Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

What's Hot? 2/26/10

Top 10 Increasing Web Searches on Bing - 2/26/10
 1. killer whale
 2. sea world
 3. american idol
 4. seaworld
 5. hannah storm
 6. shamu
 7. carnival cruise lines
 8. bloom energy
 9. orca
10. wnep
Source: Bing

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 2/26/10
 1. Google
 2. Facebook
 3. Yahoo!
 4. YouTube
 5. Wikipedia
 6. MySpace
 7. Blogger.com
 8. Windows Live
 9. eBay
10. Amazon.com
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Downloaded Songs - 2/26/10
 1. Imma Be
           - Black Eyed Peas
 2. Hey, Soul Sister
           - Train
 3. Need You Now
           - Lady Antebellum
 4. In My Head
           - Jason Derulo
 5. Blah Blah Blah (feat. 3OH!3)
           - Ke$ha
 6. Rude Boy
           - Rihanna
 7. TiK ToK
            - Ke$ha
 8. Baby (feat. Ludacris)
            - Justin Bieber
 9. BedRock
            - Young Money & Lloyd
10. Bad Romance
           - Lady GaGa
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 2/21/10
 1. Wntr Olympics - Wed. Prime
 2. Wntr Olympics - Sat. Prime
 3. Wntr Olympics - Thur. Prime
 4. Wntr Olympics - Mon. Prime
 5. Wntr Olympics - Fri. Prime
 6. Wntr Olympics - Sun. Prime
 7. American Idol - Tuesday
 8. Wntr Olympics - Tue. Prime
 9. American Idol - Wednesday
10. Undercover Boss
Source: Nielsen Co.

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 2/18/10
 1. Valentine's Day
 2. Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
 3. The Wolfman
 4. Avatar
 5. Dear John
Source: Box Office Mojo

Facebook Users Average 7 Hours a Month

In a monthly view of U.S. Internet activity for top parent companies and web brands, The Nielsen Company found that the average time users spend using Facebook per month grew nearly 10%, topping seven hours during the month of January.

Also noteworthy, the number of those actively using the web grew 3.8%, to slightly more than 203 million users, according to the report.

Source: Nielsen Company
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/facebook-users-average-7-hrs-a-month-in-january-as-digital-universe-expands/

More Teens Text

More teens are choosing texting over instant messaging as their preferred method of communication, according to the latest TeenMark study from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI).

Some 57% of teenagers report they text messaged on their cell phones in the last 30 days, compared to 42% who instant messaged on a computer in the same time frame, according to the TeenMark study.

With affordable unlimited texting plans available from most cell phone carriers, it’s easier than ever for teenagers to use their thumbs to communicate. The number of teens who text has increased 50% since 2007, vs. a 13% decline in the number of teens using instant messaging. Texting is now the #1 feature teens use on mobile cell phones, aside from making phone calls.

Not only are more teens texting, there is ample evidence that texting holds an important place in teens’ lives. For instance, 78% of teens who text agree that “text messaging is an important part of my daily life.” And, 75% of texting teens report they text while watching TV. The most common reason teens text is to communicate with friends and family.

Source: Wireless and Mobile News
http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com/2010/02/more-teens-text-txtng-vip-2teens-says-mri.html

LG Mobile Launches Texting Campaign, Website for Parents

LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. (LG Mobile Phones) today introduced LG Text Ed, a multifaceted campaign that provides parents with the know-how and resources they need to promote responsible mobile phone usage among their text-savvy children. Through extensive in-depth research, LG discovered that mobile phone misuse such as sexting, harassment, sending gossipy texts, and forwarding inappropriate images is prevalent among today’s teenage youth. Yet, many parents are still in the dark about the myriad ways kids can misuse their mobile phones.

A first-of-its-kind program among mobile phone manufacturers in the U.S., LG Text Ed includes an advisory council of experts who will provide parents with information on a range of topics—from sexting to phone etiquette to driving while texting—via a new website: www.LGTextEd.com. Building on its highly praised Give It A Ponder viral campaign that targets teens with comedic and lighthearted web-based videos, LG Text Ed will reach parents through a dedicated website and a variety of online and public service type marketing platforms.

