, visual literacy, science, technology

3. Dole 5 A Day
Health, nutrition, math, measurement, problem solving

4. American Girl
Math, measurement, problem solving, art, visual literacy

5. Millsberry
Social studies, visual literacy, math, language arts, health and safety

Obviously these sites are also selling financial planning, crayons, fruit, dolls and cereal. But if you're clear with kids about this before they log on and point it out when you encounter commercial messages in the content, you can take advantage of an opportunity for real learning both about marketing and health, language arts, math, problem solving...

Posted by anastasia at 12:05 AM | Permalink

I get asked a lot in media interviews about how safe certain sites are for kids and tweens (under 13). What I say is that while no site is 100 percent "safe," in that an adult could possibly sneak on posing as a child or that your child might be bullied in an online community. But I definitely think sites that are expressly for kids under 13 are going to do everything they can to protect the kids on their services. Why? Because if kids under 13 are their primary audience, they have to get permission from parents for them to collect personal information when they register (it's the law), and because if something happens to a child on their site, it could destroy their business. Most of these sites restrict what kids can say to each other in text chats and have active community managers engaged on the site for kids to turn to if something doesn't feel kosher.

That said, I'm not saying the owners and operators of sites for teens 13 and up (where teens are their primary audience) aren't doing what they can to make their sites safe. But it's easier to put a lot more disclaimers out there when you have a site where 14 year olds can interact with 25 year olds on the same service. And, when you have millions of users like MySpace or Facebook uploading thousands of photos and videos or posting blog entries every hour of every day, you just can't screen it all.

What's confusing for a lot of parents are the sites that look like they are for kids but really aren't. A lot of these virtual worlds use avatars that look like they would be popular with younger children and tweens. Sites like Zwinktopia, Gaia Online, WeeWorld, IMVU and Habbo Hotel. Parents: These sites are for teens 13 and up. You can find this out by reading the site's privacy policy. Every site has a privacy policy -- you can usually find it in a text link at the very bottom of the web page. It's a lot of legalese and disclaimers, but it will say whether the site is for teens 13 and up, and if it does allow kids under 13, it will talk about the need to get your permission before they can collect your child's personal information. The media might refer to the sites I listed as "tween sites," but they are really teen sites. Part of being a totally wired parent means doing your own investigation (by clicking the site's privacy policy) to make sure a site your child may be attracted to (because of how it looks) is really appropriate for them to hang out on. For a quick cheat sheet, check out this list composed by Izzy Neis.

Don't forget to download the Totally Wired Discussion Guide!

Posted by anastasia at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been posting a lot about the culture of fear that has been created around the internet as it relates to online predators. The reality is that most teens are pretty savvy about ignoring sexual predators online -- what they're not as savvy about is identity theft. It's a nightmare for victims, filling out a rental application only to discover your credit has been completely destroyed. Evidently just posting your first and last name, date of birth, and high school is enough for a criminal to attempt to open a credit card account in your name. Teens are prime targets for identity theft because they have no credit history giving thieves a clean slate. According to this article from the BBC:

Credit information group Equifax said members of sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook may be putting too many details about themselves online.

It said fraudsters could use these details to steal someone's identity and apply for credit and benefits.

According to a recent local news story, here are the top five ways teens can have their identity stolen online:

* Posting your real name, address, date of birth and high school on a social networking site like MySpace or Facebook.
* Talking with strangers online and meeting them in person.
* Filling in your social security number in an online job application.
* Not being able to recognize scam emails or phishing scams.
* Storing personal information, like your social security number or bank pin number in your phone.

A good resource for information and support for victims of identity theft is The Identity Theft Resource Center. You can also listen to a podcast interview with Larry Magid and Linda Foley from The Identity Theft Resource Center about this issue.

Posted by anastasia at 3:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Associated Press has been busy playing catch up on what's happening with teens and tweens online. Two recent stories do have some useful info for parents:

- Kid networking sites force parents to act early (info and tips about the "Club Penguin" set and how kids are using social networks as early as 6 -- common sense stuff like setting limits, don't forget to make them play outside, too, etc.) (AP via MSNBC)

- The real deal on predators (please read this important story on what really puts teens at risk - [hint: it's not just posting a little too much personal info]. See also: my similar piece on PBS's Mediashift) (AP via Forbes, you have to click through the annoying welcome screen ad)

Finally -- I mentioned in my earlier post this week that teens should not be texting when they're driving (and neither should you!). Seventeen's new study says they are, which means it's time to talk to your teen about what they're doing behind the wheel.

