Growing Up Online – On Frontline (PBS)

Growing Up Online, a Frontline special, will be broadcast tomorrow, January 22, 2008, on PBS.

MySpace. YouTube. Facebook. Nearly every teen in America is on the Internet every day, socializing with friends and strangers alike, “trying on” identities, and building a virtual profile of themselves–one that many kids insist is a more honest depiction of who they really are than the person they portray at home or in school.

In “Growing Up Online,” FRONTLINE peers inside the world of this cyber-savvy generation through the eyes of teens and their parents, who often find themselves on opposite sides of a new digital divide. From cyber bullying to instant “Internet fame,” to the specter of online sexual predators, FRONTLINE producer Rachel Dretzin investigates the risks, realities and misconceptions of teenage self-expression on the World Wide Web.

It looks interesting, although I’m assuming a high degree of sensationalism. Even so, it should be worth watching.

More information.

Media Literacy/Awareness Wikis

I’m putting together a couple of wikis for upcoming presentations. They’re related:

Media Representation: At this point, includes resources (articles, videos, other links) that help in understanding media representation and race, gender, ethnicity, culture, sexual, preference, etc.

Media Literacy/Awareness
: A wiki focused on two major themes, media literacy and web awareness.

Both of these wikis are just beginning. I hope they are valuable to people out there, and I encourage any of my readers to give feedback or to contribute to these spaces.