ARTICLES: Average teenager has never met quarter of Facebook friends (UK)

The average 12- to 15-year-old has never met one in four of their "friends" on social networking websites such as Facebook, according to new research.

Telecoms and media regulator Ofcom's annual Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report also found that teenage girls are the UK's texting champions, sending more than 220 a week – a third more than boys.

The regulator's latest research revealed that 12- to 15-year-olds on average spend 17 hours a week on the internet, matching TV viewing for the first time, and that potentially well over a third of three- and four-year-olds use the internet for TV and games.

More than 40% of five- to 15-year-olds who have internet access have a social networking profile, rising to 80% among 12- to 15-year-olds.

The latter age group has an average of 286 online friends and 93% of them claim they are confident they know about online safety.

full article on The Guardian website

OPPORTUNITIES / CALL FOR VIDEOS: “Superheroes for Peace” competition

Are you a budding filmmaker, or simply somebody who is passionate about bringing about positive change in the world? Then why not enter the Encompass Trust "Superheroes for Peace" competition?!

Here at Encompass we believe that it is the little things that we do in life that make the difference. Whether it's giving someone a smile or helping a neighbour with their shopping, it's the little acts that make us all heroes in the global battle to bring world peace!

For the last ten years Encompass Trust has been working to create a network of superheroes to bring peace to the world, but we think there are more out there so we are launching a competition to find all those hidden heroes and heroines. We're looking for short films (1 min max) on the theme "Superheroes for Peace", to be screened at our film premiere event at Syracuse University London Campus on September 27^th.

The prize is an amazing Sony Bloggie MHS-TS20 8GB Touch Mobile HD Snap Camera video camera!

Maybe you've already got films on YouTube? Or perhaps this will be your first?

• The film can be recorded on your phone or video camera.
• The film can be fact or fiction, and of any genre whether that is comedy or drama, news programme or documentary.
• The film can be a cartoon or you can even use still images with captions.
• Check out our Facebook fan page to see films already entered!

Submission

If your film relates to Superheroes fighting for peace in some way, we'd love to see it. You don't have to be of a certain age to enter, this competition is open toall.

• Films can either be made by individuals or two or more people working as a group. They should be 1 minute max and the deadline for submission of the films is Monday September 10th.
• You must LIKE our fan page - - - https://www.facebook.com/encompasstrust2003 in order to submit your entry, by posting it on the page.

Prizes

The best film will win a Sony Bloggie MHS-TS20 8GB Touch Mobile HD Snap Camera and there will be 2 runners up prizes. The top films will be screened at our film premiere event in Central London on September 27^th.

Got a question?

Email aisha@encompasstrust.org if you have any queries.

PRESS RELEASE / VIDEO CONTEST / OPPORTUNITIES: Mulat Pinoy launches Facebook app for video contest (PHILIPPINES)

Sexual Health: Shout Or Shush?

Mulat Pinoy’s Third Annual Video Contest For The Youth

Got something to say about sexual health? Just log on to Facebook!

Young Filipinos interested in joining Mulat Pinoy’s latest video contest only need to get on their favorite social network to submit entries talking about teen pregnancy, sex education, sexuality, HIV/AIDS or whatever they might think is related to sexual health. With the help of IT company Brewed Concepts, Mulat Pinoy launched the Sexual Health: Shout Or Shush Facebook application on Friday, August 10. Through this app, users can submit their videos and view other entries. When public voting for the winners begins in November, Facebook users can vote through this app as well.

To join Mulat Pinoy’s video contest, simply follow these instructions:

1. Log on and Like the Shout or Shush Facebook page (www.facebook.com/shoutorshush).
2. Click the Shout or Shush app (beside Photos). Click “Go to App” and allow it to access your information and post on your Wall.
3. Your name and date of birth will be copied from your Facebook profile information. If you’re going to be over 30 years old by the time the deadline rolls in, you won’t be allowed to join!
4. Enter your address, contact number and email address. Make sure to read and agree to the Terms and Conditions before you click “Register”.
5. Submit your entry. You can upload a video, or hit “Record” to use your computer’s webcam to shoot video of yourself. You can preview the video before clicking “Submit Video”.
After you submit your video, a moderator from Mulat Pinoy will review the entry and approve it for viewing in the Gallery. Once your video appears in the Gallery, you can share it on your Facebook Wall!