Posted by anastasia at 8:45 PM | Permalink

It almost sounds like multiple personality disorder, but the reality is that we all present different faces to different audiences. For teens, the face they present to teachers, parents or other adults with authority over them is much different then who they are with their friends. For adults, it's the same -- you're not the same person with your boss as you are when you're complaining about work to your colleagues. What's different about the internet is that teens and many adults are having these conversations online, where they can be discovered, forwarded or printed out. What used to be a bunch of girls gossiping "behind closed doors" is now chronicled on MySpace or Facebook.

Because of this, it's very important for parents to talk to teens about managing their online identities. Here are some simple talking points parents can use to talk about this issue.

If it's purely social, use increased privacy settings. Part of the fun of social networking is communicating digitally with the same friends teens see at school or are keeping in touch with. It's also occasionally meeting someone new. Teens can adjust their privacy settings so that only their friends can see their profile. They can still accept new friend requests but they will avoid people stumbling upon conversations, photos or inside jokes meant for friends vs. everyone. You have to warn them that even if these profiles are private, there is always a chance a photo can be copied and pasted somewhere else.

Google yourself. Have your teen Google him or herself to see what pops up. They may discover other people have been talking about them or that a photo they thought was just for friends ended up on someone else's blog. It's a good exercise to make sure they realize that potential employers or recruiters will do this to, and to begin taking an active role in managing their online reputation. This may mean sending an email asking someone to take something down or figuring out how to make sure that entry gets buried in search results.

Launch a portfolio site. Suggest that your teen launch his or her own portfolio site to present a more professional identity to the world. They can upload artwork, writing, post their resume and keep a blog about whatever they might be interested in studying or pursuing. The goal is to get them to begin thinking about their professional identity. And by keeping a public portfolio and blog, this content will most likely rise to the top of Google searches, pushing down less desirable references. The more positive content they can put out online about themselves the better.

By engaging with teens about this topic early, you may be able to prevent them from having to learn the hard way when something pops up they never thought would go beyond their circle of friends. It's a life skill for the 21st century. If young people are going to have public personaes that can be copied, pasted, mashed up and manipulated, they need both a thick skin and the skills to manage their reputations -- both personal and professional online.

Posted by anastasia at 4:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I talk a lot about how the internet can magnify or amplify because of its viral nature. You see this when teens post inappropriate photos or videos of themselves, and they end up being forwarded around school (or more than one school). Suddenly that image or video is beyond their control. You can try to get people to remove it, but it's hard, if not impossible, to remove every instance where that image might show up. The best you can do is try to bury it in Google search results so it's harder to find.

When someone else uploads your image and it goes viral, it's even harder to control. This is what happened to Allison Stokke, an 18-year-old track star who also happens to be very attractive. According to the Washington Post, reg. required, "a year-old picture of Stokke idly adjusting her hair at a track meet in New York had been plastered across the Internet." Here's a little bit about what transpired:

A fan on a Cal football message board posted a picture of the attractive, athletic pole vaulter. A popular sports blogger in New York found the picture and posted it on his site. Dozens of other bloggers picked up the same image and spread it. Within days, hundreds of thousands of Internet users had searched for Stokke's picture and leered...

...She had more than 1,000 new messages on her MySpace page. A three-minute video of Stokke standing against a wall and analyzing her performance at another meet had been posted on YouTube and viewed 150,000 times.

In Totally Wired, I told the story of Ghyslain Raza , who is best known online as "The Star Wars Kid." After schoolmates uploaded a video they found of him pretending he was a Jedi Knight battling with his lightsaber, it became one of the most viral videos of all time. It also caused him to drop out of school, and his parents to sue the families of the kids who posted the video.

Allison Stokke and her parents seem to be dealing with the situation the best they can, realizing that it's is essentially out of their control but taking precautions to make sure Allison is safe. Her family struck me as being pretty grounded and realistic about the whole experience, as demeaning as it has been for Allison. Her mother was quoted in the article saying:

"All of it is like locker room talk," said Cindy Stokke, Allison's mom. "This kind of stuff has been going on for years. But now, locker room talk is just out there in the public. And all of us can read it, even her mother."