Designed to be a one-stop-shop for anyone seeking guidance on text messaging behavior, the LG Text Ed website will house resources from the advisory council such as monthly articles, tips, videos and an interactive question and answer forum. Other tools include www.lgdtxtr.com, a site that allows parents to familiarize themselves with common texting terminology and to decode cryptic text messages their kids may be using.

Source: MultiVu
http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/lg-one/42589/

More Generations Living Under Same Roof

More generations are living under the same roof and the trend will deepen as families grappling with near double-digit unemployment share expenses, a study showed on Monday.

Demand is escalating for multi-generational housing as buyers scale down during the deepest housing crisis since the Great Depression, according to a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Thirty-seven percent of the company's real estate agents polled in January said that in the past year, buyers were increasingly shopping for homes that fit more than one generation. Almost 70 percent of the agents said they expect economic conditions will drive still greater demand for this type of housing over the next year.

"More buyers are pooling investments, considering bringing mom and dad into it," said Diann Patton, a Coldwell Banker real estate consumer specialist based in Grass Valley, California, in an interview with Reuters.

Buyers were primarily driven by financial concerns when deciding to combine generations in a household, the survey found. Health concerns were the second most common reason and strong family bonds a distant third.

Source: Reuters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100222/ts_nm/us_usa_housing_multigenerational

What's Hot? 2/19/10

Top 10 Increasing Web Searches on Bing - 2/19/10
 1. shaun white
 2. austin plane crash
 3. american idol
 4. curling
 5. lindsey vonn
 6. delta air lines
 7. joseph andrew stack
 8. chris golightly
 9. top 24 american idol
10. olympic games
Source: Bing

Top 10 U.S. Websites - 2/19/10
 1. Google
 2. Facebook
 3. Yahoo!
 4. YouTube
 5. Wikipedia
 6. MySpace
 7. Blogger.com
 8. Windows Live
 9. eBay
10. Amazon.com
Source: Alexa

iTunes Top 10 Downloaded Songs - 2/19/10
 1. We Are the World 25
           - Artists for Haiti
 2. Imma Be
           - Black Eyed Peas
 3. Hey, Soul Sister
           - Train
 4. Need You Now
           - Lady Antebellum
 5. TiK ToK
            - Ke$ha
 6. BedRock
            - Young Money & Lloyd
 7. Blah Blah Blah (feat. 3OH!3)
           - Ke$ha
 8. In My Head
           - Jason Derulo
 9. Baby (feat. Ludacris)
           - Justin Bieber
10. Bad Romance
           - Lady GaGa
Source: Apple iTunes

Top 10 TV Shows in Prime Time - Week Ending 2/14/10
 1. Winter Olympics Opening
 2. American Idol - Tues.
 3. Wntr Olympics - Sun. Prime
 4. Wntr Olympics - Sat. Prime
 5. American Idol - Wed.
 6. NCIS
 7. NCIS: Los Angeles
 8. Two and a Half Men
 9. The Mentalist
10. The Big Bang Theory
Source: Nielsen Co.

Top 5 Movies - Week Ending 2/11/10
 1. Dear John
 2. Avatar
 3. From Paris with Love
 4. Edge of Darkness
 5. Tooth Fairy
Source: Box Office Mojo

Olympic Village Secret: Cold Days, Hot Nights

Ughhh. Athletes staying at the Olympic Village for the Vancouver games also get the equivalent of 14 condoms per person. Wow. Perhaps Olympic athletes should receive some abstinence training along with their athletic training...

It may be the most exclusive neighborhood in the world. Money can’t buy a room there: The only currency accepted is supreme athletic talent.

It’s the Olympic Village, and its residents are the strongest, fastest, most competitive and most confident men and women in the world. Scattered among this population of athletic heroes are the greatest champions from across the globe, people who have won multiple Olympic medals and world titles and dominate their sports.

The citizens of the village are young, remarkably healthy, and the definition of physically attractive. In such an environment, flirting is as natural as breathing.

Inevitably, some athletes get beyond flirting. That’s why the Vancouver organizers have laid in a stock of 100,000 condoms, which works out to 14 for each of the 7,000 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials housed in the Games’ two villages. (Apparently, skiing, skating and sliding aren’t the only activities at which Olympians excel.)

