La Piazza

Published by Ana Etxebarria

It is clear that the number of applications for smartphones and tablets is almost infinite. There is pretty much an application for everything, and it is fair to say that some of the apps are that divine that they even try to simplify the difficult task of being a parent, helping us find and organize fun activities to keep our children entertained. Plus, many of them are also FREE, so what more could you ask for?

If we focus on the upbringing and education of our children, we also find countless options. There are applications that advise you on what you should and should not do from the moment you know you’re pregnant. Others help you find the name of your baby. Others suggest how to organize a birthday party for the youngest lot. Other apps can tell you where to find parks with swings. Other applications can even help you find your kids if you lose them in a mall before you even have the time to get hysterical. Other apps will suggest physical activities to strengthen their still feeble musculature. Other, other, other …. I could spend hours listing applications for parents and there would still be hundreds, thousands, millions to be discovered.

And, of course, among all these fancy stuff, there are also applications which are most questionable. For example, Tymoot. Pronounced like Time Out, it refers to those moments where your children are sent to their room “to reflect” about the latest deed committed. It is therefore an application that will help us manage the punishments to impose on our children. It is advertised as the “ultimate mobile discipline tool”, which actually sounds quite funny …

The way it works is simple. Enter the birthdates of your children and the app will give you the suggested duration of the punishment in accordance with the children’s age. A priori, this task should not be that complicated for us, as parents and as inexperienced Internet users, as to need a specific application. Everyone knows that the ideal is one minute for each year of the child. But the best is yet to come!

The section entitled “Wheel of Discipline” is advertised as “horrible and terrifying” and it does sound like a sort of medieval torture. It actually does not go that far. It is simply a wheel where punishments of the most varied type are drawn. For example, forcing one child to be present when his/her brother is given preferential treatment or make the child wear clothing of the opposite sex if the child has shown sexist behaviour …

It’s okay for parents to need support. Clearly the world has become so complex that we are extremely vulnerable, but this should not lead to anyone taking advantage of our weaknesses, our lack of time and our inexperience to sell nonsense that will distract us from our real obligations.

Do you feel too burdened by useless applications?, Do you dare to make your own ranking of silly applications? To break the ice, I will start:

Birth Buddy: a woman who is going to give birth is supposed to enter the frequency and duration of contractions …

Published by Leyre Velasco

There can be no denying that social networking is booming, to the point that head-hunters are increasingly using social media to find and research candidates, as we explained on a previous post on online reputation. That’s why it is so important to take good care of it.

However, can you build a certain online reputation deliberately? Well, yes you can. Nevertheless, it will most likely be a reputation based on exaggeration and, occasionally, sheer lie. The Straight Talking Report, a survey commissioned by UK insurance company Direct Line, has revealed that people are more likely to lie on social networking sites like Twitter than in a face-to-face conversation. According to the research, only one in five people claim to be more honest on Twitter or via text messages, compared to a third who say that they are more frank when talking to someone in real life.

In addition, men tend to lie more via text messages than women (17 percent of men compared to 21 percent of women). Another nugget: Women are less likely to be truthful in person than men, with 12 percent more men claiming to be honest face-to-face than women.

In my opinion, this is perfectly normal for a number of reasons:

Firstly, lying is an in-built part of human nature.

Secondly, there is no body language on the Web, and we all know that in real life there are sometimes subtle movements –a gesture, a look, a blush – that can help to differentiate between a lie and the truth.

And finally there is the concept of the relationship between mask and online identity as defined by Dorian Wiszniewski and Richard Coyne. Basically, they point out that whenever an individual interacts in a social sphere they portray a mask of their identity. And this is even more so when social interaction takes place on the Internet, due to the conscious decisions made by the individual to manage their online reputation.

Social networks like Facebook let you design your own image through posts, tweets, comments, opinions, etc. It is obvious that slightly molding the ‘real you’ is absolutely normal as when you are online anyone can see you, read your comments and opinions, etc… and you are more exposed to criticism. Everything depends on the level of honesty you have when creating your online reputation.

