Category: electronic communication

Posted in digital citizenship, digital parenting, electronic communication, online tracking, parents and technology, privacy

Big Tech Thinkers Talk About Privacy

Posted on by Marti Weston
Sherry Turkle’s 2012 TED Talk

NPR’s All Tech Considered blog has posted a thought-provoking piece on privacy (February 29, 2012).

In New Ways to Think About Online Privacy, Nina Gregory shares what she heard at TED Long Beach where some major technology thinkers and innovators (some speakers, some attenders) shared their thoughts about what Gregory calls “privacy hygiene” (and about what they might be teaching their kids about the subject).

You may not have heard of some of the companies represented, but the thoughts about privacy are worth reading.

In Gregory’s article read about the thoughts of: Continue reading “Big Tech Thinkers Talk About Privacy” →

Posted in digital parenting, electronic communication, family conversations, parents and technology, social media, social networking, teaching digital kids

Twitter Stats for the State of the Union

Posted on by Marti Weston

Politico, a Washington weekly newspaper that meticulously covers all things political, published this nifty Twitter graphic illustrating the tweeting environment during 2012 State of the Union (SOTU) speech. The data collection begins around 9:05 and continues until 10:40 eastern time. President Obama entered the chamber around 9:05 and the Republican response ended around 10:40.

The infographic includes a huge amount of data, illustrating the times (and issues), when the frequency of #SOTU tweets went up, and other hashtag (#) topics that people included in their tweets.

Twitter’s infographic illustrates an enormous amount of social networking activity. Use it as a classroom or dinner table conversation topic. providing a glimpse into real-time civics and history.

Posted in cell phones, digital devices and gadgets, electronic communication, gadget ownership, parents and technology

Why People Purchase SmartPhones for Themselves (and their Kids?)

Posted on by Marti Weston

The December 6, 2011 ComScore Data Mine features this interesting data chart that graphs the reasons that people purchase smartphones. The leading reason?
People appreciate the convenience of smartphone ownership. Is staying in instant communication with kids one of these conveniences?

The challenge for parents when they purchase these gadgets for kids?  Balancing appropriate use with convenience. Read the MediaTechParenting family mobile phone contract.

Check out graph and explanation at the ComScore site.

Posted in electronic communication, family conversations, interesting research, online research, parents and technology

The Global Economy, My New iPhone 4s, and Grandpa’s Voyage to America

Posted on by Marti Weston

If I had any doubt about the efficiency of the global economy, it was put to rest these past three days as I watched my new iPhone 4s traverse the world via Fed Ex, from Shenzhen, China to my front porch in northern Virginia, USA.

The iPhone began its journey on November 2nd, though allowing for time zones and the international date line, it was probably still November 1st where I live. Nevertheless, after it left China the package made intermediate stops in Hong Kong, Anchorage, Alaska, Memphis, Tennessee, and Dulles, VA, before being loaded onto the Fed Ex delivery truck in Alexandria, VA and arriving on my front porch in the early afternoon of November 4th. The package spent the most time standing still at the Fed Ex hub in Memphis, where packages accumulate all day and then fly out at night to destinations around the United States. Continue reading “The Global Economy, My New iPhone 4s, and Grandpa’s Voyage to America” →

Posted in digital parenting, electronic communication, parents and technology, privacy

Online Privacy for Kids: FTC Requests Comments

Posted on by Marti Weston
FCC, another agency, provides this publication on net safety, and privacy. (Free)

Parents of digital kids will want to keep abreast of proposed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revisions to online privacy regulations that, if implemented, would increase and expand online privacy protections for children. The changes will alter the  Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

A September 16, 2011 press release from the FTC announces the proposed regulation changes and seeks comments from the public. The increasing use of mobile devices by children is one reason the agency believes that changes are necessary, and the expanded regulations would add locational data as additional personal information that needs to be protected.

Three Proposed Changes

1. Notify parents in advance if their children’s personal information is collected and may be used or sold.

2. Encourage the development of better parental consent methods, using any  developing technology that might improve how parents are contacted and ask for consent. Stop using the e-mail-confirmation method. Continue reading “Online Privacy for Kids: FTC Requests Comments” →

Posted in digital citizenship, digital parenting, electronic communication, media literacy, parents and technology, social media, social networking

Young Social Media Users Support the First Amendment

Posted on by Marti Weston
Click to view this image, by Column Five Media, depicting survey results.

Via Milwaukee Journal Online, an interesting article, As Social Media Grow, So Does First Amendment Appreciation, describes research conducted by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The foundation has taken four surveys, beginning in 2001, to learn more about what high school students know and understand about the First Amendment of the Constitution. (Read the First Amendment here.) The Knight Foundation website explains how that group got started with this work

… after surveys of American adults conducted by The Freedom Forum showed that even modern-day support for the First Amendment is neither universal nor stable. In the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, support for the First Amendment plummeted. Suddenly,  the nation was almost evenly split on the question of whether or not the First Amendment “goes too far in the rights it guarantees.’’ Continue reading “Young Social Media Users Support the First Amendment” →

Posted in cell phones, copyright, digital photography, electronic communication, plagiarism, resources to read, setting technology limits, tech free time, writing for the web

9 Family Digital Citizenship Tips: Back-to-School Reading #5

Posted on by Marti Weston

The beginning of a school year is a good time for families to set limits, explain rules, and in general, clarify expectations about technology use. Getting started in the fall, when everyone is off to a new grade and a fresh beginning, encourages healthy tech habits.

Depending on the age of your children, you may want to accomplish some or even all of the tasks on this list, encouraging everyone to think responsibly and become committed digital citizens.

Nine Back-to-School Technology Tasks

1. Place computers in central, well-traveled locations — away from bedrooms and private spaces.

2. Be sure adults, not children, are administrators on the computers and devices in your  home — including laptops and other digital devices.

3. Print and post rules and expectations next to each computer. Specify the times when you do not want your children using computers. Emphasize that your family rules are in effect when children go to a friend’s house. Share my digital citizenship poem that highlights issues to consider. Continue reading “9 Family Digital Citizenship Tips: Back-to-School Reading #5” →