According to ComScore, the social networking site Bebo has overtaken MySpace as the most popular social networking website in the UK.
Could this be a sign of things to come in the USA as well?
Man Lures 16-year-old Girl to Prostitution via MySpace
August 12th, 2007Melvin Charles Parker Jr., 32, of Richmond, Virginia.
Melvin lured a 16-year-old girl from her home and threatened to hurt her family if she did not prostitute herself. After being charged with pandering, unlawful sex by fraud or fear, soliciting for a prostitute, and sale or transportation of marijuana, he is being held for a mere $30,000 bail.
Bail? This is not the kind of guy that should be out roaming free until his trial date.
Here is the source article.
Teen Drug Slang - Get Up to Speed
August 7th, 2007So you’re keeping a close eye on your teen, but it doesn’t do much good if you don’t know “WTF” they’re saying.
In reference to drugs, CBS News has a good article on the slang teens are using these days.
A few examples:
“Dexing” - Abusing cough syrup (also referred to as “robotripping” and “robodosing”)
“Special K” - A medication used as an anesthetic in humans and animals, ketamine is sometimes abused as a “club drug.” It can cause hallucinations and euphoria in higher doses. Synonyms include vitamin K, breakfast cereal, cat valium, horse tranquilizer, K, Ket, new ecstasy, psychedelic heroin, and super acid.
“Crank” - The stimulant methamphetamine. Synonyms include meth, speed, chalk, white cross, fire, and glass.
“Crunk” - This means to get high and drunk at the same time.
“Antifreeze” - Heroin. Synonyms include Big H, brown sugar, dope, golden girls, H, horse, junk, poison, skag, smack, sweet dreams, tar, and train.
“Snow” - Cocaine. Synonyms include Charlie, crack, coke, dust, flake, freebase, lady, nose candy, powder, rock, rails, snowbirds, toot, white, and yahoo.
“X” - Ecstasy or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Synonyms include Adam, E, bean, clarity, essence, lovers speed, MDMA, roll, stacy, XTC.
“Candy flipping” - Refers to a high that’s achieved by combining LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) or acid with ecstasy.
Facebook group glorifies drunk driving
August 1st, 2007A Facebook group, originating by it’s founder from Edmonton, has 105 members and glorifies drunk driving. Edmonton police have looked into it, but said the group members are only practicing their right to free speech. I’d say it’s more a case of stupid kids being stupid.
Here’s the short full article.
MySpace ParentCare - LAME!
July 30th, 2007Remember back in January when MySpace said they had something called “Zephyr” in the works that would allow parents to monitor their child’s MySpace usage?
Well, the public beta has arrived, and they’re calling it ParentCare. Let’s just say that parents hoping for a quality product will be sorely disappointed.
The only thing you’re going to get from ParentCare is your child’s display name, location (which you would already know), and the age that they put in their profiles. That’s about it. Their Profile ID is given, but you better hope they have a public profile, ’cause if they don’t, the ID is useless.
Finally, sorry Mac users, but this software is Windows only.
I’d post a screenshot but the EULA prohibits that. In fact I probably shouldn’t even be talking about it. Brandon at IMSafer handled the Fight Club references that I wanted to make regarding this ridiculous policy.
But since it’s a PUBLIC beta, feel free to check it out for yourself. Here’s the ParentCare FAQ and the direct download link to the software.
Is Facebook the New MySpace? Your Kids will Decide.
July 6th, 2007Neil at The Interactive has some food for thought. While MySpace is still ahead in terms of eyeballs looking at the site, current trends indicate that Facebook is gaining, and fast.
The culture at Facebook is more tightly knit, whereas the fake profiles, spammers, and corporate profiles on MySpace are pushing users away.
Linda at The Social Networking Weblog has a different take. She feels that in order for Facebook to make significant gains on MySpace, they’ll have to start making their profiles more customizable, as MySpace pages currently are.
I personally think that the site that ends up with the most kids, wins.
Facebook is driving hard for the younger market. With new widgets like Fluff Friends, it makes you wonder: What 10 year old girl could resist a cute furry creature for their Facebook profile?
MySpace isn’t slacking in the battle for your kids eyeballs either. Just yesterday the entire MySpace homepage was pushing the new Simpsons cartoon movie.
Regardless of which site wins, parents need to be aware of both sites and know just how hard they’re trying to get your kid to sign up.
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