Kids are remarkably bold when electronic gizmos veil their verbiage, whether it’s professing teen love on IM or mobile texting a current crush. Toss in new digital offerings like Loopt's buddy-tracking GPS, 3-D virtual avatars sidling up to each other to meet new ‘friends,’ MySpace Mobile and Business Week's latest article on mobile's massive growth, and … [Read more...]
I wrote "Counter-Marketing via Joe Camel" long before my middle-schooler was being enticed to enjoy Frapuccinos for coolness caché, or max out her prepaid Jamba Juice card with Banana Berry fulfillment, so it's interesting to see how peer buzz slides seamlessly through each age group. Guess I should be thankful she hasn't succumbed to the 'Pink Star' posse. That's … [Read more...]
Shaping Youth is all about using media’s magic as a counter-marketing tool, so when I find a new angle to reach kids I get downright giddy. Internet fodder may be spam to adults, but it’s entertainment to preteens who use ‘forward to a friend’ relentlessly to share silly jokes, ‘awww’-sweet animal poses, lucky chains, urban legends, and … [Read more...]
LibraryThing is an online hangout worthy of raves from both parents AND teens, vaulting social networking into one of the most promising, useful and entertaining web applications I’ve seen in quite awhile. It's the literary equivalent of Flickr for photo-sharing or del.icio.us for bookmarks and tags. You can organize your library, rate, review, tag, add friends, meet … [Read more...]
This is a first-person 'retro' piece which I've recently shared with Daughters bimonthly and decided to freshen with updated research & links to post here on our own blog. Enjoy!--Amy I’m not sure when the peer lunch box radar kicked in…It must’ve been sometime between first grade and second, concurrent with the “dresses are worn with shorts under … [Read more...]
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