- Affluent young women lead recovery (with the biggest spending increases in purchases for others including gifts, charities, and children. And it looks like this might be a growing demo with more Gen Y women outearning their peers) (MediaPost, reg. required)

- Game on (A new M2 report on kids and gaming finds 90% of tweens play games online. Also Facebook Credits cards are coming to Target) (USA Today)

- Shaq and Justin Bieber (The blossoming bromance has all the makings of viral sensation. And did you know tomorrow was '90210′ Day?) (Gawker) (Pop Candy)

- Oversharing and a false sense of egalitarianism (are two of the most common mistakes Millennials make at work according to this Harvard Business Review contributor. For the flipside see this Gen Y response provided by Carol Phillips of Millennial Marketing)

- Tween bloggers (profiled in The Independent. Nice to see more talk of the web as a positive, creative forum for youth)

- WSJ reviews AOL's SafeSocial ("though [not] perfect, it's an easy-to-use middle ground between banning social networking from a child's life and watching over his or her shoulder at all times." Meanwhle the CEO of Loopt explains the lower privacy standards of people born after 1981)

-  'The Virginity Hit' (Ad Age, reg. required, weighs in on the clever promotional stunt behind the film's new print campaign)

Note to Ypulse Daily Update subscribers: We experienced some delays due to technical difficulties yesterday. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

As always, you can contact our Youth Advisory Board directly, just email them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com… or leave a comment below.

Did New Blood Bring Teen Appeal To The Emmys?

Week after week, TV audiences take time out of their busy schedules to check in on the lives of their extended fictional families. Whether it’s "Mad Men", "Gossip Girl", or "Dora the Explorer" these viewers invite a show into their household to be shared with their friends and family.

My point being that the Emmys have a big job to do in honoring the greatest of the great on the small screen, celebrating the “crazy serial killer uncles” and “favorite wacky choir nieces” we've come to love and reminding us why we tune in. And while in some ways the Emmys got that right this year, the show still lacked a certain something. Here's what stuck out to me..

The Glee-inspired number. At the very start of the show, the Emmys kicked off with a bang. The opening number incorporated a good variety of actors from different shows making it fun for viewers regardless of what kind of TV they watch… but especially for "Glee" fans.

Jimmy Fallon. It also helped that the host this year was the ever perky and musically talented Jimmy Fallon. He warmed hearts with cute little singing bits, and while some of his jokes fell flat, it was all in good taste. So good job, Jimmy!

More pre-taped segments, please! I enjoyed the show's second pre-recorded piece on the other standout comedy from this year "Modern Family". It featured George Clooney and was very funny. Honestly, I wished there could have been more pre-taped segments like these because they were the best part of the show. I felt like watching stars make fun of themselves truly showed how much TV characters can feel like family.

No upsets. I get really emotional when watching TV and tend to scream and shout whenever someone is about to be murdered or make some terrible mistake. During the Emmys though, there wasn’t much screaming or crying because all of the people (except Chris Colfer who plays Kurt Hummel on "Glee") received the awards they deserved. Nothing is more memorable or scandalous than an unexpected win or upset.

Overall, the 2010 Emmys were just “eh”. Nothing exciting happened, but nothing bad happened either. So while it was still enjoyable to watch, my friends and I were skipping channels back and forth between the awards and other shows. All in all, TV today was portrayed fairly and the right actors were recognized, but personally I like a little more flair and spice to my award show. Then again, what am I expecting—the VMAs?

About Alyx

Alyx Steadman is a junior in high school in Montana, and loves every minute of it. He loves reading, writing, acting, singing, and being a social butterfly. In the past, people have accused him of being a YouTube addict and a pop culture junkie (and sadly Alyx cannot deny these accusations). His love for teen culture has led him to many hours slaving on the computer soaking up every piece of drama Hollywood has to offer. In the future he hopes to pursue a writing career as some type of journalist. Excited doesn’t even begin to cover how he’s feeling to be in the Ypulse Advisory Board.