She was able to have a fake Facebook profile that popped up taken down.

In a culture obsessed with finding fame and celebrity, the internet has made some teenagers "accidentally famous." And with that fame, comes some very adult attention. The kind that led Allison's parents to seek a media consultant. Or the kind that led teen "Internet It Girl" Cory Kennedy's mom (Los Angeles Times, reg. required) to send her away to special school in order to get her out of the limelight. The Washington Post, by publishing Allison's photos online, only fuels her internet fame even more. I'm not going to republish her photos here.

I wish I had some tips to offer on how to prevent this sort of thing from happening. The reality is that in today's totally wired world, your digital image just isn't your own -- especially if it's being taken by someone else (including the media). Once it's online, this type of internet celebrity is possible whether you asked for it or not. The most you can do is just be aware that this can happen and be prepared to deal with it if it does.

Posted by anastasia at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I asked my friend Courtney Macivinta, the author of Respect: A Girl's Guide to Getting Respect & Dealing When Your Line Is Crossed, and an ambassador for the amazing non-profit Girls for a Change, to take some notes while speaking at Next Generation Tech: Teens Plugged In!. While Silicon Valley teens probably don't represent the average American teen when it comes to technology use, it's still fun to hear what they're saying about the internet, cell phones and cheating with iPods! And, I hate to say it, but I have no clue what a "compiler" is.

From Courtney:

Throughout the day, high school and college students -- many of whom are entrepreneurs in their own right -- spoke to a room full of companies, press, VCs and some youth marketers about the gadgets they're using, the web sites they use, the games they play, and the media or online companies they've started recently. Some, like 19-year-old morning keynote Ben Casnocha, who just wrote a new book, "My Start-Up Life," talked about their business and leadership philosophies and how to fund your ideas.

The high school panel included 9 girls and guys and focused mostly on how technology is integrated into their daily lives. Many in the audience seemed to really want to know: What do teens want? Here's some of the insights the panelists offered:

* They have a bit of blog fatigue and the majority no longer maintained their personal blogs. (This goes to show that being a publisher in any form always presents the same quandary: You have to feed the beast).

* They all Google themselves and find random things like past cross-country running scores to awards they won in 6th grade, or a person with their same name who owns a refrigerator store on the east coast.

* They think the "danger of social networking sites" story is way overblown (as do I). One girl said: "They are enough MySpace articles to sink a thousand ships. We know, we get it!" They also pointed to a trend I've seen over and over: More teens are making their profiles private and really use sites like MySpace to keep in touch with current friends not to meet new ones. To switch to a new social network site seemed like a pain to most. One said, "It would have to be really special and I'd have to know people there." Most of the panelists nodded their head in agreement.

* These panelists, for one, didn't shop online much. They were sticklers about things like shipping costs and most used the Web to research offline purchases.

* Yes, they all have mobile phones (some said they couldn't live without theirs) but some are also on a budget and try to stick it when it comes to text-messaging costs.

* One guy admitted to cheating via his iPod or texting, which elicited gasps from the crowd (and a sarcastic comment from his dad who was THERE: "Then why don't you get better grades?") Once he fessed up there was a bit of a confession domino effect and a young woman admitted she'd cheated along the same lines before too.

The college panel shared these additional observations:

* They think the iPhone sounds cool; some had a smart phone; they had arguments for and against the value of browsing the web via their phone (some said sites don't look great, others do nothing but surf the web with their phone.) None had a landline phone. One panelist said he didn't want a smart phone because if he lost it "it would be like losing a girlfriend."

* All used Facebook but mentioned that they already, or would soon, use LinkedIn for more professional contacts.

* They found themselves doing more email than IM these days to keep in touch with contacts (probably that growing list of business contacts).

On both panels, MySpace universally was out of favor (even if the panelists still had a profile up) because it was too "gawdy" or "cluttered."

