Derek Baird

This is a clever short film by Roniel Tessler featuring the song 'L.O.V.E.' sung by Chris Mann. Chris, who I've blogged about before, is currently a contestant on the NBC show The Voice.

This song has also been featured in the promos for the E! shows Khloe & Lamar as well as Ice Loves Coco.

Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet and the American Life Project, recently spoke at the annual conference of the National Religious Broadcasters.

 This talk will focus on the media habits of Millennials and GenX and how their patterns of gathering and creating information are different in the digital age. 

Profile “pruning” is on the rise. Deleting unwanted friends, comments and photo tags grows in popularity.

Over time, as social networking sites have become a mainstream communications channel in everyday life, profile owners have become more active managers of their profiles and the content that is posted by others in their networks.

According to a new Pew Internet study, two-thirds of profile owners (63%) have deleted people from their networks or friend lists, up from 56% in 2009. Another 44% say they have deleted comments that others have made on their profile, up from just 36% two years prior.

And as photo tagging has become more automated on sites like Facebook, users have become more likely to remove their names from photos that were tagged to identify them; 37% of profile owners have done this, up from 30% in 2009.

Deleting social media comments is part of the reputation management work of being a young adult.

All users have become more likely to delete comments on their profiles over time, but this is especially true of young adults.

It is now the case that 56% of social media users ages 18-29 say they have deleted comments that others have made on their profile, compared with 40% of those ages 30-49, 34% of those ages 50-64 and 26% of social media users ages 65 and older.

In contrast to the gender differences with unfriending, male and female social media users are equally as likely to say that they have deleted comments that others have made on their profile (44% of men and women report this).

The task of removing photo tags is also much more common among young adults.

Whether because there are simply more photos being shared or there is more sensitivity to their content, young adult social media users are the most likely age group to report removal of photo tags.

Fully half of young adult social media users (49%) say they have deleted their name from photos that were tagged to identify them.

That compares to 36% of social media users ages 30-49, 22% of those ages 50-64 and only 16% of those ages 65 and older. As with comments, there are no significant gender differences; male and female users are equally likely to delete photo tags (36% vs. 38%).

I've been reading some newly released social TV research from the Nielsen folks and found some interesting facts.

These are good tips when trying to leverage social media to generate buzz for television. It's chock full of really great data on how viewers generate social buzz while watching television.

Here are some key takeaways:

• Twitter: Most social media buzz on the day of, week before, day after event
• When does the most TV buzz happen on Social Networks: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
• 25% of social media messages include links to content
• Facebook prioritizes posts containing media contents in the the News Feed rank (media = photo, video, links)
• Social TV buzz grows over a show's season, for reality buzz peaks during the premier and finale
• Females (18-34) are the most likely to create social buzz around a television show
• Mid-season, females (35-49) impact ratings more and create the most social buzz

Television Gets Social

Related: Twitter, Facebook and Social TV

Consumer Data Privacy research conducted by Microsoft shows that the majority of people don't give much thought to the consequences of their various online activities.

Microsoft commissioned research in Canada, Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the United States, and found that while 91 percent of people have done something to manage their online profile, only 44 percent of adults actively think about the long-term consequences their activities have on their online reputation.

The study also said that less than half of the parents surveyed help their children with managing their online presence and reputations.

 Related Resources

• Take Charge of Your Online Reputation (PDF)

• Own Your Space – An Online Reputation That Counts: A Guide for Teens supplemental chapter (PDF)

• Digital Citizenship (PDF)

• Safer Social Networking (PDF)

• Online Safety Policy Backgrounder (PDF)

• Microsoft & Data Privacy Day: Put Your Best Digital Foot Forward

Marvel Comics and Visa have teamed up to create a new, one-of-a-kind financial literacy comic book titled Avengers: Saving The Day.

 The free 16-page comic book, available in print and online at www.practicalmoneyskills.com/avengers, mixes Marvel characters, including the Avengers, Spider-Man and Iron Man among others, with Visa's financial literacy expertise, to introduce kids to basic money concepts.

The heroes team up to defeat the villain Mole Man and his evil army, all the while learning important financial skills. The action-packed comic features a budgeting worksheet, finance terms and more. There's even a free lesson plan on financial literacy for teachers.