- Foursquare, MTV to reward STD checkups(encouraging young adults to unlock the service's first cause-related badge by checking in at their local health clinic. That's one step in the right direction to help counteract the misleading messages about sex in teen media found in a report released today from a group of pediatricians) ( Huffington Post)

- 'Kick-Ass' fares better on the rental charts. Also The Social Network movie now has an official website. And Hollywood continues to bank on the vampire trend with talk of plans to adapt the "Vampire" Academy" series) (THR) (Online Sentinel)

- Rixty debuts coin-opt system (as a solution for young, unbanked online gamers. Also Best Buy expands its used game program ) (Ad Age, reg. required) (MeidaPost, reg. required)

- Young British shoppers seek instant gratification (opting to make purchases in-store vs. online. And a look at the growing number of young, middle class squatters in the UK) (PSFK)

- Also broadband provider Clearwire targets young, non-committal mobile users with viral video ads introducing Rover, a pay-as-you-go 4G internet service) (AdAge, reg. required)) (BizReport)

- Bristol Palin, The Situation to appear on 'Dancing with the Stars' (Oy. Also Idolator isn't a big fan of the "Glee" comic book from Bluewater. And e4 reveals the cast of unknowns selected for the fifth season of British teen drama "Skins") (Newser)

In some ways, social networking sites like Facebook have pressured colleges to cede control of the roommate process. In the past few years, housing officers have been besieged by complaints from students and parents who looked up assigned roomates on the Internet and did not like what they saw, whether it was goth makeup or beer cans in the background.

It's not surprising to hear about these precautionary measures, especially in light of another recent Times' piece on the difficulty removing overly involved "velcro parents" from campus. And though I suspect that the popularity of these matchmaking services is currently limited to certain circles, I don't doubt that more students are using Facebook to get a sneak peek of future roomies and consequently facing the question of what to do if they don't like what they see.

It didn't take long to realize my freshman roommate and I were not a perfect match. We had different taste in music, different ideas about decor and, most irksome of all, completely different schedules. She was an architecture major and would regularly spend all nighters at the studio… and the next day sleeping it off in our room. I wasn't too thrilled with this arrangement at the time but chose to make the best of it seeking out other floormates and spending more time in the common areas of our dorm. As it turned out, those new friends would eventually become my future roommates when we moved off-campus. The former roommate and I remain inactive Facebook friends.

As readers consider the question of whether self-selection does deprive "emerging adults" of a certain rite of passage, I'm sure many will recall similar character-building dorm experiences falling somewhere on the spectrum of flat out horror stories to fairy tale pairings. As Jezebel's Anna North points out, "the good, old-fashioned assigned roommate is one way of introducing students to the realities of the wider world" preparing them for interactions with future classmates, co-workers, bosses, etc.

But of course, both campus life and the "realities of the wider world" are changing largely because of the availability of information online that previously would only be revealed IRL. My sense is that as students learn to digest the influx of data coming from Google results, algorithms and crowdsourced reviews, these situations that raise unknown variables and require opinions based on experience and instinct vs. data will become that much more developmentally important when it comes to future decision-making. Whether it's trusting the first day of class over RateMyProfessor.com or studying abroad in a country that forces you to unplug, a certain degree of independence from technology may just as key to the growth of today's college students as cutting the apron strings from Mom and Dad.

In any case, I'd be curious to hear how the average college student is currently using Facebook as a pre-moving day screening process. Ypulse readers feel free to share your observations in comments..

For more campus coverage, visit the Ypulse Collegians Channel, sponsored by Campus Media Group.

As always, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…or just leave a comment below.

Please note that the following review contains plot spoilers, and references key plot points from the previous books.

