Saw the movie "Catfish" last night which is purportedly based on true events. That controversy aside, it was interesting to see supposed sophisticated social network participants experience 'eye-opening' events.
It reinforces that even the most experienced social networkers are capable of being fooled. If people like this are fooled, what chance do our young teens stand on the networks?
Internet Safety and Reputation Management
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sporting News: Saving Schools from Social Media Catastrophes
In the wake of the Fox News channel segment on UDiligence, Chris Littmann of the Sporting News blog wrote about our service. Mr. Littmann keyed in on the core value proposition of how UDiligence helps Universities protect their Reputation. He comments about how the public service we provide might not be exactly how some old-school administrators wish to spend part of their budget, but how in the long run it is probably a wise investment.
His piece captures and balances both the value of UDiligence and the perils that await the Reputations of Universities who ignore the wild side of social networking.
His piece captures and balances both the value of UDiligence and the perils that await the Reputations of Universities who ignore the wild side of social networking.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Founder on Fox News
Kevin Long, the YouDiligence founder, made an appearance on Fox News today. Fox News was following up on another story done by the Daily Missourian regarding our work with the University of Missouri Tigers football team.
A lot of the points Kevin makes in the Fox segment about how we help student athletes applies to our work helping parents with kids active on social networks. Check out the news segment here:
A lot of the points Kevin makes in the Fox segment about how we help student athletes applies to our work helping parents with kids active on social networks. Check out the news segment here:
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Inspiration from Madeleine and Anna Quindlan
One never knows where inspiration is going to come from. I got some from an unusual source the other night: an essay on the Madeleine children book series, "Mad about Madeleine", written by Anna Quindlen (which I have not been able to find published on the web in a cursory search).
But toward the end of the essay, Ms. Quindlen writes the line, "Children prize both security and adventure, both bad behavior and conformity, both connections and independence." To me, this is a perfect encapsulation of childhood, and especially the journey through the tweens and teenage years toward adulthood and independence.
From the outside, I am sure I was perceived as adventuresome, independent, non-conformist and a bit of a troublemaker. But this is not the real story. The real story involved a real daily tension between all the opposites listed in Ms.Quindlen's lines. I had a real pull toward security, conformity and connections on a daily basis, and I am sure my journey was more the rule than the exception.
This idea mirrors the concept of all of us having a nature half monster and half angel. And this nature is why YouDiligence is important for parents. Even the best behaved kids will have episodes where they are pulled off their good behavior axis. In other words, good kids have a daily struggle being good--it is hard to be good all the time.
The YouDiligence platform recognizes this daily struggle. YouDiligence platform also recognizes that independence is very important to all kids. We designed YouDiligence explicitly to respect this fact, and to try to create a platform that could simultaneously respect kids' privacy and give parents the peace of mind in knowing that their kids have a safety net for those times when the kids are not behaving as appropriately or safely as parents would hope,
But toward the end of the essay, Ms. Quindlen writes the line, "Children prize both security and adventure, both bad behavior and conformity, both connections and independence." To me, this is a perfect encapsulation of childhood, and especially the journey through the tweens and teenage years toward adulthood and independence.
From the outside, I am sure I was perceived as adventuresome, independent, non-conformist and a bit of a troublemaker. But this is not the real story. The real story involved a real daily tension between all the opposites listed in Ms.Quindlen's lines. I had a real pull toward security, conformity and connections on a daily basis, and I am sure my journey was more the rule than the exception.
This idea mirrors the concept of all of us having a nature half monster and half angel. And this nature is why YouDiligence is important for parents. Even the best behaved kids will have episodes where they are pulled off their good behavior axis. In other words, good kids have a daily struggle being good--it is hard to be good all the time.
The YouDiligence platform recognizes this daily struggle. YouDiligence platform also recognizes that independence is very important to all kids. We designed YouDiligence explicitly to respect this fact, and to try to create a platform that could simultaneously respect kids' privacy and give parents the peace of mind in knowing that their kids have a safety net for those times when the kids are not behaving as appropriately or safely as parents would hope,
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
FCC Chair Genachowski on Youth & Surge in Media Consumption
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said some interesting things at the recent Kaiser Family
Foundation event exploring media usage by young people.
The chairman, who worked to implement the Children's Television Act as a top FCC staffer in the 1990s, said the release of the study underscores the FCC's effort to update that act for the digital age--it launched an inquiry in October. "When I think about the challenges, I think about more screens, more time in front of screens, and more dangers from both."
He said the changes in technology and the media marketplace can "inform changes in policy going forward, so that we have, at the end, an ecosystem of policy, technology and economics that really serves kids and honors the First Amendment at the same time."