The comic book is being released around the world and is available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.  

Avengers: Saving The Day was created by Marvel storytellers, including veteran writer James Asmus (Generation Hope), and was designed by Andrea Di Vito (Avengers Academy).

via mashable.com

Parveen Kaur Dhillon is the author of a new series of multicultural books for young Sikh children titled My First Sikh Books.

This is a unique set of 2 board books (My First Singh Book and My First Kaur Book) and 2 accompanying coloring books all packaged together with a glossary and “About Sikhs” insert in a carry case for young children.

The books were developed to instill pride and confidence in young Sikh children.

Parveen Kaur Dhillon is a U.S. born Sikh and the mother of three young children. She has a Masters in Education from the University of Virginia and a BA in History from Loyola University.

She actively promotes efforts to develop resources to help increase awareness of Sikh community issues among mainstream American audiences as well as builds solidarity within the Sikh diaspora in America.

Derek Baird: What was your motivation for writing multicultural book that focus on Sikh children?

Parveen Dhillon:  When my now 10 year old son was just a few months old, I found myself reading to him all the time. Because my son was going to wear a patka (boy’s version of the turban) I wanted him to see kids in books wearing them too. So that he would feel comfortable and proud of his image. 

I began authoring home-made multicultural books with images of Sikh boys and girls, so that he could see kids that looked similar to him in the stories I was relating.

DB: What universal lessons can Sikh and non-Sikh children learn from these books?   

PD:   These books have the same universal message parents and teachers instill in their children on a daily basis: treating people with respect, sharing and helping others. The only difference in my books is that Sikh images, examples and vocabulary are used.

DB: I recently read Simran Jeet Singh’s op-ed piece in the Huffington Post who talked about his identity crisis as a young Sikh American trying to figure out where he “fit” in society. Could you briefly talk about some of the challenges Sikh children face and how you feel your books can  help them navigate these two, sometimes conflicting, worlds?

PD:   As part of our faith we do not cut our hair. Sikh boys and sometimes Sikh girls wear turbans to cover their long hair. Because of their turbans they stand out.

Therefore, it is important that Sikh children be able to explain to their friends and the communities they live in how their core values are the same as those of the communities they live in.  My books utilize simple concepts and examples that help children and their parents communicate these ideals.

DB: This is a two book series--one for boys and one for girls. What was your thought process behind breaking this out into two different books?

PD:  Boys and girls have a unique visual identity and often face very different opportunities at a young age.  By giving them gender-specific examples, I feel that these books highlight the unique experiences of Sikh boys and girls in ways that strengthen their confidence.

I have included them together in the package so that each gender can relate and understand the perspective of the other gender.  

DB: What sort of reception have your books received from the Sikh and non-Sikh community?

PD: I have been overwhelmed by the support and recognition that my books have received from the parents of young children within my community as well as from teachers and school administrators. The simple messages and highly visual medium of the book allows parents and teachers to discuss important topics with kids in a unique manner.

These books are a great tool to introduce and discuss concepts such as recycling, having fundraisers, helping others and being proud and comfortable of who you are.

DB: As an independent author, how are you embracing social media and word of mouth (WOM) marketing strategies to get the word out about your books?

PD:  While I have been working on these books for some time, it is only now with the advent of Facebook and YouTube that distribution for a small independent publication like this is truly feasible.  While we are still finding the most effective ways to leverage these resources, our Facebook Page and initial videos of kids reading the books have really helped us get the word out.

DB: What advice to you have for other author’s looking to break into the indie children’s book market without the support of the big publishing companies?

PD: Self-publishing is a challenge, but now it has become easier than ever.  With many new online resources, competition among publishers on price and service really helps the author make challenging decision about digital versus printed publication and new ways to get products to market.  I think it has become easier for authors trying to publish independent books

DB: You close your books with an illustration of the “ek ongkar.” What does this symbol represent?

PD:  Equality – the Universal Message.  It is the Sikh symbol which means “God is one”.    We may pray differently and have different names for our religion, but we all believe that there is a higher power.

Parveen Dhillion’s books are available on Amazon or via http://lohgarh.org/