YAB Review: 'Mockingjay' By Suzanne Collins

First Impressions

I have been a longtime fan of the Hunger Games franchise, and was expecting quite a lot from the last installment in the trilogy. The second novel ended on a cliff-hanger; the Capitol government takes its most drastic action yet and destroys the home of reluctant revolutionary Katniss. After being rescued from the Games by the mysterious rebels from District 13, Katniss finds herself once again being used for propaganda, but this time by the cause supposedly more righteous than the oppressive capital government. Although predictable at first, the novel quickly becomes darker than the previous two.

When were you hooked?

The pace is fantastic, and I couldn’t put Mockingjay down until I finished it, just like its predecessors. The key difference between Mockingjay and the first two books is that Collins’s attitude becomes far more cynical than it was previously. In the first two books, Katniss doesn’t bear as much resentment towards the Capitol as she might, and of course remains hopeful and committed to justice, and is a somewhat stereotypical revolutionary heroine. Because the novels are as well pulled off as they are, I don’t particularly mind the stereotype, even if it makes Katniss fairly easy to predict. This changes in Mockingjay. Katniss evolves from a propaganda tool of the Capitol’s, into a propaganda tool of the rebellion. She complains about accepting this responsibility, and being used, but after some bargaining, she accepts her duties and becomes relatively apathetic to the rebellion. This irked me, not because the heroine becomes somewhat removed, but because it is very out of character for Katniss, compared to the first two novels, where she relentlessly pursued justice. Collins may have made this change in order to emphasize a point that wars don’t always produce good guys and that we all are subject to our own prejudice. One of Mockingjay’s strengths is that it is filled with numerous shades of grey, something I don’t feel like it happens enough in most teen novels, which typically involve clear good guys and bad guys. District 13 is just as morally flawed as the Capitol and has its own secrets.

Sum It Up [Editor note: this section contains spoilers, skip to the jump Julia's conclusion.]

The beginning I enjoyed immensely, when Katniss is unable to rescue Peeta and instead is made to bear the physiological anguish of having a loved one brutally tortured. Once rescued, Peeta is completely changed by torture and hallucinogenic drugs to the point where he hates Katniss. Katniss’s romance with new rebel leader Gale is as complicated as ever. Although this, along with the cause of District 13, could have brought out a second life for Katniss, she fails to pick up the pieces, and exhibits symptoms of PTSD. Realistically this could perhaps happen. Loved ones killed, one’s home being destroyed, and all the other hardships Katniss has suffered, might well bring on such a personality change, but it doesn’t work in the context of the series.

Although the first two books were dark for teen novels, I didn’t find them truly depressing, because the characters retain morality and hope. Mockingjay is written like a teen novel, but it doesn’t read like one. District 13 ruthlessly bombs civilians, children, wounded patients, and the doctors who rush to their aid. Katniss does not react by taking up arms, and establishing a new, just government, or at least dying a martyr for the cause, like a revolutionary character in a teen novel normally would, but by shooting the leader of the rebellion, and then living in exile with Peeta. She makes no attempt to change this final situation, and  this doesn’t work. It’s too out of character, and out of context. I’m all for making a political statement in a teen sci-fi novel (Little Brother does a great job with this, and is also fairly gritty), but not for doing this in contrast to other books in a series.

The moment that truly gave me chills happens at the very end when Katniss votes to hold another Hunger Games with the children of the leaders of the Capitol, subjecting them to the same horrors she had to face, and the whole rebellion was fighting against. Katniss is now bitter. An eye for an eye doesn’t make a good conclusion to the series, although it may well be a realistic one.

Ultimately, Katniss never completes her emotional journey. One of the main themes of the previous two books was Katniss’s fight for her freedom, despite being controlled in every way possible, from her ability to love and to live. The natural end to such an arc would be for Katniss to finally gain her freedom. But now, even living with Peeta, her fate is brought on by someone else. She is no longer the brave, protective character with a strong sense of justice, but a pawn.

