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  Florida Teachers Barred from Friending Students on Facebook

  JP 1:43 am on August 21, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Florida (10), Lee County, lee county florida, nbsp (1,691), Networking (65), networking web site, Read (1,473), social networking sites, Web (76)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking, Back to School

  

  School officials in Lee County, Florida have issued a new set of guidelines for the upcoming academic year. This go-round, they’re cracking down on Facebook.

  As the AFP reports, the newly published protocol explicitly warns district teachers against interacting with their students via social networking sites, in order to avoid the kinds of legal or professional pitfalls that have plagued so many. “It is inappropriate for employees to communicate, regardless of the reason, with current students enrolled in the district on any public social networking Web site,” the guidelines read. “This includes becoming ‘friends’ or allowing students access to personal Web pages for communication reasons.” The guidelines also warn against posting personal information or photos, and now prohibit educators from posting any information about their students.

  Continue reading Florida Teachers Barred from Friending Students on Facebook

  Florida Teachers Barred from Friending Students on Facebook originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Brazilian Kidnappers Use Social Networking to Locate Victims

  JP 1:44 am on August 8, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ap notes (2), Boston (14), brazilian authorities (2), kidnapping (2), nbsp (1,691), Paulo (2), Read (1,473), social networking sites, Web (76)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  As we’ve reported before, thieves, scammers and other charlatans sometimes find their targets on Twitter and Facebook, especially when the soon-to-be victims post innocent status updates like, “My 18 HDTVs will be so lonely in my unlocked house while I’m on vacation for the next month,” veritably inviting criminals to track them down. Now Brazil’s favorite crime-sport of kidnapping has been thrown into the mix, as ransomers have taken to social networking sites to find valuable abductees. (So we’re not crazy for thinking that a new Brazilian marketing campaign that will plaster your photo and a map of where you live on the Internet is a scary, stupid idea.)

  The AP reports that nine people were arrested as part of a kidnapping ring last week in São Paulo. Investigators had been searching for a 19-year-old kidnapping victim, and tracked his seqüestradors‘ communications in order to find him. As part of their larger MO, the nefarious group would scour the social Web for potential victims, searching for postings about luxury cars, houses and vacation plans. After assessing a ransom based on those postings, they would then locate where the victim worked and hung out. The AP notes that Brazilian authorities wouldn’t say how many people the ring had kidnapped, or how long it had been operating. [From: Boston.com]

  Brazilian Kidnappers Use Social Networking to Locate Victims originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Brazilian Kidnappers Use Social Networking to Locate Victims

  JP 1:44 am on August 7, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ap notes (2), Boston (14), brazilian authorities (2), kidnapping (2), nbsp (1,691), Paulo (2), Read (1,473), social networking sites, Web (76)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  As we’ve reported before, thieves, scammers and other charlatans sometimes find their targets on Twitter and Facebook, especially when the soon-to-be victims post innocent status updates like, “My 18 HDTVs will be so lonely in my unlocked house while I’m on vacation for the next month,” veritably inviting criminals to track them down. Now Brazil’s favorite crime-sport of kidnapping has been thrown into the mix, as ransomers have taken to social networking sites to find valuable abductees. (So we’re not crazy for thinking that a new Brazilian marketing campaign that will plaster your photo and a map of where you live on the Internet is a scary, stupid idea.)

  The AP reports that nine people were arrested as part of a kidnapping ring last week in São Paulo. Investigators had been searching for a 19-year-old kidnapping victim, and tracked his seqüestradors‘ communications in order to find him. As part of their larger MO, the nefarious group would scour the social Web for potential victims, searching for postings about luxury cars, houses and vacation plans. After assessing a ransom based on those postings, they would then locate where the victim worked and hung out. The AP notes that Brazilian authorities wouldn’t say how many people the ring had kidnapped, or how long it had been operating. [From: Boston.com]

  Brazilian Kidnappers Use Social Networking to Locate Victims originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Social Networking Most Popular Activity Online, E-Mail Going Mobile

  JP 1:44 am on August 7, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: drastic increase (2), facebook (320), nbsp (1,691), Networking (65), online (28), Read (1,473), social networking sites

  Filed under: Cell Phones, Web, Social Networking

  

  Ever wonder what Americans are doing during those countless hours that they sit in front of a computer screen? Turns out that, more than anything else, they’re getting their Facebook and Twitter on. According to Nielsen, a good 22.7-percent of time online is spent on social networking sites. That’s a drastic increase from June of last year, when a reported 15.8-percent of time online was spent social networking. Surprisingly, Americans spend more than twice as much online time being “social” as they do playing games, which is the second most popular activity and takes up 10.2-percent of our time online.

