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Children tend to be extremely adoptive and great learners. They are innovative and they dare to try. Their whole being seems to be based on one thing only – to try out new stuff. Thus, there is no chock to any parents out there that most children outdo their parents when it comes to using computers – on- and offline.

The interest children (of all ages) put forward sometimes also turns in a bad direction. Children use Facebook and similar services to ditch out negative comments of classmates and friends. Comments like “You look like shit on that picture” may easily be perceived just a negative as a blow in the stomach out in the courtyard.

The question arises – what can we as parents do to avoid this? Three things come to mind:

1. Avoid all exposure to the ‘net and computers. Doable? Probably, but will be tough. Smart? Sure, if you want your kids to be left outside. Desirable? Not unless you enjoy sticking your head in the sand.
2. Leave the kids do whateva. Doable? Sure, just look the other way. Smart? Sure – just don’t act surprises when the police, child molesters and other visitors knocks on your front door. Desirable? Not if you care.
3. Be an active part of the experience. Doable? Might be hard, but absolutely! Smart? Obviously – it will require some investment in time on your part, but you will learn a lot of computers and the ‘net in general, you will learn a lot about your kid(s), and you may be able to share your opinions and common sense. Desirable? Well, if you need ME to answer for you, you may want to review the two other options…

 

So how can you take active part in the experience? In the workshops I run for parents, I make the parents come up a few simple rules. Usually these rules follow these lines:

1. Take active part – by asking questions and being interested. Try to follow the use of technology – even though it seems abstract and difficult. Some possible means:
1. weekly/monthly meeting to discuss what is going on
2. Contracts – kids love contracts – add some control, and make sure you include incentives!
2. Dare to ask questions if you do not understand what is going on. Also involve other parents.
1. “Do you know the real names of your friends on MSN?” This question gives you an idea if your kid chats with friends, and may help you determine that “Jon” really is a 45-year old child molester in your neighboring county.
2. How do you use “x” (insert Facebook, MSN, MySpace, or whatever you wonder about)? This question may help you understand what is going on, and how these tools are used – in positive and negative ways.
3. Do you know if anyone at your school/class/group has received any negative comments/mails/threats? This question may help you determine if harassment is taking place.
3. Take control. Make sure you and your kid understand that there are some rules, and that those rules are to be followed.
4. Allow for privacy. Make sure your kid (and yourself) realizes that although you need to have a certain control, he/she has rights to privacy. Thus, build a relationship based on trust. (See point 1.b above).
5. Encourage your kids to actively use the technology. Even if you do not understand it all (I know I don’t), you may still help your kid get the most of the ‘net by encouraging the use. Learn a few basic rules, like source control (i.e. the higher the number of sources on the ‘net, the higher the likeliness of the accuracy of the information), and that nothing is certain even if it says so on the Internet.
6. Be aware of privacy rights, copyright notices and user licenses. Many services are free in monetary terms, but you have to give up some rights (information, use of images etc).
7. Not only Gold is glimmering. Particularly true for younger kids – but the ads gets better every day. The point is to teach your kid to be critical, and not click on everything that seems cool/nice/shiny etc. Many security threats are installed simply by a click.
8. Keep updated. Make sure that your computer, your software and yourself is updated at regular intervals. Your computer and software have patches – very often automatic updates that you only need to enable. To update yourself, take active part. Spend some time every week to read and study the technology, discuss with other parents and teachers.
9. Use the technology – make sure to install and use the security software necessary. Firewalls, Antivirus, Antispam and similar tools are the bare minimum.
10. Enjoy! Have fun! This may seem opposite to the other rules – but if you are not having fun, what is the point?

 

Please contact the author with your comments – and feel free to add your own ideas and rules.

This weekend laugh is a bit out of the extraordinary. Not sure I like this Chris, but I must admit he has humor I can relate to. 

You have been warned - this weekends laugh is a bit different than the usual stuff. 

But I do believe that you will laugh as long as no one spots you! 

Dear anonymous (I would much rather prefer to say Dear John),

First - I post this as a blogpost instead of a reply to your comment on my post about Jamparii. 

Thank you for your input. As I know you are not only claiming to do what you say, but actually are trying to build your own tool for business networking, I would much rather that you did enter your own name, John.

However, what you are pointing at is true in all new ventures. It does take capital to build success. And there are several different paths to choose from. Jim has chosen one path, and John, you took another path.

My experience tells me that the path of money alone is not enough. To build a successful networking site, you need quality. You need content. You need active users. And you need a value proposition to your users.

Linkedin, Xing and Facebook are three successful networking tools, but they are very different. Ecademy and Viadeo are others. Myspace and Orcut are there too. Just to name a few of your competitors. They offer value. Distinctive value. And they have success. 

You need to present a clear value to me before I will even consider your new tool. No matter how you choose to finance you venture. Scam or not.

This is about risk as well. Do you have what it takes to break the bank? Did you consider all options? Have you done your homework, so you know how to position yourself?

What if you fail? What if it takes twice the time to break even? Or three times the time? What if you only secure half the funds you need? What if only one tenth of the required users actually signs up? 

So the question to you two competitors - do you have the BUZZ?

Social networks has taken over much of the communication and networking these days. By setting up one (or many) profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Xing, MySpace or any other tool out there, you get to share ideas, thoughts and images with your peers, friends and the public.

Somehow, a large number of people seems to forget the last word - public. Somehow, they expect to be protected against cut'n'past of questions, comments, images and profiles. Even though they put the information into these tools themselves.

Over at LinkedIn, there has been several discussions about privacy - or what people think is privacy. Ray van den Bel, a top-linkedIn and online strategist, has a problem with LinkedIn sending his public questions to his connections. Somehow Ray is confusing privacy with public information. He posted a question (several in fact) on the Answer section of LinkedIn - a public service. Then he starts complaining when LinkedIn sends his question to other LinkedIn users. Wake up Ray, there is two reasons to post questions on LinkedIn (and similar services) - to get answers from as many as possible, and to promote yourself.

 There are other discussions on the LinkedIn Answer covering the same thing - for example someone worrying about someone copying their answer and republish it somewhere else - on blogs, Digg etc. I mean, WAKE UP! You post your ideas, thoughts, answers ONLINE! And on a public website. Hey - you have NO control over that information. If you do not like that, then keep your comments to yourself. Or pick up the phone. 

Internet is transparent. It will become more transparent. You are responsible for your own actions, and need to be in charge. 

For your information - every answer you put on LinkedIn is publicly available. If you post someting on Xing, it is even indexed by search engines. Using CoComment? It is open for the public to subscribe to YOUR comments!

In this cyberworld, you need to recognize that everything is public. If you do not like it, do not use it. It may not be entirely like the toilet wall?

Discuss your view below! 

Somehow website owners believe that phishing is only targeting banks. Here is some news for you - when security tightens in one area, attachers are quick to find other sites and technologies to exploit. 

In March, a phishing attack targeted MySpace. It was clever, and used CSS to harvest user names and passwords from MySpace accounts. According to Google Security Blog, 95% of all new phishing traffic went to MySpace. 

Identity theft has been on the news for a while. TJX, CitiBank and many others have been exploited in the past. Facebook, LinkedIn and Myspace all adds to the information available. Combining the sources of information on search engines like Zoominfo and Naymz makes it so much easier to make a complete profile on just about anyone – and use that information in social engineering.