Read more…

Final Verdict

Although there were positive aspects to Katniss’s final attitude, and perhaps it was justly brought on by various traumas, but I found she generally lacked autonomy, or just doesn’t care about the suffering of others anymore, which seems out of character. Katniss in the first two books was a very independent, always seeking out her own destiny, like when she first volunteers to take her younger sister’s place as a tribute. In Mockingjay there is a drastic change in her personality. Perhaps if this were better explained it could work in the novel, but it just isn’t that compelling to read about. This is especially true for a character like Katniss who was unable to live by others’ rules, or take orders. She fought against the odds for freedom over repression, and while the end might be the realistic, she never really emotionally matures as a result. I don’t think many teen readers, especially the Twilight crowd, will be satisfied with the conclusion.

About Julia

Julia is a sophomore in high school in Claremont California. A self proclaimed Otaku (anime obsessive person) she strives to complete her immersion into the world of Japanese pop culture. In between school and homework she watches the latest Japanese anime on the internet, reads manga, plays video games, and practices Japanese. Though she is not a fabulous writer by nature, Julia does enjoy writing fan fiction related to said interests and occasionally immersing herself in online role-play sessions. In addition, she loves mashing up anime and game clips into anime music videos which she posts on YouTube, participating in her school’s debate team in novice LD, and of course reading. Julia is incredibly excited to be on the Youth Advisory Board, and able to express her opinions, which she has plenty of.

For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books & Print Channel sponsored by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, publishers of Ghost Hunt.

- Kmart goes Back-to-School with Alloy (launching original branded web series "First Day" to promote three of its back-to-school product lines: Bongo, Rebecca Bon Bon and Dream Out Loud. In other digital adventures in teen retail, MobileBehavior wonders if location-based shopping service Shopkick will help drive kids and teens to the mall) (Ad Age, reg. required)

- Baby carrots want to get hip (with a $25 million rebranding effort that hope to take a bite out of giant, big-spending rival: junk food) (USA Today)

-Disney's 'Toy Story 3′ passes $1 billion (at the global box office. Meanwhile John Lopez of Vanity Fair strongly urges you to go and pay to see 'Scott Pilgrim' in theaters. He also worries that "the Facebook generation is downloading it instead of paying for a movie ticket") (Wall Street Journal)

- The debate over SB 970 (A proposal from Sacramento lawmakers to put ballot drop offs on college campuses catches heat from conservatives for catering to the demo's laziness. Critics suspect it's also because this will encourage more young liberals to vote — Thanks Derek!) (NBC San Diego)

- What parents don't 'like' about Facebook 'Like' (Data mining. Two Los Angeles parents are leading a lawsuit claiming the feature is being used to exploit minors for commercial purposes. Wonder if we'll see more of this parental activism after CARU airs its first PSA addressing internet safety issues. Also danah boyd reframes the discussion around companies collecting data. And latest social network attempting to use exclusivity to lure Gen Y users: CollegeOnly) (ClickZ) (AdAge, reg. required) (PSFK) (Barking Robot)

- Internet kills the Oxford English Dictionary (With more readers turning to the online version of reference books and wikipedia-type resources, it looks like the third edition will be online-only) (Mashable)

- 'Chartreuse is the real green for Gen Y' (Interesting new insights on the gap between Millennial environmental beliefs and consumer habits. See our earlier coverage of the truth behind Millennials and green movement for more) (MediaPost, reg.required)

"With SafeSocial, I know what my kids are doing on Facebook, without getting in their way."

"SafeSocial watches over your kids, even when you're not able to."

If you ask danah boyd, she'll tell you that social networks flourished among youth due to the simple fact that adults weren't yet participating in them. Ironically, Millennials, who have been closely (overly?) parented in the physical world, escaped to online spaces to be amongst each other in an unsupervised fashion. The fact that parents seem compelled to follow and monitor their children offline and online seems a little silly to a Gen X'er whose parents would start wondering where he was only if he both missed dinner AND the sun had set.

Truth be told, I have two Millennial children. Based on my understanding of youth, they're pretty normal kids and neither of them are friends of mine on Facebook.

