Safer Internet Day 2012 (SID2012) serves as great opportunity to remind ourselves of the need to exercise a bit of caution as we traverse the wired side of life. What impresses me the most is the multi-lingual, multi-topic approach taken to spread the message of how to stay safe online.
Online Safety: Are bots in your twitter following?
Yesterday I had a an interesting sequence of events happen within my Twitter footprint that I had not seen previously. I had 11+ new followers, all who had over 100, some over 1000 followers. These new followers all arrived in my follower list in sequence over the course of the early morning. Each of these *individuals* had sent between 2-10 tweets, none of which were original content – all of them being RT (re-tweets) of pieces from trusted sources such as Mashable.
The Twitter handle/name had the format of “given name” + “3 to 5 random characters”. Click on the Figure-1 o the left to see all of these names which arrived in my follower list and you’ll understand the naming convention. Every single one of these names is a “bot” generated name.
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Trust: Bad things can happen to good children (online safety)
In David Schwimmer’s TRUST, bad things happen to Annie, a good child. She is by all appearances a typical teenager – totally wired, online and available, 24/7/365. In the physical world, parents see with whom their child interacts. As the parents witness this interaction they are able to help guide and influence their child’s choices. The number one rule for every family: “The child must not engage in any personal meetings with an individual whom they have only met online without explicit parental permission.”
Is your teen EXPOSED? Sexting is a crime.
Exposed is a 10 minute drama about a 15 year old girl called Dee, who makes a very common mistake of sending via (SMS – text messaging) five photos of herself to her boyfriend, nude photos. This is called “Sexting”
Bullycide: How many are too many?
… in 2010, by my count, 30 children ranging in age from 9-19 took their own lives as they were unable to cope with the bullying which they were being subjected. These families who lost their child …
How does my child access the internet? With whom is my child engaging?
A question which every parent should be asking themselves, “How does my child access the internet?” “With whom is my child engaging?” The array of answers may startle you. So make no assumptions. Why does it matter? Knowing how your child accesses the internet and with whom they are engaging are the first steps in crafting an online safety plan for your child. I have said it before and will repeat, our family is our responsibility.
Passwords – Creation & Usage – Online Safety & Security
Do you use a password? The evolution of online crime is as much about your password strength as it is about your password usage. If you use your strong password for shopping site A and then reuse the password for shopping sites B, C, D, E, F then you are basically saying to yourself – “I trust each of these sites to have the same robust level of security”
Bullycide – My Time Has Come and So I’m Gone
No doubt you are aware of the tragic loss of life which occurred in Cooperstown, North Dakota late last week, when 16 year old Cassidy Joy Andel, posted a disquieting message upon her Facebook page, “My time has come, and so I’m gone. To a better place, far beyond,” and then took her life, she hung herself. You see, she …