How to Parent in a Digital World: Resources
Family Minecraft Policy (Google Docs version here)
Family Support Form Responses (copy this to your Google Drive so you can adapt it to your family’s needs. For help, see How to copy a Google Form)
iOS 12: Getting to Know Screen Time & Stronger Parental Controls (for iPhone/iPad)
The Complete Guide to Setting up Parental Controls in Windows
How to use Parental Controls in Windows 8
How to Use Parental Controls in OS X to Protect Your Kids
4 Ways to Set up Parental Controls on Your Home Network
Parental Control Tools That Cover Every Device In Your Home
Discovering family through a social media crisis
My latest blog post for Harvard Business Review tackles the challenge of surviving a social media emergency. It was inspired by what turned out to be a minor emergency: the earthquake that rattled most of central Canada yesterday. As it happened, I was in Ottawa at...
Patrolling the boundaries in social networking
Rob Jewitt, a lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Sunderland, writes about the university's recently introduced social networking site for students. Embedded in his description of the site's features are some interesting reflections on the kinds of...
What online music fans learn about online community
Anastasia Goodstein says this about how social networks have changed the relationship among music fans and between fans and artists: While the future of MySpace may be questionable, I have to credit the service with transforming the relationship between artists and...
A techsperiment that puts family tech use in a new light
Last week we conducted a techsperiment on eliminating gadgets from our family time: we swore off using iPhones, iPads and computers from the time we got home (5 or 6) until the time the kids were asleep (8 or 9). We did pretty well during the week, and discovered that...
4 ways online communication can build relationships
Dear Alex: The Internet can be good for relationships. No, it's not an affirmation. It's the argument I'd like to make to Alex Lickerman, who recently wrote a post about the Effect of Technology on Relationships for his blog on Psychology Today. While I applaud his...
Using ecosystems to model the abundance of the Internet
John Naughton had a remarkably thoughtful and useful piece in the Observer this weekend, Everything you need to know about the internet. He covers what he deems the nine essential truths you have to understand about life online, and while that may be overreaching, he...
Putting a price on friendship
I'll give you $2 for the guy you talked to at an office party last week. The friend you play hockey with every weekend, on the other hand, is worth $75. Your college roommate? She'll net you a cool $1,000. If the idea of assigning a price tag to each of your friends...
How to find support online during life’s big passages (for Oprah.com)
Friends are there to share your celebrations, support you through difficult transitions, and mourn your losses. Social media enable that sharing and support in new ways, across distances that would formerly exclude people who are far away but dear to your heart. Find out how to get the support you need online.
A practice to make your online friendships more meaningful
I wonder if technology and social media has compressed our relationships into a process that we can barely recognize? That question is at the heart of Rhett Smith's thoughtful blog post, Technology: Connected, Yet Lonelier Than Ever. He argues that by making it so...
Techsperiment days 3 & 4: going out without Twitter
Our effort at keeping devices off during family time -- roughly three hours a night -- continues. The biggest challenge of day 4 came when I realized it was 5 pm, and I'd yet to log day 3. Would I grant myself an exception, and blog for a few minutes so that day 3...