Too many perhaps? Lots of leftover surplus stock? Apparently not. The distribution of free condoms at the Olympics goes back at least to 1992 and Barcelona. In 2000, Sydney organizers thought that 70,000 would be enough. They were wrong and had to send out for 20,000 more.

Source: Today / MSNBC
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35439222/ns/today-today_in_vancouver

Lack of Morning Light Keeping Teenagers Up at Night

The first field study on the impact of light on teenagers' sleeping habits finds that insufficient daily morning light exposure contributes to teenagers not getting enough sleep.

"As teenagers spend more time indoors, they miss out on essential morning light needed to stimulate the body's 24-hour biological system, which regulates the sleep/wake cycle," reports Mariana Figueiro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Program Director at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center (LRC) and lead researcher on the new study.

"These morning-light-deprived teenagers are going to bed later, getting less sleep and possibly under-performing on standardized tests. We are starting to call this the teenage night owl syndrome."

In the study just published in Neuroendocrinology Letters, Dr. Figueiro and LRC Director Dr. Mark Rea found that eleven 8th grade students who wore special glasses to prevent short-wavelength (blue) morning light from reaching their eyes experienced a 30-minute delay in sleep onset by the end of the 5-day study.

The problem is that today's middle and high schools have rigid schedules requiring teenagers to be in school very early in the morning. These students are likely to miss the morning light because they are often traveling to and arriving at school before the sun is up or as it's just rising. "This disrupts the connection between daily biological rhythms, called circadian rhythms, and the earth's natural 24-hour light/dark cycle," explains Dr. Figueiro.

In addition, the schools are not likely providing adequate electric light or daylight to stimulate this biological or circadian system, which regulates body temperature, alertness, appetite, hormones and sleep patterns. Our biological system responds to light much differently than our visual system. It is much more sensitive to blue light. Therefore, having enough light in the classroom to read and study does not guarantee that there is sufficient light to stimulate our biological system.

Source: Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100216140305.htm

Chatroulette Shines Webcam Where Kids Shouldn't Look

I ran across another article about the popular Chatroulette website I posted about earlier in the week. Chatroulette allows people to video chat with random strangers... The author warns parents to keep their kids away from the site.

Make sure there are no kids in the room if you plan on trying out the Chatroulette video chat service. While I was able to have a couple of very nice conversations with fully clothed polite individuals, I saw some things I would rather have avoided as I tested this relatively new service.

When you first enter the site you'll see two large black boxes and a blank area for text chat. As soon as you click "play," you'll see a stranger's picture in the top box and--at least on my machine--a notice asking if you wish to allow the site to access your video camera. If you click "allow," you'll see your picture in the bottom box.

And that's where the fun--or nausea--starts.

On a couple of occasions, I saw people who hung around long enough to start a conversation either through the Webcam microphone or by text chat.

Unfortunately, I also saw some things that I didn't find particular appealing, including a few men who were touching themselves while the camera focused on their genitals. I didn't hang around long enough to start up a conversation. There is only so far I'm willing to go in pursuit of a story.

Source: CNET News
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10454519-238.html

Girl Drivers Have Become More Agressive Than Boys

A recently released survey conducted by the Allstate Foundation in 2009 reveals that attitudes are shifting among teen drivers. Girls now report they're more likely to to drive aggressively and speed than boys.

Today's teen drivers say their biggest distraction in driving is... texting.

Among the findings:
• 16% of girls describe their driving as aggressive, up from 9% in 2005
• 13% of boys describe their driving as aggressive, down from 20% in 2005
• Nearly half (48%) of girls admit they are likely to speed more than 10 m.p.h. over the limit, versus 36% of boys
• More than 49% of teens report texting as a distraction, up from 31% in 2005
• 82% of teens report using cell phones while driving, while 23% admit to drinking and driving
• 51% of girls are likely to use a cell phone to talk, text or email while driving, versus 38% of boys

Historically, teen boy drivers have paid higher rates for insurance than girls. Will the changes in reported attitudes and behaviors result in parents paying more to insure their teen girls? It's probably too early to tell as rates are largely set by accident claim demographics. But if increased aggressive driving and speeding among teen girls results in more accidents, then it is likely that their insurance rates will begin to climb.

Source: Allstate Foundation
http://www.allstate.com/foundation/teen-driving/Shifting-Teen-Attitudes.aspx