SXSW: If Transporters Existed…

Anyway– Anyone going to SXSW this weekend?!!!!!!!

I’m not

Manuscripts, work, illness, and a wiggly dog’s knee surgery keep me in Chicago. I’d love to hear how it goes if anyone is willing to speak up!

Joi Podgorny (see my links –&gt is an expert in Online Communities and the head of our User Experience department, and she will be there, along with Shea Lutton (one of our tech gurus). We’re always interested in talking to ANYONE in the children’s entertainment/community biz.
We’ve got to stick together!

So please, look for Joi & Shea at SxSW… And have a great time!!!

Cell Phone Chat Rooms: Unmonitored youth

New cellphone chatroom attracts teen users
Lenina Rassool 20 June 2006

Teenagers are chatting up a storm unsupervised with an Internet chatroom program for cellphones that has rapidly swept through the country and gained 900 000 users in just over a year since its launch in May last year.News of the program has so far spread by word of mouth, although its growth is estimated at 6,500 new users registering per day, and the attraction, especially for teenagers, is the reduced cost of two cents a message.

Young users

Although chatrooms have been around for years on computers, they have gained a reputation as a gateway for paedophiles to gain access to unsuspecting children, resulting in the close monitoring of children’s Internet activities by parents.

However, with the onset of Internet on cellphones, the task has become much harder, especially as parents struggle to keep up with the advances in technology.

Statistics released by Clockspeed Mobile (now MXit), the company that developed the chat program, show that in January 2006, when their user base was 400 000, 45 percent of users fell into the 12-17 age group, with the 18-25 group making up the bulk of users at 50 percent.

Safety steps

Clockspeed Mobile themselves have taken steps to ensure safety in their chatrooms, and have posted a list of safety tips when users enter chatrooms, and on their website.

“However,” says Alex Meiring, the creative director and an original team member of MXit, “in the end it’s up to the parents to communicate with their children about using the technology responsibly.

“At the moment, we have profanity filters in the teen chatrooms that block bad language, and a report abuse function on our website where users can report bad behaviour,” he says.

“We’ve also started advertising with Childline and their number appears on the screen while users log in, but this is a work in progress, as we are busy developing a web interface where users can add Childline as a contact and receive counselling online.

“We also have a list of safety tips for parents whose kids use MXit on our website.”

Joan van Niekerk, national co-ordinator of Childline, adds: “One of the biggest problems with chatrooms is the fact that they (the users) don’t
know who they’re talking to.

“Although Clockspeed has been responsible in posting warning signs in the chat-rooms, there are still some children who will take chances by identifying themselves.

“The issue here is talking to children about the program,” says Van Niekerk, “and also more reaching out to parents about this technology. Developers of new technology need to take the responsibility of informing parents about the dangers.”

No harassment complaints have been made thus far.

“There are positives, though,” says Van Niekerk.

“Mxit has benefits, like having the news available, but parents need to take the initiative and monitor their children’s cellphone usage, which
is easier to do than with a computer, where they can erase the Internet history.”

IOL Technology - New cellphone chatroom attracts teen users

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! This makes me CRAZY! Joi found this article, sent it to me, and repeated “Izzy, this is in Korea, Izzy, this is in Asia.”

I can’t believe this is going unchecked. “Tips” and “hints” HA! Those get read AFTER the fact. They do NOTHING to stop actions before they happen. Monitors/screeners do that! And “filters”?! You think kids won’t figure out how to bypass those in an hour?

Sorry… it just infuriates me to see youth taken advantage of by companies with little/no social responsibility. Sure, the youth thinks its great– but they also think sticking paper clips in a light socket could be fun too (regular occurance in my high school growing up).

I can’t wait to see the stats on this– how many kids were abused? How many bullied? How many eventually give up their personal information? Those are going to be newsworthy.

I’m very much under the weather today (the eternal cold of misery). If anyone has any comments/viewpoints on this that I have completely missed, please- don’t hesitate from chiming in!

Club Penguin: Penguins like to Cheat?

With all the qualms parents have about the Internet, from worrying about sexual predators to whether their kids spend too much time online, here’s another one: It can teach them how to cheat.  At one increasingly popular site where young kids inhabit a fantasy world of penguins and igloos, some are downloading illicit software to stuff their virtual pockets with gold coins instead of earning their way fairly by playing games.  Across the Internet, blogs, message boards and even video clips on YouTube.com offer preteens tips and tricks on how to steal coins at
ClubPenguin.com or cheat their way to a higher salary at Whyville.net
[**note from izzy: apparently the article has their information regarding whyville wrong, thanks for the heads up, Jim Bower!**].