One thing I really enjoyed was hearing about the companies these young adults had started like:

* Elementeo.com (the 13-year-old founder launched interactive trading card came to teach kids about chemistry)
* Comcate Inc. (This is Ben's company--an e-gov start-up he founded at age 14)
* Composite Labs (they make and sell robot kits)
* CollegeWikis.com (name speaks for itself, but I liked that they allow users to capture email list discussions in their shared Wiki so they can save and search the discussions)
* GumballCapital.org (micro-loans funded by college students)
* Millennial Productions (creating low-cost short videos for clients)
* Palo Alto High School Robotics Team (the team created, among other things, a laser triggering device that enables quadriplegics the ability to push buttons, for example)
* Votsu.com (a Latin American social networking site)

As an ambassador for Girls For A Change, I did an afternoon keynote, "Is It Becoming a Woman's Web?" (My answer: Yes!) I shared how I see women and girls shaping the entire experience, usability and utility of the Web -- even those of us who don't hold Computer Science degrees or work in IT. I also recommended that companies take care to invite girls to the table as leaders, advisors, mentees, product reviewers, and give them the space to explore their visions (it's always a win-win).

My favorite quote of the day from a teen girl for Palo Alto High School: "I couldn't live without my compiler -- I love my compiler!"

Posted by anastasia at 12:15 AM | Permalink

I've posted here about the challenges of talking to teens about illegal downloading (especially if you do it yourself as a parent). I also posted a while back about the "Internet Illiterate parent" who was let off the hook for being clueless that her teens could even download music illegally. It seems that the perils of illegal downloading (computer viruses and spyware, RIAA lawsuits) as well as parents beginning to set rules about this with teens is slowly beginning to have an effect. According to new research from Harris Interactive & The Business Software Alliance:

Illegal downloading of digital copyrighted works by youth (ages 8 to 18) has dropped by 24 percent in the last three years.

Getting a virus continues to be the top worry youths have about downloading software, music, movies and games without paying, but fear of getting in trouble with parents increased to 48% from 40% in 2006.

-62% are concerned about downloading a computer virus
-52% fear getting into legal trouble
-51% fear downloading spyware
-48% worry about getting in trouble with parents.

The research also showed (not surprisingly) that when parents have rules about internet use, it makes a difference in teen behavior. So 47 percent of tweens and teens ages 8-18 download music without paying a download fee vs. only 16% when parents have set rules about illegal downloading.

With iTunes and Amazon pushing for music to be DRM-free (DRM stands for digital rights management so the songs would essentially be able to be copied and passed along once a person buys them on iTunes or Amazon), I think it's going to be even harder to stop the spread of "free" music.

On a somewhat related note, check out this mashup of Disney characters explaining current copyright law and its limitations. Kind of funny.

Posted by anastasia at 1:03 AM | Permalink

I often get the question from parents, "How do you talk to teens about illegal downloading?" I always respond with the question: "Do you pay for music?" It's a slippery slope. If you're a parent who downloads free music, it's going to be hard to tell your teens not to do this. Maybe just not to do so much of it that you end up getting sued. Some parents I interviewed for the book worked in the software industry and were keenly aware of how piracy has hurt their own companies so they had no problem explaining the issue to their kids. Other parents admitted to illegally downloading some music themselves and compared it to making mixed tapes when they were young. We now live in a "mashed up" world where everyone is "borrowing" copyrighted material -- photos for their blogs, songs for the videos, other people's videos for their own videos.

Broadcasting & Cable reported on a survey done with a small group of college students about whether or not they understood copyright rules -- they don't. According to the article:

The study concluded that students were, "universally underinformed and misinformed about the law." While 76% of the students said that the Fair Use doctrine allowed them to use copyrighted material, none could accurately define the doctrine. While they were generally concerned with staying on the "good side" of the law, they were "making up rules themselves" about what and how to use intellectual property. They also did not understand their own rights as creators of content. One student said that uploading network programming was fair use because she was "merely showing others in a virtual 'water cooler' environment what she was talking about and had found interesting."

Another student thought that putting "all rights reserved" on a copyrighted clip protected him. Most students who participated believed their videos provided a valuable service by giving the copyrighted works "free advertising."

I can tell you from experience working in the television industry that many producers don't understand the parameters of fair use. So how do you talk to teens about copyrighted material without having to teach an advanced law class? It's tricky. I stumbled upon this older thread full of Palo Alto parents discussing the challenges of having this conversation. If you feel strongly that you don't want your teens downloading illegal music or videos (or don't want to risk getting sued), you can try Wired Safety's guide to having this discussion. And, if you really feel like copyright law needs to change, check out Free Culture and Creative Commons. Both organizations are pushing the discussion about what people should be able to mix and mash further.