When I showed my 11 year old daughter the SafeSocial video, her reaction was positive. She doesn't yet post a lot of pictures, knows all of her online friends personally and felt that the language / alerting warnings that would fire emails in my direction in the event that she used profane language was not going to be an issue. She said that she'd gladly accept the monitoring if she received an email asking for her permission to be monitored by her parents.

My 14 year old son went white as a sheet when I showed him the video. Unaware that I was gauging his reaction for this post, he was pretty sure that I was seriously considering the service. Upon cross-examination, he said that the friend verification wasn't a problem (all of his friends he knows personally or are friends of those that he knows personally). He was more concerned about the language / alerting feature, confessing that he and his friends will often exchange dirty jokes within chats. What really had him concerned was that I'd be able to see all of his pictures. He described this as an invasion of his privacy and while he said that if I signed up, he'd dutifully agree to be monitored, but asked (pleaded?) that I respect his privacy and not sign up for the service.

I asked both of my kids if they felt that they needed any assistance managing their digital identities and they both said that they thought they could manage without my active involvement. When asked who they would go to for advice on making decisions about what would or would not have the potential for harm when it came to their online presence / digital identity, they said that they'd look to their parents first, followed by their friends.

All of this debate over the past two weeks regarding managing location services and digital identities has us inspired. In an attempt to extend beyond my two Millennials, we'll add to our 'Facebook Fatigue' research to see how digital identity management and the use of location services might have changed the way that youth see the social networking sphere as well as what role, if any, they expect their parents to play.

If you think other issues should be added to the mix, please be sure to leave us a comment!

The Hub, the upcoming children's network from Discovery and Hasbro, has named Justin Willman host of "Hubworld," a weekly half-hour pop culture magazine show. Willman also hosts Food Network's "Cupcake Wars." (Media Life)

Google has bought startup Angstro according to a post on the company’s site. The company’s founder, entrepreneur Rohit Khare, has joined Google to work on the company’s social networking product Google Me. (Los Angeles Times)

Sara Zick has been named associate publicity director at Little Brown Children's. She had been publicity manager at Penguin Children's… Melanie Chang has been named vice president and executive director of publicity at Little Brown Children's. She had been executive director, publicity and communications, there. (Mediabistro, reg. required)

Meeri Park Cunniff has been named senior vice president of programming strategy for MTV. Cunniff most recently served as senior vice president of programming and on-air for TeenNick where she oversaw day-to-day operations. (Mediapost, reg. required)

USA Today on Friday announced a major organizational restructuring with the creation of new departments as well as key appointments in the departments of circulation, finance and news. Steve Kurtz has been appointed vice president of digital development, and will focus on developing and maintaining technology and systems to support USA Today's existing "dotcom," mobile, iPhone and iPad platforms. (MediaPost, reg. required)

Former Google international exec Adam Freed has taken a job as COO of Etsy, the crafts e-commerce site, which just raised another $20 million in venture funding. (All Things Digital)

Best Buy says it has hired design ace Aura Oslapas as its VP/chief design officer, where she will be in charge of the chain's design and brand identity team worldwide. (MediaPost, reg. required)

Beatrice Vicente has been named regional vice president, West Coast, at Borders. She had been regional vice president at Toys R Us. (Mediabistro, reg. required)

Foursquare has made another key hire — a director of marketing. Jon Steinback is joining the location-based startup from Associated Content where he was Director of Product. Prior to that he had been at Google for a little over four years. (TechCrunch)

For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection.

- A small group of young women have greater influence over fashion trends (as reported by the New York Times, reg. required. Sites like Shopbop, an online retailer, and Polyvore, where users play editor-slash-stylist, are setting the trends for fall fashion. While these sites haven’t kicked traditional store buyers out of the fashion tents, they definitely are changing the game)

- Young men have a more positive outlook (than their female counter parts and might be more willing to spend money, despite the surveys results that 45% of 18-34 year-old men are still living at home) (Bizreport)

- Cartoon Network will premier two new 15-minute animated series next month (one show based on MAD magazine and the other and original series titled "Regular Show." MAD features many the same irreverence from the magazine; while the original series brings mash-up parodies to life including, CSiCarly, Avaturds and Toys4Brats) (Cynopsis: Kids!)

