"I can’t think of anything that demonstrates the sovereign nature of the self better than a blog.” - Doc Searls
About the Author
Stowe Boyd is a well-known media subversive,
and an internationally recognized authority on real-time, collaborative
and social technologies. His new blog is Message.
Jupiter Research stats: "28% of teens keep blogs, the Web logs that are fast becoming a prominent alternative source of news and commentary, while only 16% of adults do the same." (reported here).
I caution against the support of teen blogging. Too many teens do not realize how widespread their musings will be cast, which causes 2 issues:
1. their level of empathy and understanding is still developing, which means that they could post things that become a permanent record, something they may regret later, even a few years later.
2. safety: just as we would not let our teenage children invite just anyone into our home, why would you let them have direct conversations with just anyone in the world? Email and IM already pose this issue, but interactive blogs take it to another degree.
I am not a (completely) paranoid parent, but I do want to place caution out there about things like teen blogging. Technology is moving faster than most parents can keep up. That doesn't mean we should stop it, but really have to understand what door is opening up here before our kids fall victim.
I don't agree. Mostly, teen blogging is just like teen IMing and teen telephone calls: it's a teen-to-teen phenomenon. I don't ascribe to fear-based policing of kids media diet, in general, and in specific, blogging is fairly benign.
Then you haven't spent much time watching kids IM and blog - I have. It's not like a phone call because strangers do not find you connected to the network and barge in on your conversation.
Not only that, but I have seen kids with more than 250 "buddies" on their list. When asked who each of them are, only about 35-50 are identifiable.
This is not fear-based policing, no more than wanting to follow who our kids are hanging out with at the mall and other public places. IM, blogging and email are public places, even if you are sitting at home.
I spend time helping parents deal with the issues that technologies introduce to their families. And I know that while the tools might be fun and sometimes useful, we still need to be watchful of how they are used.
Parents who care about their kids *do* "ascribe" to monitoring their media diet, from violent movies to songs with excplicit or violent content. Computer usage (IM, blogging, etc.) should be no exception.
THE NEW VISIONARIES: REBOOTING THE WEB
[Starting in January!]
BEHIND THE SCENES sponsored by GoToMeeting
› 24 Dec 2005: Behind The Scenes [next episode - postponed for Transit strike]
› 30 Nov 2005: Behind The Scenes at Behind The Scenes
› Many 2 Many -- Liz Lawley, Ross Mayfield, David Weinberger, danah boyd, Seb Pacquet
› Blogspotting -- Stephen Baker and Heather Green
› TechCrunch -- TechCrunch
1. Paul on April 7, 2005 11:33 AM writes...
I caution against the support of teen blogging. Too many teens do not realize how widespread their musings will be cast, which causes 2 issues:
1. their level of empathy and understanding is still developing, which means that they could post things that become a permanent record, something they may regret later, even a few years later.
2. safety: just as we would not let our teenage children invite just anyone into our home, why would you let them have direct conversations with just anyone in the world? Email and IM already pose this issue, but interactive blogs take it to another degree.
I am not a (completely) paranoid parent, but I do want to place caution out there about things like teen blogging. Technology is moving faster than most parents can keep up. That doesn't mean we should stop it, but really have to understand what door is opening up here before our kids fall victim.
My 2 cents...
Permalink to Comment2. Stowe Boyd on April 8, 2005 09:01 AM writes...
I don't agree. Mostly, teen blogging is just like teen IMing and teen telephone calls: it's a teen-to-teen phenomenon. I don't ascribe to fear-based policing of kids media diet, in general, and in specific, blogging is fairly benign.
Permalink to Comment3. pau on April 8, 2005 03:45 PM writes...
Then you haven't spent much time watching kids IM and blog - I have. It's not like a phone call because strangers do not find you connected to the network and barge in on your conversation.
Not only that, but I have seen kids with more than 250 "buddies" on their list. When asked who each of them are, only about 35-50 are identifiable.
This is not fear-based policing, no more than wanting to follow who our kids are hanging out with at the mall and other public places. IM, blogging and email are public places, even if you are sitting at home.
I spend time helping parents deal with the issues that technologies introduce to their families. And I know that while the tools might be fun and sometimes useful, we still need to be watchful of how they are used.
Parents who care about their kids *do* "ascribe" to monitoring their media diet, from violent movies to songs with excplicit or violent content. Computer usage (IM, blogging, etc.) should be no exception.
Permalink to Comment