Posted by anastasia at 12:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'll never forget being in the seventh grade and hanging out at my friend's house with her older sister and a bunch of her guy friends. They thought it would be fun to "rate" me and my friend. I can't remember what they rated my friend, but the "7" I received will forever be emblazoned in my memory. Some people would say "7" is good, you know, above average. But for me at 12-years-old, it hurt.

The Internet has allowed ratings to flourish. Sometimes they're helpful, like stars on Amazon or NetFlix or sellers on eBay. People, and especially teens, love to rate things and give feedback. It has become a must-have feature for any youth oriented website. But what happens when you start rating people...Take for example the site Hot or Not, which is hugely popular with teens (even though it's supposed to be a dating site for 18 and ups). A friend might post your photo just for fun or a peer might post an unflattering photo out of spite or cruelty -- either way, once the "Not" ratings begin to pile up, you can imagine how that teen might feel once he or she discovers their page.

A similar trend is happening on sites like RateMyTeacher or RateMyProfessor. On the one hand, these sites or using a web site to give public feedback to an instructor seems like it could actually be useful. On the other hand, when students who receive poor grades or who have a beef with their teacher use them, the results can be devastating to both the teacher's ego and reputation. According to this BBC report:

"Kathy Wallis, a senior teacher from Cornwall, says she recently had to talk a young colleague out of resigning over comments posted by her pupils on Rate My Teachers, a US-run site which allows kids anonymously to 'grade,' as well as criticize, their teachers.

'The teacher in question burst into tears and said 'Well if that's what they think of me I might as well give up teaching now',' she recalls.

'[Her students] had said that her preparation was dreadful, she had no classroom control and they made other unfounded malicious comments. Basically they just pulled her apart. It took two days for me to talk her out of resigning.'"

My husband half-jokingly asked me if he should start RatemyTherapist before someone else does (just so he can control his own rating!).

The key here is to teach teens online etiquette, commonly called netiquette or what I call Internet ethics. Remind them that anonymous ratings or nasty comments can hurt just as much as when you know who posted them. And if someone did post their photo on a ratings site without their knowledge or permission, contact the site administrators and get them to remove it. Then be sure to tell your teen they are definitely a "10," over and over.

Are you a teacher who has been "rated"? Do you know a teen who has been a victim of "bad ratings"? If so, post your story in the comments!

Posted by anastasia at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There is so much that is positive about the Internet, but there is still the "reality" part of virtual reality. Since the Web has become an extension of teens' offline lives or a reflection of what they doin the real world, it makes sense that some of the darker aspects of teen life would show up online as well. In "Totally Wired," I wrote about the teen girls with eating disorders who inhabit one the darker corners of the Internet. They blog under the code names "ana" and "mia" and post daily reports literally "weighing in" in their quest to be thin. They link to each other and plaster their web pages with images of an emaciated Nicole Richie, Mary Kate Olsen or Kate Moss for "thinspiration." Some of them want to get better, but many of them don't. So they end up encouraging each other in their disease. A similar phenomenon happens with teens who self injure or cut themselves.

The eating disorders community has been divided over whether companies that host these sites should take them down. Yahoo! decided to remove them, but other sites, like Xanga, did not. You can go to Xanga and search blogrings using the keywords "ana" or "mia." You'll find them. At the same time, they are very real representations of the emotional reality these girls are living with and continue to give therapists and researchers insight into the disease and the girls who suffer from it.

The effects these sites have on the girls who visit them have been researched and documented. According to the latest research reported by Reuters:

"A pilot study released on Monday of U.S. eating disorder patients aged between 10 and 22 showed that up to a third learn new weight loss or purging methods from Web sites that promote eating disorders by enabling users to share tips, such as what drugs induce vomiting and what Internet sites sell them.

But the study -- published in the American Academy of Pediatrics' journal Pediatrics -- found that eating disorder sufferers were also learning new high-risk ways to lose weight from each other on Web sites aimed at helping them recover."

One therapist I interviewed for the book said the same thing happens at offline eating disorder support groups -- young women will come out of isolation and connect with other women sharing tips that hurt vs. help.