A simple Google search pops up hundreds of places to find such insights.

Over the last three months, cheating has become such a concern at Club Penguin that on Tuesday the Canadian company approved new guidelines banning the practice, said Lane Merrifield, co-founder and chief executive.

Cheating a real problem in Club Penguin’s virtual world | Chicago Tribune

Okay.  So it’s been a while since I’ve updated– I know I had mentioned I was going to update it sooner, but I thought I’d ride this out a bit.  CRAZY busy for me lately (had a manuscript to turn over in a week, and then another of edits/worry/self-inflicted stress.)

Anywhoo….. So, Club Penguin and cheating penguins.  Here’s a funny thing to note– wordpress allows you the opportunity to watch stats.  I can see what the search-words are that bring people to my wee little humble ablog.  You have NO idea how many people (I’m guessing kids) are searching for “Penguin cheats” or “Club Penguin tricks and cheats” etc.  It’s really a funny thing to watch.

I’m baffled by Club Penguin.  I feel like Club Penguin is to Disney as Nickelodeon is to Neopets. ack–meeting.  Write more later.

McGruff: the dog with Internet expertise

Online bullying, called cyberbullying, happens when teens use the Internet, cell phones, or other devices to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Cyberbullying is a problem affecting almost half of all American teens. Whether you’ve been a victim of cyberbullying, know someone who has been cyberbullied, or have even cyberbullied yourself, there are steps you and your friends can take to stop cyberbullying and stay cyber-safe.

National Crime Prevention Council — Delete Cyberbullying

McGruff and Ubu (as in “sit ubu sit, good dog”) were like THE celebrity dogs of Saturday Morning cartoons in the 90’s. I remember seeing McGruff everywhere.

I don’t really see him around these days as often, but it is great to see that trench-coat hound attempting to safeguard kids from cyberbullying.

Check out the NCPC’s page on Cyberbullying for tips on recognizing & preventing cyberbullying. Also, blogsafety.com has a great collection of information regarding the topic. Actually– if you go to ANY site for/about kids/teens/tweens, you’ll basically find someone and their opinions on cyberbullying. It’s one of those “hot topics” for teens online.

Understandably.

I wonder if it will be something that can be stopped? It’s great that there is advice and people are treating cyberbully-situations with this “it will happen, and here’s how to act” mentality. Knowing how to deal with the situation in crisis mode is very proactive.

My thoughts/worries stem around: how do you express to a classroom how IMPORTANT it is to understand cyberbullying. Not just to stop it, or see it… but understand it. WHY– beyond just the “mean” and the “hurtful” aspects. Cyberbullying can haunt the bully for a VERY long time. Yes, I know– it could haunt the victim too. But kids do stupid things, they SAY stupid things because they don’t understand the WEIGHT and GRAVITY of their actions– it’s part of the learning process they’re moving through.

I don’t know about you– but I learned some pretty weighty lessons when I was a kid. Like– don’t taunt a kid by calling him Stroganoff.

I was 12, and I was giving into peer pressure. I HATE that I participated in it. But– I learned a lesson about choices and reactions and how something as silly as calling someone a noodle-meat-dinner-dish could really affect another person. I cannot even imagine if that “situation” had broken onto the web– how QUICKLY it would have gotten out of control. We thought it was harmless fun, he didn’t, we realized it wasn’t harmless fun, we stopped– end of story. We never included anyone else from Junior High into that situation, but they would have GLADLY glommed onto it as quickly as possible.

Can you imagine involving an audience– as one could/would on myspace, youtube, bebo, etc?!

The cyberbully bullies. Either they’ll stop, or the mob will get involved– elevating the situation and masking the problem at hand. And things will go bad.

Now… say the bully learns a lesson. Don’t harass. That bully has evidence implanted on the web– for all the eyes of the world– to see his/her character at the absolute lowest.

People have second chances, right? Especially teens/tweens who are finding their moral compass. Well, that second chance is tarneshed a bit because they’ve tainted themselves in cement on the net.

Perhaps I am being too sympathetic to the bully. If anything– I just want people to point out that cyberbullying isn’t only harmful to the victim… but the bully too. In fact, anyone involved walks away tarnished.