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Across the nation, millions of young people are lying about their ages so they can create accounts on popular sites like Facebook and Myspace. These sites require users to be 13 or older, to avoid federal regulations that apply to sites with younger members.

The pros and cons of young people using social networking sites took on a whole new meaning for me (and this is news item was about 13-17 year olds -- not younger) when I saw this article in today's NYT: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/after-rapes-involving-children-skout-a-flirting-app-faces-crisis/?ref=todayspaper Yikes.

This is all very scary, my nephew is 11, but has had a facebook account for almost 2 years. Granted he is only friends with kids in his school, and family members, but he is so computer savvy, I not sure my sister can really know who he is talking to. I don't know what kind of families his friends come from, and if he is allowing contact from "friends of friends". When Wiklund said "This is my worst fear." he is not being over-dramatic; it's appalling that people seek out ways to abuse materials to get to children. It is going to have to fall on the shoulders of parents, to really know what their children are up to at all times. This is sad because you can't just let a kid go out a ride their bike all day, all around town, like I used to, however this also means that they're spending more time indoors, and on the computer, which we know is also not safe....it seems like there is not right answer for parents.

I have never played WoW, but I do enjoy the idea of playing a game while simultaneously adopting or constructing a new persona or identity as part of the game. WoW and other online MMOs have vast communities with diverse members interacting in various online social setting both within and outside the game realm. I have a particular interest in the way that social media and technology shapes and affects the construction or reconstruction of "our" identities, and how intertwined much of our lives are with the technology we use.

I've never played WOW either but I do buy into the whole idea of an online identity. Non-gamers create one, too, by way of social networking sites--LinkedIn, facebook, Myspace--and some via usernames on online messageboards. It's possible to have several different online identities; the clean and presentable one you use to promote yourself to employers and work colleagues on LinkedIn, the slightly more laid-back Facebook profile, and with the promise of anonymity on message boards and forums, you can really let loose!

My husband and I have spent hours upon hours playing Everquest, so I know first-hand the draw of creating an online persona/identity. It's a way to step out of your everyday life and become someone or something you aren't. For instance, in one game I'm a Dark Fairy with magical powers. Who wouldn't want to be one? It's also a way to have relationships with people all over the planet without giving too much away about your true identity, so the draw for those that are less than comfortable in real-life situations is huge. Not to mention you learn all kinds of things about different areas of the world, so it's a learning experience too!

Duolingo's premise is quite simple. How do you get people to translate the web for free? Their answer is to turn it into an experience that is part game, part language instruction, and all ambitious crowdsourcing.

I have a friend who wangled an invitation to Duolingo, and she loves it. If I wasn't at library school, and had a life, I'd play with it too. Here's a TED talk about Duolingo and CAPTCHA http://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html

Yeah, I managed to get on the program. It's fun; feels like I'm playing a game.

The Torch Each year, FIRE'sCampus Freedom Network honors students who do outstanding work to promote liberty on their campuses. This year, we are pleased to honor Bryant Jackson-Green , Casey Given , Moriah Costa , and ten other students who earned spots in the CFN's Prometheus Society . This is a website to check out. There are many things to say about the site and the work that it does, but it is better to explore it for oneself. It demonstrates how technology and social media can be put to use to better and further one's education while defending individual rights and liberties. Technology is put to use to rally for various causes impacting education.

Anything that has firefly and Neil Gaiman involved is OK by me :) I wish we had something like this in my country - recent legislative changes mean that all student media is now owned by the universities, rather than the student run organizations, so that must have chilling effect on free speech.

Any interested in how technological and new media is serving the underserved? This organization has a lot going on in terms of how new media is aiding the ability of specific populations to connect and create strategies for civic engagement.