Ypulse Essentials: Virtual World Conquer Fear, Generation Overwhelmed, Dumber Than Dirt?
Posted by anastasia on 10-25-2007
What teens think of the truth campaign ("The 'truth' campaign is hard to forget and even harder to just ignore because the ads aren't lectures" Plus new study finds cigs are really the new gateway drug, leading to depression and drug and alcohol use) (Youth Communications) (CBS News)
- Playhut (the latest toy company to create its own virtual world. Plus Imbee is now CARU certified BTW - Zwinktopia just wrote and said they had 10 million active users!? And…psychologists are using virtual worlds to help patients overcome their fears) (News.com) (BBC)
- Making the most out of 'Hannah Montana' (the Disney marketing machine kicks into high gear) (Dallas Morning News)
- Generation Overwhelmed (it's not they don't care, it's just that it's all too much. Really interesting essay on why twentysomethings are not as active as Thomas Friedman would like - thanks Patti!) (American Prospect)
- More on Soulja Boy's 2.0 marketing genius (from Idolator. I swear I can watch those imitation videos for hours. Plus video from the Hip Hop Chess tournament on Geek TV)
- Vice TV (hipsters on a mission to change the news. Plus USA Today on redefining what makes a show a hit…hint: the buzz factor) (Wired)
- MySpace + Harper Collins (publishing an eco-book….um I hope it's on recycled paper)
- Tony Hawk behind ShredorDie.com (a new action sports site launched by the folks from FunnyorDie.com. If you're interested in understanding how the action sports space works and what works in it, check out this audio [mp3] from our San Diego Mashup last year) (Media Post, reg. required)
- Did Tom lie about his age? (on MySpace, doesn't everyone? Between wanting to join a site when you're too young or not wanting to attract creeps looking for teen profiles or be contacted by marketers or appear younger than you are to make your company seem cool, there are just loads of reasons to lie about our age online) (TechCrunch)
- Dumber than dirt? (a very pessimistic outlook on American youth) (San Francisco Chronicle)
October 25th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Regarding the "Dumber Than Dirt" article:
It says that "not a single student" could define "democracy" (in a high school class taught by Mark Morford's friend.)
However, it's unclear what took place in the classroom.
Did the students give definitions of "democracy" which the teacher didn't like?
I'm a grownup, and perhaps the teacher wouldn't like my definition of "democracy."
If politicans are elected by the people, but do whatever corporations tell them to, is that a democracy?
October 26th, 2007 at 7:06 am
I chanced upon that Dumber than Dirt article just yesterday actually. While the title did strike me as a little harsh, I do think that today's attitude about education isn't quite like it used to be. I believe media has something to do with this as well. Teenagers today are more interested in what's going on in Hollywood than their lectures in school. Not to say that the all students in the past loved school. It's just more rampant now. And they also have a different definition of success and they have different dreams.