Sexual Health: Shout Or Shush is open to all Filipinos aged 30 and below. Video entries should be no more than two (2) minutes long. Entries can tackle any issue related to sexual health, especially issues that are important to young Pinoys. The deadline for submission of entries is October 15, 2012.

For more information, visit www.mulatpinoy.ph and Like the Shout or Shush Facebook page (www.facebook.com/shoutorshush).

CONTACT:

Regina Layug Rosero, Mulat Pinoy Project Coordinator
Telephone: (02) 4330456
Email: regina@mulatpinoy.ph

Web: http://www.mulatpinoy.ph/
Email: popdev@mulatpinoy.ph
Facebook: Shout Or Shush
Twitter: @mulatpinoy #shoutorshush

Crackdown on online junk food advertising aimed at children say MPs

Junk food advertising on social networking sites and the internet should be controlled to prevent manufacturers from targeting children, according to a new report by MPs.

The Environmental Audit Committee has called for a clampdown on advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar to children as part of a strategy to combat soaring levels of obesity across Britain and encourage healthier eating choices.

They warn that many junk food manufacturers have turned to the internet and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to directly target children.

full article

RESEARCH / SOCIAL MEDIA: Youth sickened by social media (INDIA)

New Delhi, Jan 22: Youngsters in urban India have started experiencing social-media fatigue as excess use of these sites has started telling on their mental and physical health and even their professional, academic and personal lives.

The youngsters said they tend to log onto social networks like – Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Orkut, Linkedin, Myspace, Friendster, Hi5, BigAdda and others less frequently than earlier when they had initially signed up, according to a recently concluded survey carried out by apex industry body ASSOCHAM.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) conducted a survey under the aegis of ASSOCHAM Social Development Foundation (ASDF) to examine current usage trends vis-à-vis social networks among youngsters and time spent on these websites.

Majority of all the respondents said that compulsive social networking has led to insomnia, depression, poor inter-personal relationships, lack of concentration, high level of anxiety, ignorance and rudeness in their general behavior as they tend to replace real-life social interactions with online social media.

full article

SOCIAL MEDIA & CHILDREN: ICT Feature - Social media sites for your children

When we hear the term ‘social media sites’ we automatically think of Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. With some of the recent negativity surrounding social networking sites it’s no wonder that parents fear the worst when their children visit such sites. Yes, they can be useful for socialising, enhancing creativity and developing technical skills but according to a new report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, social media can expose children to inappropriate content and cyberbullying. So what is a parent to do?

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) prevents websites from covertly collecting personal information about children under the age of thirteen. Fortunately for mums and dads of tweens eager to update their status online, there are many children-friendly social networks available which offer far better options rather than banning your child from the Web. Parents can now adopt a different approach with their children; they can make the experience safer by directing their children to a number of child-safe networking sites. These are ten sites which aim to give children a voice but still allow parents to maintain control and peace-of-mind.

full article

Implementation of the Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU

NEWS: Facebook exposing children to online threats: EU survey

Social networking sites such as Facebook are not doing enough to protect children from potential dangers such as grooming by paedophiles or online bullying, European authorities said Tuesday.

Of 14 websites tested on behalf of the European Commission, just two - Bebo and MySpace - ensure the required controls to make sure "potential strangers" cannot gain access to profiles. "I am disappointed that most social networking sites are failing to ensure that minors' profiles are accessible only to their approved contacts by default," said European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes in a statement. T

he authorities in Brussels say the number of minors who use the Internet and subscribe to social networking sites is growing -- currently 77 percent of children aged 13-16 and 38 percent of those aged 9-12. Kroes said she will urge online social networking site owners to make the changes in a "self-regulatory framework" under discussion.

full article from AFP or here

ARTICLES: "Facebook Depression" Hits Children

Doctors need to start asking children about their social media use to screen for so-called "Facebook depression," according to the country's largest pediatrics group, drawing attention to a potential dark side of social networking.

"A large part of this generation's social and emotional development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones,” said Gwenn O'Keeffe, co-author of the AAP report. "Parents need to understand these technologies so they can relate to their children's online world -- and comfortably parent in that world."

"Facebook Depression” is said to arise from a failure to integrate into the social networking world that's become central in kid's lives. The symptoms are similar to classic depression, including changes to sleep patterns and eating habits, mood swings, and a sense of social isolation.

