This may not be the Internet safety look-back on 2018 you’d expect. With all the news about data breaches, “fake news,” “tech addiction,” algorithmic bias, election manipulation, hate speech, etc., etc… It’s not a pretty picture. But it’s also not the whole picture. By definition, the news reports airline crashes, not safe landings. Even if […]
What cyberbullying is and why that matters
The Pew Research Center reported a surprisingly high figure for “cyberbullying.” The researchers report that 59% of US 13-17 year-olds had experienced some form of it. But it’s important to zoom in on the “some form of” part. Pew’s researchers asked their respondents which forms of abusive behavior they had experienced online (the 59% was […]
‘Momo’ & media literacy
Educators may be wondering about the latest viral media scare called “Momo,” so we’re here to help. Though it has been likened to the “Blue Whale game” of 2015-‘17, it doesn’t seem quite as viral—yet, anyway. But like Blue Whale, the very reason why it has affected a number of countries is that it’s really creepy, […]
The latest on teens’ social media use
YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are US 13-17 year-olds’ top social media picks now – at 85%, 72% and 69%, respectively. That’s according to the Pew Research Center’s just-released “Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018.” [The percentages add up to more than 100% because, as is well known, teens use multiple social media apps and services, […]
All this social media news: What just happened?
What the ongoing Cambridge Analytica story and last week’s congressional hearings with Facebook’s CEO are really all about is that everybody’s waking up to the meaning of “big data.”