- Skipping class just got a lot harder (for students of the New Canaan Public School system which is beginning to experiment with radio frequency identification tags (RFID) to track students, faculty, and valuable equipment. Not surprisingly, many students and teachers have objected, viewing it as an invasion of privacy. In response, the experiment will likely be opt-in) (PSFK)

- The next “it boy” in indie/urban lit: Tao Lin? (According to Salon, Lin's writing perfectly captures the aimless malaise of the Y generation while his guerrilla-style marketing has made him a bit of a Web phenomenon)

- Kidz Bop and publisher Adams Media have partnered to launch a young adult book line (based on the Kidz Bop music brand.  Targeted to kids between the ages of 5-12, the books will feature both fiction and nonfiction titles, and each Kidz Bop book will come with a special code that can be entered to redeem a free mp3 music download) (Cynopsis: Kids!)

- In case you missed our previous  Mockingjay coverage (check out these haikus from fans who submitted their poems to win a copy of the book and an iPod Touch) (NYMag)

- Taylor Swift’s new “Mine” video premiers Friday (at 8:30 pm Eastern Standard time on MTV. Roman White — who also worked with Swift on “You Belong With Me” — says this latest collaboration shows a more grown-up side to the singer) (MTV)

Fashion Director at dELiA*s, Inc.
Industry: Fashion Catalog/Web
Location: New York, NY
Description: Alloy Inc is looking for a Fashion Director to provide creative direction for the Alloy catalogs, develop and execute concepts/storyboards for catalogs, and manage editorial direction of the catalog, ezines, monthly ads and website. In addition to providing creative guidance and leadership to creative staff, the Director will develop seasonal trend presentations down to the classification level and manage and drive the creative calendar. More

Flat Stylist at dELiA*s, Inc.
Industry: Fashion Catalog/Web
Location: New York, NY
Description: Alloy Inc is also looking for a Flat Stylist to style brand-appropriate looks which inspire customers to buy Alloy clothes and accessories, and to create consistency of the brand across flats and on-figure styling. Stylist will assist the fashion director in styling product to create compelling on-figure looks which support business objectives and honor top 20 product ranking; partnering with buyers to resolve on-figure issues and tighten story concepts. More

Executive Director at City Year
Industry: Fundraising & Development/Nonprofit
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Description: City Year unites 17-24 year-olds of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world. The Executive Director (ED) serves as the primary leader, external champion, and internal manager of a City Year site. The ED holds responsibility, accountability, and authority for the site’s success in achieving its potential for impact, sustainability, and scale. The ED provides vision and translates strategy into action and results, developing and executing on a multi-year strategic plan and an annual operating plan to manage the overall performance and growth of the organization. More

Senior Product Manager at Disney Interactive Media
Industry: Entertainment
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Description: Disney Interactive Media is seeking a seasoned and skilled leader to drive the product vision for community and user generated content (UGC) for a portfolio of sites. This person should be as firmly rooted in P & L thinking they are passionate about promoting community interaction. This person is responsible for the product planning and execution throughout the product life cycle, including: gathering and prioritizing product and business requirements, meeting the business goals associated with UGC for a variety of properties and working closely with the community staff engineering, sales, marketing and support to ensure revenue and customer satisfaction goals are met. More.

K-12 Educational Sales Representative at ScholarCentric
Industry : Education
Location: Washington DC
Description: ScholarCentric, an innovative educational publisher undergoing rapid growth, is seeking a candidate to join their mission-driven enterprise dedicated to improving education for middle and high school students by improving student success and reducing the number of students who drop out of school.​  They're seeking a passionate, entrepreneurial, east coast-based sales representative responsible for cultivating and expanding sales in the K-12 education marketplace. More.