As younger children become more involved with social media, it raises a host of developmental questions that are just beginning to be explored. The impersonal nature of the medium enables bullying that has led to suicides, and studies have linked Facebook usage with lower grades and eating disorders. Children may also be exposed to inappropriate content and invasive advertising.

full article

NEWS / REPORTS / STUDIES: Arab Social Media Report released by Dubai School of Government

Dubai-UAE: 07 February, 2011- According to the inaugural Arab Social Media Report (ASMR), social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will continue to play a critical role in organizing social and civil movements in the Arab world, especially among the youth.

A team of researchers at the Governance and Innovation Program in Dubai School of Government has been monitoring the growth and usage trends of such tools in the Arab World in 2010. According to the Report, the penetration of social networking tools is soaring in the Arab world. The growth is highest among youth between the ages of 15 and 29, who make up around one-third of the total Arab population. The report states for example, that the total number of Facebook users in the Arab world has increased by 78 per cent, from 11.9 million in January 2010 to 21.3 million by December 2010, with 75 percent of the Facebook community in the Arab region belonging to this demographic and driving its growth.

full article

NEWS / IT: Region turns to Twitter to engage youth - New website survey is collecting feedback until Aug. 23

Posted By JULIE GRECO/QMI Agency

THOROLD — Niagara Region is turning to the internet and social media to engage local residents, and particularly youth, in its long-term planning process.

As part of its Sustainability Niagara Initiative, a new survey on the Region's website is asking residents for feedback on its developing vision for the next 50 years.

"It's important for us to take a long-range view to see the bigger picture of what we're shooting towards," said Kirk Weaver, director of community and corporate planning.

Eight one-minute videos have been posted to the site, highlighting the region's goals for a sustainable future. Topics include heath and security, economy, culture, learning and social development, infrastructure systems, agriculture and food, governance, ecosystems and natural areas, and built environments. Residents are asked to provide their input after viewing the videos.

"By making it available on the web, and you can see the people in the videos are students, we're trying to attract the young people that will hopefully be here 50 years from now, but not to the exclusion of others," said Weaver.

"We're also using Facebook and Twitter."

full article

STUDIES / RESEARCH: Ofcom’s annual Children’s Media Literacy Audit 2010 (UK)

A quarter of children aged 8-12 who use the internet at home say they have a profile on Facebook, Bebo or MySpace, new Ofcom research revealed today. These sites have a minimum user age of 13.

But 83 per cent of these children have their profile set so that it can only be seen by friends, and 4 per cent have a profile that can't be seen. Nine in ten parents of these children who are aware that their child visits social networking sites (93 per cent) also say that they check what their child is doing on these types of sites. However one in six (17 per cent) parents of this group are not aware that their child visits social networking sites.

Ofcom's annual Children's Media Literacy Audit provides an overview of media literacy among children and young people and their parents and carers.

The full news release can be found here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2010/03/nr_20100326a

The full Children's Media Literacy audit can be found here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/ukchildrensml/

NEWS / SOCIAL MEDIA: Maghreb youth join 'virtual community' (NORTH AFRICA)

2010-03-12 - The spread of the internet and the surge in social networking offer new opportunities for wider dialogue.

Rachid Jankari in Casablanca, Siham Ali in Rabat, Hayam El Hadi in Algiers, Jamel Arfaoui in Tunis and Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud in Nouakchott contributed to this report – 12/03/10

Social media is taking over the Maghreb.

"Facebook has become the only way that we can know what's going on around us," said Tunisian student Thamir al-Ayyadi.

Al-Ayyadi is one of a growing number of people worldwide who have come to rely on social media to find information and connect with others. Millions in the Maghreb are now using sites like Facebook and YouTube. Facebook, for instance, has 1.3 million users in Morocco alone.

full article

ARTICLES: Children's use of media

Quite a few articles on this lately, so here is a collection of some of them:

Youthful Exposure to Old, New Media Holds Promise and Peril

How young is too young for Facebook/MySpace?

Kids' use of entertainment media expands dramatically

Youthful Media Exposure Hold Promise and Peril

NEWS / SOCIAL MEDIA: Bulgarian youth protest online for education reform

Under the title SOS - Спаси Образованието Сега (SOS - Save Our Education Now), through websites and social media as well as real-world action, Bulgarian youth have been running a campaign for the re-organisation of the country's higher education.