  Since last year, the big losers are e-mail (which now accounts for only 8.3-percent of online activities), portals and instant messaging, all of which have seen significant decreases in usage, as evident from the chart above. Time spent e-mailing has decreased by 28-percent, indicating that perhaps Facebook and Twitter may be replacing AIM and Gmail as the communication method of choice on the Web. However, since Facebook and MySpace essentially have built in e-mail and IM clients, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate “social networking” from other online activities. But e-mail still reigns king when it comes to the mobile Web; when people are out and about, social networking plays a distant third fiddle. [From: Nielsen]

  Social Networking Most Popular Activity Online, E-Mail Going Mobile originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Social Networking Most Popular Activity Online, E-Mail Going Mobile

  JP 1:44 am on August 5, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: drastic increase (2), facebook (320), nbsp (1,691), Networking (65), online (28), Read (1,473), social networking sites

  Filed under: Cell Phones, Web, Social Networking

  

  Ever wonder what Americans are doing during those countless hours that they sit in front of a computer screen? Turns out that, more than anything else, they’re getting their Facebook and Twitter on. According to Nielsen, a good 22.7-percent of time online is spent on social networking sites. That’s a drastic increase from June of last year, when a reported 15.8-percent of time online was spent social networking. Surprisingly, Americans spend more than twice as much online time being “social” as they do playing games, which is the second most popular activity and takes up 10.2-percent of our time online.

  Since last year, the big losers are e-mail (which now accounts for only 8.3-percent of online activities), portals and instant messaging, all of which have seen significant decreases in usage, as evident from the chart above. Time spent e-mailing has decreased by 28-percent, indicating that perhaps Facebook and Twitter may be replacing AIM and Gmail as the communication method of choice on the Web. However, since Facebook and MySpace essentially have built in e-mail and IM clients, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate “social networking” from other online activities. But e-mail still reigns king when it comes to the mobile Web; when people are out and about, social networking plays a distant third fiddle. [From: Nielsen]

  Social Networking Most Popular Activity Online, E-Mail Going Mobile originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Facebook Has No Effect On College Grades, Study Finds

  JP 1:46 am on July 17, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: college (5), college gpa, college grades, nbsp (1,691), Networking (65), Read (1,473), social networking sites

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  

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  If your college GPA has been plummeting in recent semesters, you might legitimately blame the slide on drugs, sex or the occasional rock and roll. You best think twice, though, before fingering Facebook. According to researchers from Northwestern University, compulsive use of social networking sites has virtually no effect on academic performance when compared with other variables like gender, ethnic background or parental education. In a recent study titled ‘Predictors and consequences of differentiated practices on social network sites,’ researchers found that social networking did little to affect the discrepancies they already uncovered across gender and ethnicity, although time spent on sites like Facebook or MySpace did wipe out the grade differential between students whose parents were college educated and those whose weren’t. As ars technica reports, the study finds that, in some controlled circumstances, social networking actually has a positive effect on GPA.

  While researchers were willing to admit that Facebook could legitimately distract many students from studying or finishing problem sets, such negative effects seem to have been outweighed, or at least canceled, by the positive. “The positive relationship between web-use skills and GPA may illustrate that students who have better online skills can draw on their Internet savvy to aid in their schoolwork,” the paper reads. “[E]ngaging more intensely with [social networking sites], in particular, shows no relationship to our outcome variable of academic achievement.”

  Continue reading Facebook Has No Effect On College Grades, Study Finds

  Facebook Has No Effect On College Grades, Study Finds originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Feds Bust Social Network for Child Porn Collectors

  JP 1:46 am on May 30, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: child pornography (2), federal prosecutors, nbsp (1,691), network (5), Read (1,473), Social (40), social networking sites, U.K. (37)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  Niche social networking sites are a dime a dozen these days. If you’ve got an interest, chances are you can find a social network dedicated to it. Apparently, that even extends to disturbing and illegal hobbies, like collecting child pornography. Working in conjunction with local police departments, federal prosecutors have broken up one such network, leading to the arrests of more than 50 people so far.

