You Make It, They Buy It
More companies are encouraging consumers to actively engage with brands by letting them help create products

The rise of social media has put a little zip in our virtual step—and clever companies are making good use of consumers’ more proactive stance. Take Threadless, which asks users to submit T-shirt designs, then lets its community vote; favorite designs get produced. It knows users will be more engaged with the brand if they are allowed to directly [...]

“[In a city, you are] surrounded all the time by possibilities that you don’t realise exist.” —Dennis Crowley, Twitter co-founder (source: the Guardian)
Cell phones aren’t simple phones anymore; of course, you can still call or text people, but for a couple of years, they’ve become “smart.” They’ve become the urban Swiss Army knives, where each blade is a new function and/or application. A simple poster at a bus stop can now lead us further: new app, new places, new experience, exclusive content, [...]

I’m not in on the online dating game, but lately everywhere I go, it’s all everyone is talking about. Perhaps it’s because many of my single friends are considering it or have already delved into the cosmic world of online dating (usually out of pure frustration with the men or women they’re meeting—or not meeting—in the “real” world).
Or maybe my peers are finally embracing the fact that we live in a digital world, so why not cast a larger net [...]

Dads Rule
Sweden leads the way in a trend in the world’s industrialized nations for paid paternity leave

In Sweden, two of the 13 months of paid parental leave must be taken by fathers (many couples opt to split the time up more equitably). U.K. initiatives are trying to encourage men to take the two weeks’ paid leave for which all new dads are eligible and at the same time to encourage employers to give new dads more PTO than the [...]

Not the Marrying Kind—Yet
U.S. millennials are adopting the more European lifestyle of cohabitating for longer, marrying later

A combination of factors has coincided to create a group of young people in the U.S. who are looking more like their peers in European countries—in the areas of love and marriage, anyway. More millennials are taking the plunge…of moving in together rather than getting married. Twice as many of the parents of millennials were married when they were the age their kids [...]

Text S for Stalking
The darker side of texting has been revealed in a new and potentially dangerous practice called textual harassment

Teens text more than they talk on the phone—that’s a fact. Unfortunately, they are also using texting more often as a means to threaten, control or bother. It’s called textual harassment, and parents and school officials are trying to shine a light on the practice, since it can be easily missed by adults who aren’t used to closely monitoring [...]

Hurts Like Teen Spirit
Teens and tweens are displaying a greater propensity for risky behavior in social network arenas

It’s bad enough when parents exploit their children for Internet fame or financial gain, but what happens when it’s the kids exploiting themselves for their own 15 minutes of YouTube notoriety? That’s the scenario being played out more and more frequently as adolescents try to outdo themselves with outlandish—and often quite dangerous—stunts to post online, including feats involving flaming basketballs, moving vehicles [...]

Kids Inc.
Are we finally fed up with parents trying to make money—or gain fame—by putting their children into dangerous, or just unsavory, situations?

The groundswell has been building, slowly but steadily, for some time. But as parents seem to be going to ever greater lengths—and greater levels of kidsploitation—to gain fame, make money, nab a reality TV show (or all three), you can almost hear public disapproval growing. Remember the Heenes? They tried to make us believe their son was [...]