Blog
Harassment by Q&A: Initial Thoughts on Formspring.me
Questions-and-answers have played a central role in digital bonding since the early days of Usenet. Teenagers have consistently co-opted quizzes and surveys and personality tests to talk about themselves with those around them. They've hosted guest books and posted bulletins to create spaces for questions and answers. But when teens started adopting Formspring.me this winter, a darker side of this practice emerged. While teens have always asked each other crass and mean-spirited questions, this has become so pervasive on Formspring so as to define what participation there means. More startlingly, teens are answering self-humiliating questions and posting their answers to a publicly visible page that is commonly associated with their real name. Why? What's going on?… more
Very nice site!
The iPad and Generativity
Since the announcement of Apple's iPad, reactions to the device have been extremely polarized. While some people have been highly critical of the device, others have reacted positively. Still others have reacted first negatively then positively or, more disorientingly, both at the same time. A striking similarity of many of the most-cited negative reviews of the iPad is that they appeared before the reviewers ever had a chance to interact with the device. For both positive and negative reviewers, this approach made it much easier to praise or critique the iPad as an idea, rather than as a machine, and, in doing so, to imbue this idea with magical powers that are quite different from the physical reality of the device.… more
Jim,
Thanks for the link. This looks really interesting.
Recommended Resources from Global Kids
Editor's note: Global Kids each month points us to their current favorite resources. Please take a moment and share some of yours, too, in the comments section. Also, we always value knowing what the knowledge-hungry leaders at GK are reading, watching and listening to, but in the spirit of full disclosure want to acknowledge (and appreciate) that two items in this month's list involve our research director, Mimi Ito, and our supporter, the MacArthur Foundation. Topping this month's list: "Are Virtual Worlds Over?" a provocative blog post by digital games guru Raph Koster, who provides a mostly pessimistic but insightful piece about the future of virtual worlds.… more
Josh, Those are great additions! Thank you for taking the time to add those as well.
