And a child shall lead them
There is a disturbance in the Facebook force. An uproar over the redesigned Live Feed/News Feed pages on its uber-popular website.
Of course, like anything on Facebook, when people get upset about something they start a group. In this case, it’s the “CHANGE FACEBOOK BACK TO NORMAL” group and it boasts more than 1,500,000 members.
Who’s in charge of the group? A 14-year-old from Apex, NC near Raleigh named Jonathan Woodlief. His parents had no idea until reporters started calling the home to talk with the boy.
He actually didn’t start the group, but noticed it didn’t have an administrator so he “clicked a button” to make himself the admin.
It’s just another in a line of controversial choices by the powers-that-be at Facebook. Facebook contends that it made the changes in response to feedback from its users.
Some have posted workarounds for the new reality, but nothing makes it like it used to be exactly.
The only thing certain in the social media world is change.
Miss Manners for the Tech Set
Wired’s August cover story is “How to Behave: New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans.” It takes a scientific look at how people should respond to new social situations we find ourselves in thanks to the rise of social networking and the like.
The authors interviewed social psychologist, anthropologists and others to get a real look at how we can translate human social behavior norms into the new paradigm. For example, just as apes have a social hierarchy so should we –the article suggests we translate the rules to “friend” our boss but not our boss’ boss.
Some samples of the new etiquette rules are:
- Don’t lie with your Facebook photo.
- If you can’t buy it online, feel free to BitTorrent.
- Don’t hesitate to haggle on Craigslist.
- Don’t Google-stalk before a first date.
- Never broadcast your relationship status.
- Texting in the company of others is OK.
- Never BCC anyone.
- If your call drops, call back.
- Don’t blog or tweet anything with more than half a million hits.
New College Job–Twintern
Social networks are changing our lives and they are also changing the jobs we do. Enter the twintern or the intern whose job is to update the company’s Twitter page.
Pizza Hut’s twintern spends the day updating the company’s posts, monitoring comments and keeping an eye out for mentions of the company on other tweets. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
As someone who used to work in a PR department and who had the job of keeping an eye out for mentions of the company, I know how time consuming these tasks can be. As new outlets for media are formed (from Facebook to Twitter and You Tube) the work multiplies. Companies are smart to find extra hands to do the work but as one article online wondered, is it a good idea to put an intern in charge of your company’s message in such a popular forum?
Who knows what jobs will be available by the time my children are entering the workforce–Facebook relationship manager, Cloud computing Czar, Twitter analyst . . . and a million more I can only dream of.
My Secret Circle for Girls
Tween clothier Justice is launching a new girls-only social networking site–My Secret Circle.
With a nod to Internet cautious parents, this site is the “only secure social networking site for girls.” Designed for girls 8-12, the site is a place where they can create private friendship circles without the advertising and exposure of other social networking sites.
An access key gives your child access to journal, instant message, share pictures and even voice chat via the site. She adds her “real-life friends” to her circle via access keys that are generated based on her own password key.
Access keys and chat head sets are available for purchase but there are no other additional fees or subscriptions required.
Is your family ignoring each other?
A new report suggests that families are spending less time interacting and technology may be to blame.
The study by the Annenberg Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California polled 2,030 people ages 12 and up, found that
“28 percent of Americans it interviewed last year said they have been spending less time with members of their households. That’s nearly triple the 11 percent who said that in 2006.”
The study didn’t blame Internet social networking sites but the change has coincided with the rise of sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Of course, I know families who feel better connected because of technology and many parents who find texting with their children a great way to stay in touch with their day-to-day life.
What do you think? Has technology made your family spend less time together or more?
You Diligence
Finding it difficult to keep up with all of your child’s social networking pages–like MySpace and Facebook. Worried about what people might be discussing or posting on his page? Afraid your child may be being bullied but won’t talk to you about it?
YouDiligence is a new service that allows you to receive emails when pre-selected words are used on your child’s social network account page. For example, words referring to weapons/violence, drug use, bullying, obscenity, slurs, or sexually explicit languate can be screened for. You can also add personalized words or terms.The service is customizable to allow for differing levels of parental comfort.
When one of the terms appears on your child’s page, you recieve an email containing the word, the context in which is it used and a link to the page where it appears.
To use the service, you must know your child’s login information and have been friended by them on the applicable website. YouDiligence encourages parents to have open communication with their children and to set boundaries and discuss that you reserve the right to check their pages if you find something troubling.
