Age of Conversation & Kids: Digital Citizens v Snark Tanks

May 26, 2010 When I mention social media being part of kids’ identity, parents often cringe and squinch up their faces like I’ve force fed them BeanBoozled Jelly Bellies in pickle and ‘rotten egg’ flavor. Some parents perceive social media to be one behemoth danger zone of Facebook/Formspring/Game Chat/Text-fest "words that wound"---injuring kids like drive-by hit-n-run … [Read more...]

Youth Advice Slinger With A Story to Tell: Josh Shipp

June 8, 2009 One week ago today I watched Josh Shipp, a guy who self-defined as a high school class clown with hair that “looks like a chia pet” open the Ypulse Youth Marketing “Mashup” as keynote speaker. Josh Shipp is the kind of guy who charismatically creates a following like the Piped Piper, and ends up senior class president on a lark (he used the slogan “Shipp … [Read more...]

Are “Game Cheats” a Misnomer? Kids, Ethics & Virtual Worlds

Yesterday I had yet another mondo three-hour lunch with Michael Carter, PhD, mastermind of informal learning and Chief Playwright at cool new upstart virtual world Zookazoo. (feature forthcoming on their eco/animal endangerment efforts in their inspiring tween world soon!) As I was recapping the Ypulse Mashup session on kids’ virtual worlds, we zinged off on a variety … [Read more...]