social networking – Page 4 – Media! Tech! Parenting!

digital parenting, family conversations, parents and technology, privacy

More on Facebook Privacy

Posted on February 26, 2011February 26, 2011 by Marti Weston

According to the LA Times Technology Blog, Facebook is again updating its privacy policies. The February 25, 2011 post, Facebook Rolls Out Test Version of Simplified Privacy Policy, describes how the company is testing a simplified, maybe even one-page version. The company will be seeking feedback from Facebook users.

Read the information about new privacy guidelines posted on Facebook’s site.

As soon as children begin using computers, parents can begin to introduce the concept of online privacy, and these conversations focusing on privacy and social networking should continue throughout a child’s pre-adolescent and teenage years. Ongoing discussions can help children understand the power of the digital footprints they leave as they engage in web-based work and play.

Other Places to Read about the Facebook Privacy Updates

Mashable
Wall Street Journal

digital parenting, family conversations, parent child conversations, parents and technology, social networking

Mrs. Obama Said No Facebook???

Posted on February 10, 2011March 1, 2015 by Marti Weston

Preteens are savvy media consumers, and among the kids I know there is significant buzz about Michelle Obama’s views on Facebook. “Pre-teenagerdom” is such a difficult and challenging time for parents and for the kids themselves. Many children want to hurry up and become teens and joining into social networking activities is one way to make them feel older and even wiser. Feeling and sometimes believing that your parents simply don’t understand technology is another way. So it’s a bit of a blow when the First Lady and First Mom — a person many of them admire — tells their parents to slow things down.

A Few Other Reports

digital parenting, parents and technology, privacy, social media, social networking, teens and technology

Facebook Privacy Settings: New Guide from Techlicious

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Marti Weston

Check out the Techlicious Facebook Privacy Guide, posted by Josh Kirschner on February 8, 2011 over at the Techlicious website.

Maintaining control over privacy settings is a required and critical technology task for each Facebook user. Since sharing information is one of Facebook’s primary missions, the company wants to collect and share as much personal information as possible with its advertisers. Facebook sets most new features to share data then when they first debut on the site, and to be fair, social networking is all about sharing information. Thus it is up to each individual to determine just how much information to put out there, making conscious decisions about what the world can see, what close friends can view, and what to keep private.

Our children and their friends are enthusiastic Facebook users, but they do not always focus on the need to pay attention, on a regular basis, to privacy settings. I’ve written many privacy posts on this blog including Getting Serious About Online Privacy and Keeping Track: Adolescents in the Digital Age, pieces that focus on the importance of maintaining family privacy when individual members engage in so many digital activities. Knowing the connection between many social networking sites and advertisers — and the impact it has on a user’s privacy — is critical for everyone, but especially for teens.

Continue reading “Facebook Privacy Settings: New Guide from Techlicious” →

digital devices and gadgets, digital parenting, parents and technology, risky behavior, scams and fraud

Technology Scams: An Overview

Posted on January 11, 2011January 11, 2011 by Marti Weston

In the digital era, parents need basic knowledge of online scams that have the potential to cause mayhem on a family’s digital devices

A quick and easy-to-read overview of potential online scams, Social-Media Scams Abound but They Can be Avoided, appeared in the Washington Post on November 14, 2010. The Kiplinger Personal Finance article, by Casey Mysliwy, goes over three types of malicious behaviors that can trip-up even the most savvy digital media users. If you missed this description of potential digital problems, take some time to read the article as well as share it with family members who computers, the web, or smart phones. The three potential scams are:

Messages that involve money transfers and seek personal information;
Applications that offer a quiz, game, or other method that encourage you to share personal details; and
Shortened URL (web addresses) that hide a destination’s true identity because the address is simply a group of characters.

You can also check out 5 Social Media Scams at the Norton AntiVirus site and New Jersey Officials Warn Residents About Social Media Scams at the New Jersey Today website.

digital citizenship, digital parenting, parent education, parents and technology, social media, social networking

Grandparents Are on Social Networks!

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Marti Weston

According to a December 15, 2010 USA Today article, people over age 65 are the fastest growing group of social networking users. Seniors Surge on Social Networks, by Janis Lloyd, described Generations 2010 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a report that examines the variation in Internet and social networking experiences among various age groups.

For adult children whose parents are older seniors, the Pew report presents fascinating data. “While the youngest generations are still significantly more likely to use social network sites, the fastest growth has come from internet users 74 and older: social network site usage for this oldest cohort has quadrupled since 2008, from 4% to 16%.” This change occurred between 2008 and 2010. What a great way for digital native grandchildren to interact with their grandparents.

The USA Today article also points out that the U.S. Administration on Aging has released a guide to help older people learn about life online, from joining social networks to hooking up to Skype and exploring Google.

You might enjoy reading this blog posting from a few months ago when I wrote about discovering how my mother, in her early 80’s, was using Facebook.

Yes, Grandma is on Facebook

digital citizenship, digital parenting, privacy, social networking

More on Facebook Privacy

Posted on October 13, 2010October 13, 2010 by Marti Weston

The blog Techlicious has a great posting on Facebook privacy updates, especially vis-a-vis groups that a user joins. In Facebook Groups and App Dashboard Provide New Privacy Features Josh Kirschner, offers his suggestions about how to set up private groups, and he also writes and embeds a video about the third-party dashboard that Facebook is rolling out.

Best, but not surprising quote, “… assume everything you post could become public at any time.”

When you talk about social networking, texting, and other digital activities with your children, you cannot use the word privacy too much in your conversations.