Kids and the New Social Media
Have you met a six-year-old child who knows how to turn off, on, and restart computer and laptop? How about a preschooler who knows how to look for a file/folder that contains music and plays it using NOT JUST Windows Media Player BUT ALSO VLC? A child who logs on to a website and knows that he has to type in the Search box to find what he is looking for? A kid who can operate Skype and can change status and mood of your account? A child who recognizes the need to disable and enable internet connection and knows how to do it? If not, then you have to meet my brother. 🙂
And! Are you using Windows Movie Maker or Ulead to edit videos and music? Here’s what my brother uses instead of those (CLICK).
I am sure that not only my brother is like this. Many children nowadays, ages 10 and below, are already computer-literate and techy. From the children’s interest in toys, cartoons, animes, to their exposure in the Internet, websites, and of course, new social media. 
Yes, new social media, indeed. New social media is not just for teens, yuppies, and (catching up) grownups, but is now also for children.
What might have introduced children to new social media?
- Cartoons and animes promoting their websites during their airtime.
- Older siblings and parents of children using new social media like podcasts, wikis, blogs, video blogs, (especially) social networking sites, and others.
- Innate urge of children to interact and not just watch and listen to the sacred box. Children may be very visual but they are after interaction too.
If you will notice, websites for children like Cartoon Network Philippines, Disney, Petpet Park, and Nickelodeon have their own strategies for children continue going to their site. These sites have games, videos about latest products and shows, music, contests, online news, downloadable wallpapers, video and game comments, communities that serve as social networks, polls, posts by visitors, quizzes, and even forums.
In these, we can see that even children are starting to adapt the roles of new social media in their simple way of living. How much more in the years to come after they leave childhood?
**Note: If you are my sister’s contact in Facebook, 80% of her morning posts there are done by my little brother. If you message her and she replies “no macy,” it means that my brother is using her Facebook account to play applications and he is telling you that “macy,” my sister, is not around. 🙂
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The Purple Lover
Dominique AnneRecent Comments
PURPLEINACTION 
you can do editing in hasbro? anyways, another thing that introduces kids to new social media is school. I could just remember how we were taught about the computer and the Internet way back in elementary. But now, in the case of my siblings, they have been introduced to the computer as early as pre-school and was adept with search engines by early elementary years. It’s actually amusing how photoshop has been a part of the curriculum in first year high. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day my siblings who are 8 years younger than I am and your brother who is 14 younger than you are, can do a lot better job on the computer/Internet than we do now.
my brother cant play with Ulead and Windows Movie Maker. But if we, yuppies (see that!haha), use these applications to edit videos, my brother can also edit videos (although fictional) in hasbro the way he wants to. Look at the layout of hasbro, it looks like the real video editing applications hehe!
I totally forgot including “school” in my entry. I agree with you, young students now receive more computer lessons than we did during our time.
Let me share this, when my brother studied for a while in NY, each kinder students in their school were given their own email and some homeworks were sent online. Cute!
they start them young! 🙂 i have a two-year old niece who knows how to open a laptop and pretend that she’s typing something. she even knows how to use the mouse already.
who knows, they might be asked to do a blog in first grade. so shame on us 😀
so cute! my brother started that way too!
haha! i won’t be surprised if a blog will be his homework few years from now.
Wow! So the question now is: When will your brother join the ranks of bloggers?
I think he’ll be interested in blogging too. He speaks good English, way better than I did when I was in his age. About the question “when,” I just have to wait for that until he’s over with his toys, cartoons, and online games hehe!
Kids have always been smarter than people have given them credit for.
Agree! they are cute, outspoken, and smart. That’s why there are already TV shows that use kids’ witty responses to questions as the highlight of the shows.
Daryl’s a smart kid. Don’t be surprised, really, kids nowadays are fast learners. Maybe because of technological trends.
wow nikki. your lil bro might even be techy-er than me. LOL. it’s a nice thing that kids nowadays are not just computer literate, but also internet lovers. but then again, their online activities have to be monitored by parents/guardians/siblings for them not to get exposed to the dark side of NSM.
i just wish i had a little brother like daryl.hahaha!but really, kids these days are getting smarter and smarter.there really is hope for the future!
i’m like..good.
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