  At one point, the site boasted more than 1,000 users trading explicit images of underage girls and boys. Accessing the network required a membership and password, and accounts were tightly controlled. In order to join, new members needed to be sponsored by existing users, and then others had to vote on whether or not to allow the person membership. It also featured a hierarchical structure that granted extra permissions to users who had attained the rank of “trusted member,” “grand master,” “moderator,” and “administrator.” At the top of the pile was the “root administrator,” alleged ringleader Delwin Savigar, who is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence in the U.K. for sexually assaulting three underage girls.

  Continue reading Feds Bust Social Network for Child Porn Collectors

  Feds Bust Social Network for Child Porn Collectors originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 28 May 2010 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Apparently 'Huge Numbers' of Birth Parents are Hunting Adopted Children Online

  JP 2:02 am on May 26, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: birth (3), birth parents, facebook (320), guardian reports (3), nbsp (1,691), Read (1,473), social networking sites, U.K. (37)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  Trend story or bona fide trend? The Guardian reports that the birth parents of adopted children are flocking to Facebook to locate and contact their descendants. The article claims that, at least in the U.K., two-thirds of adopted children are removed from their birth parents due to abuse or neglect; and now “huge numbers” of adoptive parents are reporting that their children are being contacted by those birth parents via Facebook.

  But, the article also acknowledges that “there are no reliable estimates of how many children have been contacted using social networking sites.” The writer cites a few examples, including a 16-year-old girl who received a message from her abusive biological mother that caused her to feel “a whole range of emotions.” Another boy met up with his birth father, who had physically abused him in the past, after the father contacted him through Facebook. Interestingly, the article doesn’t quote any of the reactions from the children themselves. (And yet its headline — “Adopted children face anguish as birth parents stalk them on Facebook” — would make you think otherwise.)

  Continue reading Apparently ‘Huge Numbers’ of Birth Parents are Hunting Adopted Children Online

  Apparently ‘Huge Numbers’ of Birth Parents are Hunting Adopted Children Online originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 25 May 2010 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  U.S. Soldier Taunts Iraqi 'Terrorist' Children in Facebook Video

  JP 2:02 am on May 26, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Alaska (2), facebook (320), Fairbanks, huffington post (12), nbsp (1,691), north carolina tv, Read (1,473), Robert A. Rodriguez, S. Soldier, social networking sites, U.S. (109), U.S. Army (3), video (28)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  A U.S. soldier stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska could be in hot water over a video posted on his Facebook page. According to the Associated Press, Specialist Robert A. Rodriguez is under investigation by the U.S. Army, and was recently ordered to remove the 30-second video, which featured an unidentified voice asking two Iraqi children if they were going to grow up to be terrorists, if they were gay and if they would do certain sexual acts. As of now, it’s not clear whether or not Rodriguez shot the video. Of course, this comes at a bad time for the Army, the Pentagon just unblocked social networking sites for stationed soldiers at the beginning of March.

  You can watch pieces of the clip along with a report from the North Carolina TV station that discovered it in the video after the jump. However, be warned that even an edited version of the clip is disturbing. Even if Rodriguez didn’t shoot the video, posting the clip is still deplorable for somebody who’s representing our country in a foreign land. [From: AP/Huffington Post]

  Continue reading U.S. Soldier Taunts Iraqi ‘Terrorist’ Children in Facebook Video

  U.S. Soldier Taunts Iraqi ‘Terrorist’ Children in Facebook Video originally appeared on Switched on Tue, 25 May 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  Quick, Panic! All Social Networks Give User Info to Advertisers When You Click Stuff!

  JP 1:47 am on May 26, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: controversial approach, nbsp (1,691), Read (1,473), Social (40), social networking sites, user (5), Wall Street (30), wall street journal (11)

  Filed under: Web, Social Networking

  Much of the recent news surrounding online privacy rights has focused on Facebook, which has come under fire for its controversial approach to automatically spreading user information across the Web. According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, though, Facebook’s not the only social network surreptitiously sharing information with third-party sites and corporations.

  As the Journal reports, Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, Digg and other social networking sites have been automatically feeding user information to advertisers, despite public guarantees that consumers would retain ultimate control over their personal data. When a member clicks on an ad, many social networks send his or her user name or ID number to the third-party marketer — without consumer consent. Depending on what you publish to your profile, that ID number could reveal your real name, age, hometown and occupation.

  Continue reading Quick, Panic! All Social Networks Give User Info to Advertisers When You Click Stuff!

  Quick, Panic! All Social Networks Give User Info to Advertisers When You Click Stuff! originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 21 May 2010 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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