Balancing these factors will be the crux of the matter moving forward, and it is incumbent upon all technology developers and providers, especially in the internet safety field, to pay special attention to this balancing act.
Foundation event exploring media usage by young people.
The chairman, who worked to implement the Children's Television Act as a top FCC staffer in the 1990s, said the release of the study underscores the FCC's effort to update that act for the digital age--it launched an inquiry in October. "When I think about the challenges, I think about more screens, more time in front of screens, and more dangers from both."
He said the changes in technology and the media marketplace can "inform changes in policy going forward, so that we have, at the end, an ecosystem of policy, technology and economics that really serves kids and honors the First Amendment at the same time."
Balancing these factors will be the crux of the matter moving forward, and it is incumbent upon all technology developers and providers, especially in the internet safety field, to pay special attention to this balancing act.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Addiction to Facebook
It seems that Facebook has truly relegated MySpace to the wilderness. Social Networking essentially means Facebook at this point. MySpace is an afterthought for the great majority of people.
One of Facebook's important strategic decisions was to early on promote Facebook applications, that gave users the ability to perform a multitude of activities that was in a constant state of growth, but that didn't require growing Facebook resources. All they had to do was oversee and manage the process.
There was an article in Naperville Sun-Times today that explored the concept of addiction to Facebook. There are no similar discussions surrounding MySpace, in part because the activities on MySpace are still fairly limited.
One of the better quotes from the article:
"Oswego High School freshman Sara Rozhon told me she spends about two hours a day on Facebook. 'I'm addicted. (Without Facebook), I probably would have straight A's in all of my classes, and more of a life.' Rozhon does admit, 'I honestly think that without the distraction, my life would be easier.'"
One of Facebook's important strategic decisions was to early on promote Facebook applications, that gave users the ability to perform a multitude of activities that was in a constant state of growth, but that didn't require growing Facebook resources. All they had to do was oversee and manage the process.
There was an article in Naperville Sun-Times today that explored the concept of addiction to Facebook. There are no similar discussions surrounding MySpace, in part because the activities on MySpace are still fairly limited.
One of the better quotes from the article:
"Oswego High School freshman Sara Rozhon told me she spends about two hours a day on Facebook. 'I'm addicted. (Without Facebook), I probably would have straight A's in all of my classes, and more of a life.' Rozhon does admit, 'I honestly think that without the distraction, my life would be easier.'"
Sunday, January 3, 2010
LA Times Editorial Stance on Cyberbullying
The LA Times had an interesting editorial the other day against schools enforcing anti-cyberbullying activities for actions taken off of school grounds.
The arguments of the editorial "Schools should not be responsible for policing Cyberbullying" definitely have merits from a legal standpoint. What is not discussed in the editorial is the fact that a huge amount of cyberbullying and bullying in general activities of kids have their genesis in the school setting, and therefore to some degree they bear some responsibility.
So rather than hiding behind legal frameworks, schools should be doing everything in their power to fight against bullying and cyberbullying. They should be empowering teachers to crack down forcefully on bullying within their hallways--which inevitably lead to cyberbullying outside their hallways.
The first line of the editoriaI is "Parents, not schools, are the first line of defense against cyberbullying." While this is true, it is by no means the entire story. Schools need to do everything they can to help parents in this regard. Take the example of Ryan Halligan--I know that Ryan's father did what he could to help and protect his son. It is adding cruelty to injury to suggest that he should have done more. There are far too many stories like those of Ryan Halligan, and as a society, we should be thinking of ways to prevent these tragedies rather than focusing on legal merits.
The arguments of the editorial "Schools should not be responsible for policing Cyberbullying" definitely have merits from a legal standpoint. What is not discussed in the editorial is the fact that a huge amount of cyberbullying and bullying in general activities of kids have their genesis in the school setting, and therefore to some degree they bear some responsibility.
So rather than hiding behind legal frameworks, schools should be doing everything in their power to fight against bullying and cyberbullying. They should be empowering teachers to crack down forcefully on bullying within their hallways--which inevitably lead to cyberbullying outside their hallways.
The first line of the editoriaI is "Parents, not schools, are the first line of defense against cyberbullying." While this is true, it is by no means the entire story. Schools need to do everything they can to help parents in this regard. Take the example of Ryan Halligan--I know that Ryan's father did what he could to help and protect his son. It is adding cruelty to injury to suggest that he should have done more. There are far too many stories like those of Ryan Halligan, and as a society, we should be thinking of ways to prevent these tragedies rather than focusing on legal merits.
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