What about you? Where do you have your most honest interactions – online or off?

Posted by Leyre Velasco

I have always thought that my mother was anything but naive. She has lived enriching experiences, has had a very intense working life with a high degree of responsibility and is practical, astute and witty. Let us say that she is not easy to rip off. At least, that’s what I thought.

Last Christmas, over one of many family get-togethers, she candidly announced:

“I have won an IPhone online”.

Somewhat stunned I asked:  “Win? IPhone? Online?”

Calmly, she replied:  “Yes, I won it over the Internet. I got a message on screen saying I had been selected over thousands of visitors and that the IPhone will be delivered to my address”.

At this point, my 12 year old daughter could not help the giggles.

I (rhetorically) asked: “Did you believe that?”

“Sure, – she replied -, why shouldn’t I?”

Getting seriously frightened, I asked:  “Which data did you provide?”

“Oh,  – my mother said – nothing much, just my email address and my postal address.”

So far, she has been getting emails requesting her participation on further contests but no mention of the IPhone, of course.

My mother was not at all conscious of the implications of her naivity. Because fraud through pop-ups is probably one of the oldest frauds there is on the Internet. Behind the so-called prizes there might be professional fraudsters, well able to spoof your identity or, without any scruples, make use of your personal data, all for economic benefit.

My mother is a regular Internet user. Her naivity is fruit of her lack of knowledge regarding the dangers of the Internet. That is why I believe it is so important to spread good Internet practises in order to raise awareness among different types of users. We teach our daughter security guidelines and therefore, she is cautious. My mother – up until now – has always browsed alone, no Jiminy Cricket around

How can you protect yourself?

• It is very important to have an antivirus program that includes a spam filter installed and up-to-date. Any of Panda Security’s solutions will protect you against these kind of threats.
• Check the source of information received. Ignore any pop-up that asks for your personal or financial information.
• Scan you computer for free.
• Inform yourself. We recommend pages on security, for instance, this blog or the Security Info page.

Luckily, my mother never provided her credit card details. Otherwise, she could have been in serious trouble. She has now installed the antivirus, scanned the computer and hopefully, from now onwards, she will be more cautious when browsing the net.

How about you? Have you ever been ripped off online? Tell us your experiences!

Published by Ana Etxebarria

Continuing our series of articles on children and new technologies, today we give you some simple tips to make sure your children stay safe on the Internet.

Last week I posted an article describing two different approaches to parenting in the digital age: controlling and permissive; and despite I am clearly in favor of the latter approach, I am also aware that you cannot lower your guard when dealing with Internet risks.

I still believe that interaction on the Internet is not very different from real-world interaction, and people who manage well in real life do at least equally well in the virtual world. In any event, I must admit the online world may pose additional risks due to the Internet’s immunity and anonymity.

How can you help your children deal with that threat?

1. Just as you know about your children’s friends, you better also know who your child contacts on the Internet.
2. Keep an eye on how much time your children spend online, including other points of Internet access too, like smartphones and gaming consoles.
3. Just as you teach your children never to talk to strangers or accept gifts from them, remind them never to physically meet anyone they’ve only become friends with online. If they decide to meet a cyber-friend in person, go with them.
4. Talk to kids about the types of information they post online and how it can impact their reputation and future. Kids can unknowingly give out personal details about their life that could be maliciously used… And embarrassing and inappropriate photos and comments can stay with you forever.
5. Teach them to be cautious with giving too much personal information, such as their location, their parents’ working hours, hobbies, etc. The less potential ‘unfriends’, the better.
6. As Facebook makes frequent changes to its privacty policy, it is a good idea to sit with your kids and check out their online profiles with them. Pay special attention to their privacy settings and which messages, photos and personal details are accesible to whom.

Are you comfortable monitoring your child’s online world? What are your family’s technology ground rules?