The Connected Culture Q&A

  • What is this "Connected Culture?" 

    The following is an excerpt of an article from Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org).  To read the entire article click the link to the right.
     
    Our kids use media differently
    We may think of our kids’ online, mobile, and technological activities as “digital life,” but to them, it’s just life. Their world is as much about creating media as it is about consuming it. Media devices have converged and become extremely powerful and portable. Phones aren't simply for phone calls but for listening to music, sending texts, filming videos, snapping and sharing photos, and accessing the Internet. Our kids use their computers, to do their homework, but they also use them to socialize, stream video, create movies and songs. And they can communicate or connect 24/7 from just about any location.
     
    5 Essential Facts of Digital Life

    • Kids are the creators. It’s all about participating, communicating, making music, images, videos, and posting written content. And the content that’s there? Kids must be able to know if it’s credible or not.

    • Everything happens in front of a vast, invisible, and often anonymous audience.

    • Once something is out there, it doesn’t go away. Everything leaves a digital footprint.

    • Information cannot be controlled. Anything can be copied, changed, and shared instantly.

    • Distance and anonymity separate actions and consequences. Kids think they can get away with unethical or unacceptable behavior because they don’t see immediate consequences

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