Hey folks. Here is the text from a pres release for a new online service
addressing Internet safety. I have a few more comments below the press
release.
Press Release
July 11, 2006
Contact: Larry Magid larry@larrymagid.com or
Anne Collier anne@netfamilynews.com
Blog Safety, A Social Network for Parents Concerned About Social Networking,
Goes Live with Support from Leading Social-Networking and Internet Companies
Non-Profit Project is Backed by AOL, Bebo, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5,
LiveWorld, MySpace, SixApart/Livejournal, Tagged, and Xanga
Palo Alto, CA--We've all seen reports about the dangers of social networks,
but there's no need to panic there is a need to get discussion going, say
the directors of BlogSafety.com, a highly interactive Web site from the
founders of SafeKids.com and NetFamilyNews.org. The site includes expert
advice plus an interactive forum for parents grappling with ways to help
their teens safely enjoy this new always-connected world of "Web 2.0."
BlogSafety is a not-for-profit project of the tax-exempt Tech Parenting
Group supported by a consortium of the leading social-networking and
Internet companies: AOL, Bebo, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, LiveWorld,
MySpace, SixApart/Livejournal, Tagged and Xanga.
"These companies," said BlogSafety advisory board member and Mayo Clinic
professor Dr. Daniel Broughton, "have put aside their competitive
differences to support an essential cause: protecting children through
education and awareness." Dr. Broughton, cofounder and director of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is joined on the
advisory board by the leading social-networks researcher Danah Boyd (UC
Berkeley), veteran Connecticut youth officer, Det. Frank Dannahey, and
software pioneer Daniel Bricklin.
While it has kid-tech news and regularly updated expert advice, the site is
far more than an informational resource. At its core is an interactive forum
where parents, teens and experts can discuss the impact on kids of this new,
user-driven phase of the Web, and vice versa. "It's a social network about
social networking and family technology," said co-founder Anne Collier. "A
vibrant discussion is already under way with parents, teens and experts
mixing it up daily," she added. Besides, said co-founder Larry Magid, "why
should kids have all the fun?"
In addition to financial support, sponsors have agreed to assist parents who
post questions in the forum by providing BlogSafety staff with direct access
to key support personnel so that parents' questions and concerns can be
addressed promptly.
The site is hosted pro-bono by LiveWorld, a leading provider of
private-label online community and social-networking sites for major brands
worldwide such as eBay, HBO, MINI Cooper and TV Guide, The LiveWorld
platform includes the same interactive technology and moderated format that
these and other corporate clients use to keep visitors engaged and coming
back. "Over time, the site will add blogging, polls, and other
social-networking features that the platform supports," Magid said.
BlogSafety.com is co-directed by technology journalists and Internet safety
experts Larry Magid and Anne Collier, co-authors of the soon-to-be released
MySpace Unraveled: What It Is and How to Use It Safely (Peachpit Press, July
2006). Magid is technology analyst for CBS News and an occasional columnist
for the New York Times. Collier is editor of NetFamilyNews.org, the leading
source of family-tech news.
My comments: Anne and I have been communicating for years. I highly
recommend that you sign up for her weekly newsletter NetfamilyNews. She does
an excellent job keeping up on current topics related to youth Internet use.
I have appreciated Larry's writings for years and recently had the
opportunity to meet him. We all were together at a recent meeting in DC
hosted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on social
networking communities and youth risk. I also had the opportunity to hook
Anne and Larry up with Ann Flynn, director of Technology and Learning for
the National School Board Association. We all had dinner together on my
birthday. I am going to be working through NSBA to offer some online
classes.
I am also going to be on the Advisory Board for BlogSafety. One of the key
things I like about Larry and Anne are their commitment to collaboration. I
know they would welcome the presence of educators in the BlogSafety
community. This is also a resource that you can refer parents to knowing
they will receive excellent, quality guidance.
Please feel free to forward this message to other individuals and lists.
Nancy
--
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
http://cyberbully.org
nwillard@csriu.org
Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
Cruelty, Threats, and Distress, a resource for educators, is now available
online at http://cyberbully.org.
Coming soon: Cyber-Savvy! (subtitle not yet decided) A book on Internet
safety and responsible use for parents and other adults who care about kids.
A Jossey Bass publication.
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