Posted by anastasia at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You may have heard the word "mashup" in the news or in your house, especially if your teen is into music or spends a lot of time on YouTube. Mashups really started with music when DJs or hip hop artists would sample different tracks within a song (think P. Diddy's "I'll Be Missing You," which sampled "Every Breath You Take" from The Police) and evolved into DJs combining existing tracks from different songs and overlaying them (Danger Mouse: The Grey Album). The concept then extended into video where people would mashup different movie or TV clips together (see this Snakes on a Plane mashup). Even web applications are being mashed up. According to an article on Factiva, Google Maps has been mashed up with elements like celebrity sightings, warfare in the Middle East, fast food restaurant locations and much more.

To me mashups are like digital collages - mixing and matching different sources of media to create something completely new. I interviewed Dave Yanofsky, head of programming at Uth TV, a website where teens can upload video, artwork and photography, writing, and music for the final chapter of Totally Wired, which focuses on teens using new technology to create their own media. Yanofsky called mashups "the holy grail" in that "they speak to youth where their culture is -- mixing and mashing making it their own." He admitted that the challenge is "reaching teens who have a sense of entitlement that everything is in the public domain."

The reality is that most mashups are made with music, images or video that the creator doesn't have the right to use. Organizations like Creative Commons are actively encouraging musicians and videographers to put their work under a special license that allows people to legally play with it, remix it and mash it up on their site CCMixter. Some bigger artists like The Beastie Boys, Trent Reznor and Pearl Jam have also allowed their work to be remixed by fans. Even television networks like The N are now offering tools for teens to remix video clips from their favorite shows.

For teens mashups are an easy way to creatively express themselves with this new set of digital tools they have grown up using (the Internet and video or audio editing programs). It's a way to experiment with making music without having to play an instrument. It's also a way to pay tribute to their favorites artists. Instead of teens covering their notebook with pictures of their favorite bands, they can create a mashup of all their videos.

Check out the following programs and websites that are empowering teens to mash stuff up:

CCMixter
EyeSpot
JumpCut
The N Video Masher
YourSpins

Update: The Washington Post, reg. required, just published an article about mashups happening with Google Maps.

Posted by anastasia at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I will always fondly remember the afternoons I hung out at the Green Hills Mall in Nashville, TN - oggling Benetton sweaters I couldn't afford, drinking soda at the food court, and yes, smoking cloves in the bathroom. Teens and malls have always gone together like ruma ruma ruma (ok sorry) -- it's a rite of passage to be dropped off at a mall with your friends for a few hours to hang out. It seems that over the past several years, retailers have grown weary with teen antics at the mall. Hanging out has turned to "loitering" and teens are being kicked out or forced to have a parent accompany them.

This article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch describes the evolving dynamic between teens and malls:

"For half a century, malls and teenagers have gone hand in hand. Food courts, department stores and specialty shops have become the stage where the drama of adolescence plays out.

These days, though, the mall-teenager relationship appears to have fallen on rocky times. Retail centers across the country have become increasingly uncomfortable with the mall's serving as a teenage right of passage or de facto day-care center.

And some experts say that the feeling is mutual, with more young people looking to the Internet for social interaction."

It's true -- more teens are hanging out online on sites like MySpace. I write a lot about this in Chapter Three of Totally Wired, which focuses on social networking sites. These virtual hangouts are beginning to replace the mall as one of the few parent-free zones where teens can do what teens need to do to as part of the process of growing up -- hang out.

My friend and youth researcher danah boyd says it best:

"So what exactly are teens doing on MySpace? Simple: they're hanging out. Of course, ask any teen what they're doing with their friends in general; they'll most likely shrug their shoulders and respond nonchalantly with ‘just hanging out.’ Although adults often perceive hanging out to be wasted time, it is how youth get socialized into peer groups. Hanging out amongst friends allows teens to build relationships and stay connected. Much of what is shared between youth is culture -- fashion, music, media. The rest is simply presence. This is important in the development of a social worldview. For many teens, hanging out has moved online. Teens chat on IM for hours, mostly keeping each other company and sharing entertaining cultural tidbits from the Web and thoughts of the day. The same is true on MySpace, only in a much more public way."

Personally, I think more offline malls like The Lab and other hangout spaces (skateparks, all-ages shows, etc.) should be developed just for teens.

Posted by anastasia at 6:13 PM | Permalink

I first encountered email in college. It was a text based system called PINE. It was so new only a few professors dared to break out of their luddite stereotypes and actually try to use it. Then came the Web and AOL, where "You got mail!" became part of our vernacular and the pop culture (remember the Meg Ryan movie?). For Baby Boomers and Gen Xers (like me), email has become the primary way we communicate at work, keep in touch with friends and family. I still email my grandma up in Maine. Some emails are verbose, going on for paragraphs while others are one line. I remember someone at work telling me the higher up you are in the corporate world the shorter and less coherent your emails get.

