Foursquare for Homework?

I just attended a talk by the co-founder/CEO of Foursquare - Dennis Crowley - who happens to look like Justin Bieber's older brother and is probably just as wealthy. For those not familiar, Foursquare is a location based social network that allows users to "check in" at various venues - bars, restaurants, the gym - and keep track of their friends' whereabouts. Users who check-in often can earn free drinks and other prizes and the person who checks in most frequently at any particular venue earns the title of Mayor.

The Techno Nag

In the 4 weeks my daughter was at sleep-away camp I received exactly two letters in the mail. I wasn’t sure how she would survive the no-technology policy at camp but it turns out that she survived pretty well. I’m the one that suffered from withdrawal.

Buzz: The Saga Continues

When Ruby saw that I had joined her Buzz network she wasn't happy.
“Stay out of my life.”
“But I’m dong research for my blog.”
“Go and practice on another kid then. You’re ruining my life!”

The Buzz on Buzz

I’m still persona non grata in my household after deactivating my 11-year old’s Facebook account but I’m beginning to think that I needn’t have bothered. It seems that Facebook is losing some ground to Buzz - Google’s latest foray into social networking. Ruby and her friends are swarming all over it. 

Homework Helper

It started innocuously enough with the back-to-school supply list for 5th Grade. It had only one item – a USB flash drive. “What a great idea,” I thought. “Ruby could transfer homework back and forth between home and school computers and, unless we inherited a dog like Marley, the classic ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse could never apply.”

Parental Lapse

In a moment of weakness today, I let my (younger than legal age) daughter create a Facebook account. I was on Facebook myself and had just read a post that my cousin-in law’s photos were featured in the New York Times.  I called Ruby over to have a look.


One thing led to another and then boom, the question I’d been dreading: “Can I have a Facebook account?” I knew the answer - “NO. Not until you’re legal and that isn’t until you’re 13” - but recently I’d been losing my conviction.  So many of her school buddies belonged that I was feeling that she might be left out (although that was likely me projecting my own insecurities). Also, I reasoned to myself, if I let her join I could teach her the rules while she’d still let me.

The Kid Talks Back

Ok, so you probably know who I am.  Ruby (a.k.a. the tween). Parents, it is ok to let your kids read this one. I have been meaning to write a post for a while and my mom wants me to do a book report on this book "A girl's smart guide to the internet." But I think I will get to that in another post (don't worry, I will have more posts). 

The Dog Ate My Homework

This morning I had to write the modern day equivalent of “the dog ate my homework” letter to Ruby’s home room teacher but this time the blame went to the internet. Or lack of it. Our connection went down last night throwing us both into a panic. I couldn’t access the recipe I was planning to make for dinner. Our Vonage phone line was down. But, most punishing (or rewarding) of all, Ruby couldn’t access her homework, which is posted daily to her school’s intranet site.

Facebook Tops 100 Million U.S. Users

Facebook has crossed the 100-million-user mark in the U.S. a week after announcing it had surpassed 350 million members worldwide. More startling, however, is the fact that if FaceBook were a country it would be the 5th most populous in the world.

According to Comscore, 52% of Facebook users are between 18 and 34 years old and 19% are 35 to 44 but what I really want to know is how many Facebook users are tweens (10 -12 year olds).