Will Richardson

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Youths, News and TMI

May 2, 2005 By Will Richardson

A couple of articles have been making the rounds that are worth noting…

First, from MSNBC comes “Kids, blogs and too much information” which extends in more detail the continuing saga of kids putting too much information into their myspace and Xanga sites and the potential consequences. I still can’t shake the journal vs. blog issue, but I’ll refrain from pushing it further here. From where I sit, the most discomforting part of this is the sexual nature of many of these kids’ sites. I know it’s not atypical behavior, but I wonder if there isn’t a sense of one-up manship that is really nurtured by the online environment, if as the article says, the whole point is to grow your buddies list.

Because there are so many kid blogs — about 6 million, Aftab estimates — many authors try to outdo each other to get visitors. Often, that includes provocative comments and images.

“It is an attention competition,” she said.

It goes without saying that we need to show kids how to compete for attention with ideas, not bodies. (via Amy Bowllan)

Second is “Youth abandoning old media” which only confirms the idea that our students are turning to online sources for their news and information.

“The future course of the news, including the basic assumptions about how we consume news and information and make decisions in a democratic society, are being altered by technology-savvy young people no longer wedded to traditional news outlets or even accessing news in traditional ways.”

Nor will they be wedded to accessing knowledge and curriculum in traditional ways either…
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