New study- internet has “a positive influence on teen development”

There’s a new study out- done by the Macarthur Foundation, apparently- which apparently finds that “social networking sites, online gaming, and other web-based activities have a positive influence on teen development.”
My first thought was “no wonder I’m such a runt, I didn’t have access to the net when I was a teenager.”

Anyway, here’s a bit fuller take on why I’m a bit ambivalent about the expressed findings of this study (which I haven’t looked at in any depth, I confess).

The internet is a mixed bag, no matter who is using it. On the plus side one has factors like the following:

increased access to information and knowledge
increased ability to make connections with people with similar interests and also with a greater diversity of opinions
learning skillz like 1337typin9 which are doubtless the wave of the future

on the downside, we have such things as
cyberbullying
decreased privacy
targeted marketing
the increased consumption which goes hand in hand with increased marketing and advertising
time does get wasted online (as well as getting used productively) as I’ll be the first to admit, being the internet junkie which I am. For every positive social network interaction or learning experience there is an equal and opposite datamining opportunity or pr0nsurf. I think most rational persons would agree that online activity includes a fair bit of what I’ll charitably refer to as FPWOT (fairly pointless wastes of time). Just because a whole generation grows up watching Gilligan’s Island doesn’t mean that it was the most positive thing they could have been doing with that time. In other words, just because everyone in a generation is doing something, does that mean that one will somehow be less if one chooses a different path? Absolutely not, at least in my opinion.

Learning how to maximize the positive value of the internet for and by teens while minimizing the negative aspects will be their learning curve- which they can then pass down (much more rapidly than us old folk ever could) to future generations. I wish them well with this and hope wisdom prevails in the use of this paradigm shifting tool called the internet. Lord knows, the upcoming generations will need all the helpful tools they can beg borrow or steal, ’cause they’ve inherited a pretty huge mess from prior generations.

For some reason which I’m to tired to examine in greater detail at the moment, this post has reminded me of one of my earlier posts-
Here comes everybody- Gin, Television and Social Surplus

Florida skydiver survives 13,000 foot plummet; fall broken by avocado grove

I don’t know about you, but after an experience like this, even if I hadn’t liked avocados before, I’d like them a whole lot afterwards. 13,000 feet is a long way to fall with a damaged parachute. Apparently, he is currently in stable condition.

Ashley dishes, Cheney indicted

In among the hot trends for today…

12. cheney indicted
13. ashley dupre
The Cheney indictment is highly unlikely to do anything, and you can’t see Ashley Alexandra Dupre dishing her story to Diane Sawyer until Friday night. Sorry to get your hopes up over nothing much…

UK Telegraph- President George Bush: ‘Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter’

Yep. Just in case further proof was needed that Bush is indeed the antiChrist, there’s this news, just in… George W. Bush, already down in history books earlier this year for having the highest disapproval rating of any President in the 70 year history of the Gallup poll (69% vs. 28% approval) jokes about being the world’s biggest polluter. This is the same guy somehow manages to get impeachment taken off the table by his (theoretical) political opponents and just signed a retroactive immunity bill into law for those telecom companies which have been spying on US citizens lo these many years…

President George Bush: ‘Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter’

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world’s richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions.

Chicago Public Radio WBEZ interviews Sibel Edmonds

Public radio station WBEZ apparently aired a 2 part radio show yesterday and today featuring interviews with Sibel Edmonds and information about her story on the program Worldview as part of a continuing National Security Whistleblowers series. Good news that her story is getting some air time!