By Lynette Owens
Week of June 23, 2014
FACEBOOK’S DISAPPEARING PHOTO SERVICE: Snapchat continues to bring on more competitors as Facebook launches its Slingshot app, which allows you to connect with phone contacts or Facebook friends and send photos that disappear shortly after they’re viewed. Unlike Snapchat, users have to send a photo in order to view a photo they receive. It’s a strange differentiator designed to encourage more sharing, and its popularity remains to be seen. I wonder if there is any more room for another photo-sharing app on kids’ phones, so we’ll be watching this closely. Still, we need to remind kids that regardless of a photo’s lifespan on a phone, it’s never really disappears – because some other tech can capture it or it lives on in people’s memories. Share, but share wisely.
SUMMERTIME TECH USE OUTDOORS: Educator Beth Holland provides 3 excellent ways to encourage kids to use tech this summer for both fun and learning. Holland writes “Rather than fighting students to relinquish their phones or tablets, what about empowering them to leverage the camera and GPS capabilities in order to extend their experiences?” A great question and even better recommendations that encourage and support healthy minds, bodies, and digital skills.
IS MY CHILD READY FOR A PHONE? : Before buying your child a mobile phone, there are a lot of things to consider. Larry Magid provides a great list of things to ask yourself before you say yes, and provides a link to ConnectSafely’s new Parents Guide to Mobile Phones.
See you next week!
Lynette Owens is Vice President of Consumer Education & Marketing at Trend Micro and Founder of the company's signature Internet Safety for Kids and Families program. With 30+ years in the tech industry, Lynette oversees global initiatives to help deliver the technology tools and education that people of all ages need to keep themselves and their families safe online. She serves on the advisory boards of the Identity Theft Resource Center's Alliance for Identity Resilience, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, and INHOPE.