Social Networking and Internet Safety Information for Parents

An Interesting Way to Quit Your Job

Happy Friday, everyone!  And happy Labor Day in advance.  I have to admit, I feel extremely fortunate to have a career that I'm passionate about.  I look forward to coming into the office every day, and I look forward to meeting new people who feel the same way.  But I know that in today's world, it's a rare thing to LOVE your job.  And for Jenny, it seems that this was exactly the case.  

The Direct Relationship between Parenting and Cyberbullying

There’s no doubt that the heartbreaking story of Phoebe Prince startled parents all around the country.  As people read magazines and watched the news, they learned just how severe cyberbullying can be—and unfortunately for Phoebe Prince, her story became the mainstream example.

Because cyberbullying is such an important issue to tackle, I’ve dedicated an entire section of my blog to covering it from many difference angles.  I’ve described to you in detail what cyberbullying is and what you can do to lessen the chances of it happening to your own children.  Interestingly enough, a recent article in Scientific American pointed out that there’s yet another layer to cyberbullying—one that deals with the authoritativeness of parents and how it can possibly determine the way a child handles cyberbullying both mentally and physically.

Facebook Places – How to turn it off

After reading my first post on this topic, many of my friends on Facebook came forward and asked me what they can do with their account settings to protect themselves and their children.  In this blog-post sequel, I will try to provide parents with somewhat of a solution, as well as address a few more concerns that I have with Facebook’s new GPS application, Places. 

A Response from the CEO of Face.com – And My Questions for Him

The CEO of Face.com—the company behind the facial recognition software that I discussed in yesterday's blog post—responded to my post with a comment.  Here’s what he had to say:

Facial Recognition Tech May Pose Some Serious Threats to Online Privacy

Once in a while, I come across a news article that leads me to believe that things may be getting better in the world of online privacy.  I’ve read and blogged about conferences where lawmakers and website CEOs have come together to discuss outdated privacy laws, and ways to amend them.  I’ve also shared with you tools created by Internet-safety advocacy groups or businesses that help protect your children from malicious content on the Internet.  But when I come across articles like this, I can’t help but feel as though an optimistic future for online privacy, particularly for our children, is being pushed further beyond our grasp.   

How Risky Is Your Digital Behavior?

I was browsing Linda Criddle’s Online Safety blog when I came across this interesting tool.  It’s a Digital Privacy Quiz created by the ACLU.  Essentially what the quiz does is show you the impact you have on your privacy when you use every-day digital technologies like email, social networks, or even your cell phone. 

The Internet's Most Precarious Celebrities

Letting our guard down is the last thing we want to do when it comes to searching around on the Internet.  Whether we’re searching for entertainment like fashion or music, or something more serious like answers to health questions that we may have; it’s always a crapshoot as to what we’ll come across in our search results—especially if we don’t take full advantage of safe-search settings like the one you’ll find in Google. 

Facebook Places – A Great Tool or A Stalker’s Best Friend?

Possibly feeling out of the loop when it comes to GPS locating features like the one you’ll find in the 2 million-member-social-networking site, Foursquare, Facebook has officially released their version of the service, called Places.  The feature is available to Facebook users in the U.S., and just like Foursquare, Places allows users to post their exact location based on their cell phone’s GPS.