We are quickly approaching the holidays and many parents may be thinking about giving their child their first cell phone or smartphone. I often get asked: "What is the right age to buy my child a cell phone?" The bottom line is that no one knows your child more than you do so you have to consider a….read more

Dr. Michele Borba, child psychologist and online safety advocate for the TODAY Show, gives great insight into why parents need to monitor their children's use of the Internet and social networks. The online world opens up a whole new place to learn and explore but, as is the case with many other things, parents must take an active….read more

A recent Consumer Reports study found that over 7.5 million kids younger than 13 are using Facebook which, according to the social network's rules, technically is not allowed. Right now, because of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), websites can't gather data from users under the age of 13. And Facebook, like many other sites, requires certain….read more

Facebook is often the go-to place online for different games and trends to take off, but some of them aren't always the most appropriate. One "game" in particular is called "Smash or Pass," and the stated Mission on one of its Facebook fan page reads: "To See Who Is The Hottest!" The concept behind Smash or Pass is….read more

Facebook already adopted its own form of email communication with Facebook Messages, and it now has its own kind of texting messaging too. Yesterday the social networking site announced its acquisition of group messaging service Beluga - the "solution to help groups of friends stay in touch on the move." In addition to group text messaging….read more

While Facebook has proven to be the most used social networking site, there have been various other initiatives that try to either compete with or re-create the successful social networking tactics of Facebook. MySpace serves as a good example of a Facebook competitor, while "kids only" imbee is an example of a site that's re-creating the Facebook concept.….read more

Although we worry about our kids' Internet use, some teens are extra cautious about their online activity according to a recent CNN article. They're doing what's called the "Super-logoff" when, instead of simply signing off Facebook, they completely deactivate their accounts every time they're offline. This makes them invisible (at….read more

Hacking is a constant online danger, and parents and kids alike must be aware of its effects. A TechCrunch article highlights a particular hacking tool - Firesheep - created by Eric Butler. Butler developed this application to show how easy it is to access other people's information in….read more

FarmVille, one of the many Facebook applications, is a game with 59 million users. There are other fun, entertaining Facebook apps too, such as FrontierVille and Texas Hold 'Em, and all of these games can be played between users. However, people access these apps using their unique user IDs, and recent ….read more

Social networking sites such as Facebook can provide many benefits to children and adults alike. However, we also hear horror stories about how the Internet can be harmful and dangerous to kids. Here are some important statistics worth noting about Internet activity: Sharing Private Information: 69% of teens have included their physical location on social networking sites. 51% of teens have given personal….read more