"We, Bulgaria's youth, believe that real economic growth is a hostage of education. Our schools and universities have been held frozen in time, in a fictional world where quality, competition and efficiency are unknown concepts," organisers of the campaign said on the campaign Facebook page.

full article

NEWS / STUDIES / SOCIAL MEDIA: Survey: 58 percent of teens would consider access to social network sites when accepting job offer

Cynthia Dizikes - December 10, 2009

Forget health benefits and a 401(k). Fifty-eight percent of teens say the freedom to use social networking sites at work could influence their future job decisions, according to a recent survey by Junior Achievement Worldwide, an international youth education nonprofit group, and the accounting giant Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

The seventh annual Junior Achievement/Deloitte Teen Ethics survey found that while some organizations have implemented policies to curb social networking during the workday, more than half of the teens polled said their ability to access those networks could factor into what job offers they might accept.

"There is a clash between what the teens see as an extension of who they are, and what companies perceive as a possible risk," said David Miller, director of the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative, who helped develop the survey.

full article

NEWS / TECHNOLOGY / INTERNET: UK Teen ‘Schools’ Investors On Youth Media Preferences

UK Teen 'Schools' Investors On Youth Media Preferences

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 July 2009, 14:57 CDT

Matthew Robson is an average 15-year-old from the UK, but a major US bank in London is looking to him for advice.

In a research note written during work experience with Morgan Stanley in London, Robson described the current state of media through the eyes of a teenager, and influential people are listening.

Edward Hill-Wood, who supervised Robson during his work experience, referred to the report as "one of the clearest and most thought provoking insights we have seen."

The report depicts the way Robson and his peers consume media – from social networking to video games. One standard they abide by is that they do not want to pay for the media they consume, he wrote.

full article

RESEARCH: Nielsen: Kids spending more time online

Nielsen: Kids spending more time online

By BARBARA ORTUTAY – 22 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Young kids are getting online at a faster rate than their parents and older siblings.

A new study from Nielsen Online found that nearly 16 million U.S. children ages 2 to 11 were online in May. They made up about 9.5 percent of Internet users.

The youngest of the set — 2, 3, and 4-year-olds — probably aren't yet updating their Twitter accounts with 140-character messages, or posting quiz results to Facebook. Rather, they are sitting in a parent's lap in front of a computer, being exposed to the Internet that way, said Peter Grunwald, president of Grunwald Associates LLC, which specializes in researching kids and technology.

full article

OPINIONS: Twitter/Facebook: Time Well-Spent for Child/Youth Advocates?

Twitter/Facebook: Time Well-Spent for Child/Youth Advocates?

by Ray Schultz, Child Advocacy 360

This year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference drew standing-room only crowds to sessions on social media. But one question remained unanswered after hours of talk: Can Twitter and Facebook perform miracles for hardworking child advocates?

That’s dubious, based on the evidence.

Take the area of fundraising. “Very, very little money is raised through social networking sites,” says Mal Warwick, chairman of Mal Warwick Associates, an agency serving nonprofits.

His view is confirmed by research from the software vendor Blackbaud. Of the nonprofit groups with positive return on investment online, 63 percent use e-mail and 46 percent use social media. “Everything we’ve seen shows that e-mail has more proven value than social media,” says Allison Van Diest, senior product marketing manager for Blackbaud.

Nor are the social networks good for interaction with colleagues. Advocates typically use Facebook and Twitter “to communicate with a few of their friends, but not professionally,” Warwick says. And government employees, though part of many nonprofit constituencies, often lack “access to current technology or are limited by policy,” adds Nedra Kline-Weinreich, president of Weinreich Communications, an agency and consultancy.

Next is the issue of resources. Do your overworked staffers have the time to be tweeting people? And even if they do, can they write in the more personal tone required in social media?

full article

ARTICLES / INTERNET: Facebook Hits 200 Million Users; Launches Charities Page

Facebook Hits 200 Million Users; Launches Charities Page

Palo Alto, Calif. - Online social network Facebook has reached 200 million active users, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post on Wednesday. "Growing rapidly to 200 million users is a really good start, but we've always known that in order for Facebook to help people represent everything that is happening in their world, everyone needs to have a voice," wrote Zuckerberg.

To that end, the company launched Facebook for Good, a new page "where people can share their stories about how Facebook has helped them give back to their communities, effect change or connect with a distant relative."

It also partnered with 16 charitable and advocacy organizations, including Kiva, Unicef, Livestrong and American Red Cross, which have create virtual "gifts" that members can purchase and post on one another's profiles.

full article