Another service is the SlangSpotter e-newsletter which helps parents stay up on the latest slang terms to maintain your “POS” position (Parent-over-shoulder).
Of course, there will be parent who wonder if this is an invasion of their child’s privacy to which the site responds:
Q: Is this violating my child’s privacy?
A: All of this material is being posted on the internet by your child and his/her friends. Anyone can gain access to it. With incidents popping up weekly from bullying, to fighting, to sexual predators coming after unsuspecting tweens and teens, it only makes sense to review their internet activity, especially in a responsible way like this. YouDiligence is effective and efficient, and will alert you to when you need to go take a closer look at your child’s site
Remember that what you child posts on the Internet is out there forever, for everyone anyway. At least if they think you might be watching they will think twice about what they post.
The service runs $9.99/month or $14.99 for a family plan.
Organize your PTA sign-ups and more with Center’d
Center’d is everything you need to plan your next school book fair, lunch helpers or class party.
Coordinate with their easy-to-use templates or customize your own to avoid all those endless chains of emails where someone inevitably falls out of the loop.
See who has signed up for what and what still needs to be done all in one place. Also, include event descriptions, maps and contact info.
They have templates for field trips, preschool class parent sign-ups, book fairs and more. You can save your contact lists, too.
Finally, you can work smart, not hard. I’m definitely sharing this with my son’s preschool.
Found via Cool Mom Picks
Another Facebook Update
Just a quick update on the Great Facebook Experiment:
- I now have 112 friends
- The first girl I ever had a crush on has found me. Too bad she’s married…
- What am I supposed to do when somebody buys me online drinks? WHat the hell is a Lil Green Patch? And I don’t even want to know about “kidnapping” or “poking”.
Seriously folks - exchaging vacation pictures is one thing, but sending imaginary farm animals to someone crosses a whole new line…
Just Another Face In The Crowd
One friend said it’s like Internet crack, and I’m afraid she may be right. My name is Chris, and I am a new Facebook addict.
I’m hoping the feeling will pass soon, but for now I can’t wait to see who my new friends are, what old high school classmates look like now and who is going to write on my wall.
My favorite feature so far are the status updates. By far the coolest updates are from a friend who is a missionary in France. He posts things like “I’m packing for a trip to Basque country.” I also like all the applications you can add to your page. I’ve just gotten started, so I know there is much to explore.
I know I’m a little late getting on the Facebook train, but better late than never.
Like all things in Internet land, there are good and bad things about being on Facebook. Be sure to check out the privacy options and set them at the level you are comfortable with. It’s great to find people you want to be in touch with, but not so great to find those you don’t.
Facebook is the personification of 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon/Separation. It is amazing how interconnected we all are, and what a genius idea to link us in this way.
What is a “Friend”?
So, as part of the grand experimment in social networking, I’ve been on Facebook for over a week. I have 32 “friends”. Some of those people have over a hundred Facebook friends. I know for a fact that hese people aren’t nearly that popular away from their PC.
In the “real” world, friend is not a term I throw around lightly. Friendship implies trust, camaraderie, shared interests and ideals. A friend is someone you want to spend time with. Someone you can count on when you need them. Somebody you could ask when you need a ride to the airport (OK - some friends believe that the airport run goes beyond the bounds of friendship). In the real world, if you asked me how many friends I have - not acquaintances, not poker buddies - actual friends - I’m pretty sure the final count would come in well under my 32 Facebook friends -and the Facebook friend requests are still pouring in. I should hit 50 by the end of the week. Because of Facebook is the word Friend losing it’s value?
Of my gang of 32, I initiated 4 - and those were nieces and nephews with whom I actually would like to stay in closer contact. Beyond that - some folks who reached out to me included my sisters, close friends and a few business acquaintances.
Then it gets interesting - I did indeed hear from first and second cousins. A high school acquaintance I have not been in touch with since the day we graduated. A friend of my nieces. My buddy’s ex-wife. A former co-worker who had moved to Costa Rica (and I’d never noticed!). I was invited, by someone I’d met twice in Nassau, to join a Facebook group for Bahamas Local Businessmen. Huh?
And the one-line status updates continue to baffle me. People are “drinking beer”, “getting excited about the weekend”, “torturing my cat” and the very post-modern, self-referential “checking my Facebook”. Stay tuned for more breaking news - someone may water their plants…
