Ypulse Essentials: Lego Gets Social With ReBrick, eBooks Win Over Tots But Not Teens, Oscar Noms Are In

Lego has built its way into the social media world (with its new fan community, ReBrick, where users can share images of what they construct and see what other Lego users have been busy making. So long to the days of just playing with blocks!; Legos have become a social experience, especially since the site lets users like and tag the images, bookmark their favorites, and share them on other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. We can’t wait to check out some of the cool constructions! In other toy-meets-tech news, GameChanger brings board games to the iPad, with a board and game pieces that interact with the device. These days, every media property has to have a technological component. Even Sesame Street is going digital realizing the many kids never experience the TV version of the property) (Yahoo!) (PSFK) (Mashable)

- While today’s teens are tech-savvy, they aren’t embracing e-books (because they don’t embrace social technology and restrictions block them from sharing books with their friends. Younger kids, however, think e-books are awesome because they come with added features, like games, animations, and activities. Although teens aren’t as into e-books as kids are, e-books account for 13% of YA sales, and 11% of children’s book sales. Speaking of reading, CliffsNotes Films is making it so students don’t need to read at all. It has released six short cartoons of Shakespearian classics, featuring an emo Romeo, talking skull of Yorick, and Julius Caesar speaking in slang. Click through to check out the hilarious — if somewhat depressing — dialog to be found in the animated shorts. Apple’s foray into digital textbooks may be soon paying off, as it reports that more than 350,000 texts were downloaded in the first three days of the app launching) (Paid Content) (NY Times, reg required) (AllThingsD)

- The Oscar nominations are in, and kid-friendly film ‘Hugo’ (leads the pack with 11 nominations. Other Millennials favorites garnered a few nominations, including “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and “My Week With Marilyn.” However, some talented Millennial actors and directors were ignored in the nominations) (Bloomberg) (Betty Confidential)

- In the second part of its series on Millennials and their perception of marriage (Forbes looks at how this affects familial roles and consumer habits. Without a traditional family, moms can’t tell kids to “just wait ‘til your father gets home,” and instead, the single parent has to be both good cop and bad cop. As with many Millennial habits and attitudes, this could have a lasting effect on society)

- Despite the endless initiatives to battle bullying and cyberbullying (the problem is still present and impacting Millennials on a daily basis as this infographic shows. A whopping 71% of students say bullying is a problem at their school and 160,000 kids miss school each day because they’re afraid of being harassed. But the most alarming stat is that nearly 90% of LGBT students have been bullied about their sexual orientation in the past year. But at this graphic explains, students want their schools to take more action to minimize the problem) (DeBaird)

- Given the chance to dream up the ideal robot (kids would like a minion, first and foremost, to be their friend, often imagining them with human traits. Of course they wouldn’t mind if their new friend could clean up their room, cook them dinner, and do their homework, too. Kids’ imaginary robots point to something significant, according to the researchers: that they naturally blur “the line between technology and humanness”) (Slate)