For a while, it looked like cell phones were going to put watchmakers out of business (but Gen Y is developing a retro fondness for timepieces…though the analog versions are treated as accessories, and wearers most often check their phones for the time. Then there’s the “smartwatch,” revolutionized by ever-shrinking modern technology to be more than a just watch/accessory) (Trendcentral) (Fast Company)
Nielsen’s ‘State Of The Media: The Social Media Report’ finds (that social media is the #1 way Americans spend time online, and they spend more time on Facebook than any other site. While 18-34 year olds are leading the way in social media use in general, teens view double the number of pages on Myspace compared to the average visitor, and teen girls index higher than average in using Tumblr. Speaking of social media, network TV is taking advantage by making it easier than ever for audiences to follow their favorite shows) (Mashable)
Let’s make it official: The CW confirms that it’s bringing (Candace Bushnell’s “The Carrie Diaries” to TV. A new generation of young women will be able to follow the life of the fashionable Carrie Bradshaw in high school and eventually as she moves to New York and gets to know Samantha Jones) (GalleyCat) (EW)
AOL’s HuffPost High School isn’t the only outlet (recruiting young bloggers. Community-level blog Patch is also seeking young bloggers to contribute articles about what’s going on in their neighborhoods. For the record, Ypulse has a Youth Advisory Board of students aged 14-24 to help keep us and our readers on top of what matters to youth. See what they’ve been talking about in the Youth Advisory Board channel) (Forbes)
Who lives in a pineapple (and rots kids’ brains? SpongeBob SquarePants! Sort of. New research finds that young children who watch fantastical, fast-paced cartoons have a harder time paying attention afterwards than do children who watch more realistic, slower-paced cartoons, such as “Caillou.” The research did not determine how long the detrimental effects last, or if there were similar issues for older children, which is SpongeBob’s intended audience) (MSNBC)
Amazon’s new rent-a-book program (might be just the thing to take e-readers fully mainstream. The rumored program would charge users a regular fee, a la Netflix. Students are embracing e-readers and tablets, with many getting them as graduation gifts or getting their hands on hand-me-downs from their parents, and no doubt they’re grateful not to have to carry loads of heavy books around. If this book rental program does happen, we expect the rollout will be right around the release of the next iteration of the Kindle. Amazon FTW!) (Time Techland)
What’s with the sudden rash of girls’ t-shirts (exclaiming that girls and math don’t mix?! We’re looking at you, JCPenney and Forever 21… Didn’t you guys learn anything from that Barbie fiasco a few years back when our [still] favorite doll declared that “math is hard”??) (Jezebel)