For any parents or adults who want to communicate with a teenager using technology, don't use email. Teens don't check it that much. According to Extreme Tech, new research by Parks Associates showed that less than one-fifth of the 13-17 year olds surveyed profess to using email to communicate with friends, compared to 40 percent of adults aged 25-54. In fact, when teens do use email these days, it's usually to communicate with the adults in their lives. What they are using, at least to talk to their friends is instant messaging. They are also using text messaging on cell phones and internal messaging systems on social networks like MySpace or Facebook. They'll pick up email again when they enter the work world, but right now, it's the last thing they'll check.

One parent I interviewed for the book told me she texts her son and loves it -- especially when she needs him to pick up something at the store. I think texting your teen is a great way to keep in touch -- it's less intrusive than calling (which some parents will do while their teen is in class!), and will get you a response wherever they are vs. IM which only works when they're online. If your fingers get tired, you can always try using shorthand, but make sure your teen is using the same acronyms. TTYL.

Posted by anastasia at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

KAOL and Red now free (AOL's kids and teen services are now free for anyone to use as are their parental controls)

- Where do you not want your kids to go today? (Microsoft's new Vista operating system, set to launch next year, will have a big emphasis on parental controls) (San Diego Union-Tribune)

- Cellphones give UK parents peace of mind (a new study says parents reassured, like to call teens. Teens, of course, prefer to text their parents) (BBC)

- This might destroy that peace of mind ("Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety surveyed teens on their biggest distractions while driving and found cellphone texting at the top of the list.") (COX News Service)

- Reading a bedtime story (from your laptop...The International Children's Digital Library is working to create a digital library of children's books that will surpass 10,000 volumes by 2008.) (via Cool Hunting)

- Using the Web to create social change (teens are connecting with other teens around issues they care about online, and now there are sites devoted to helping them do just that) (USA Today)

Posted by anastasia at 1:18 AM | Permalink

I'm just going to reprint this press release straight up. It's a must-attend press conference in Second Life (which means most of us will probably wait and watch the Webcast....)

MacArthur Foundation Press Conference and Panel Discussion on Digital Media and Learning

Thursday, October 19, 2006
10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. ET
Second Life Venue: NMC Campus Amphitheater (113/97/26)
(NOTE: Please join "NMC Guests" group for access to Amphitheater)

Webcast Link: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=35992 (beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET)

Topic: Are kids different today because of their exposure to technology? What role do video games, cell phones and social networking websites play in the development of today's children?

On Thursday, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will make a major announcement that will generate a greater understanding of the impact technology and digital media has on today's youth.

You are invited to join the press briefing LIVE via Second Life or via a special Webcast. You can participate in this panel discussion with some of the greatest minds and most influential voices in the fields of technology, digital media, education and learning.

Panelists and influential audience members will include:

* Dr. Mizuko Ito, Research Scientist, Annenberg Center for Communication, University of Southern California , studying new media

* Henry Jenkins, Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide and Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture.

* Howard Gardner, the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

* Dr. Nichole Pinkard, Director of Technology and Research Associate, Center for School Improvement, University of Chicago, working to expand after-school media literacy programs

* Eric Zimmerman, CEO and founder, gameLab, working to develop new games to support media literacy and design skills in young people

Posted by anastasia at 8:25 PM | Permalink

I'm heading to Austin, Texas, on an early morning flight today to speak to 500 teenage girls (mostly juniors and seniors) at the Texas Conference for Women. I'm on a panel called "Your Life Online: Navigating in a technology-driven world."

I decided that instead of talking about online safety (which will be covered on the panel), I was going to focus on giving these girls (I'm told many will be low-income) an overview of how to use the Web to help with homework, college prep, finding scholarships and campus life. I threw together a page of links for these girls that I hope will be helpful. If nothing else, it's a starting off point for more exploration. I will leave this page up on Ypulse indefinitely so feel free to share it with your teen or any teens you know...

With all of the hysteria over predators and media coverage of teens behaving badly online, it's easy to forget there is so much that is positive about the Internet.

Posted by anastasia at 8:07 AM | Permalink