You might think that with social media options such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and others, teens would have enough online friends. But apparently you’d be wrong. In fact, an entirely new class of apps is emerging euphemistically called “social discovery” apps. These apps, such as Hoop, Wink, Yubo and Monkey, piggyback on Snapchat to […]
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You wouldn’t think that a biography of 19th president Rutherford B. Hayes would keep one up at night. In truth, it was one of the reasons I was reading said biography. Can’t sleep? Rutherford B. Hayes’ mixed record on reconstruction will knock you right out. But there I was, still reading—an hour after I’d intended […]
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This past week, I reviewed Apple TV+’s newest show Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet for Plugged In. The show piqued my interest for a couple of reasons. Namely, because as someone who spends some free time playing video games, I want to see a broader representation of the modern-day gamer beyond the stereotypical “cute and lovable […]
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A few months ago, my husband convinced me to buy Amazon’s Echo Dot. I was skeptical at first. To be honest, I didn’t want Alexa listening in on all my business, but he gave some pretty compelling reasons as to how Alexa might help streamline our life. I would be able to change the channel, […]
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Being a tween or teen has probably never been an easy thing. But the pressures faced by adolescents today—especially girls—are amplified in many ways by technology and social media. Author, speaker and regular Focus on the Family Broadcast guest Jessie Minassian has thought a lot about these issues. Her website, Life, Love and God: Where […]
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Parents of teens and tweens may be familiar with TikTok, a popular social media app that allows you to create videos by lip-synching or dancing along to songs. However, parents might not be as familiar with the problematic content on the app. When ABC News scrolled through TikTok’s content, they found videos of teens “talking […]
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It’s a generational rite of passage for oldsters to begin stories with the line, “When I was your age … ” When we’re young, we roll our eyes. And then one day, we do it ourselves. Consider yourselves warned. OK, I’m not that old. But—here it is—when I was my now-12-year-old son’s age in the […]
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You may never have heard the term “burner phone” before. But if you’ve seen a spy movie in the last, oh, 20 years or so, you already know what a burner phone is. Simply put, a burner phone is typically a cheap, disposable, low-tech mobile phone with an anonymous phone number that can’t be tracked […]
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Can you believe we’re slip-sliding into summer once more? Yes indeedy. So while you’re breaking out your shorts and T-shirts and waiting for the official start of the sunshine season on June 21st—not to mention anticipating the upcoming blockbuster movie season—let’s see what’s new in the realm of streaming this month. Netflix Netflix will be […]
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Editor’s Note: If you’ve read anything from us here at Plugged In within the last few months, you’ve probably stumbled across an article or two that deals with mental health. Some have asked why this is such a big deal. Let me tell you. First, statistics show that mental health issues are on the rise, […]
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You have a smartphone, right? Well, put it down. Right now. (Unless, of course, you’re reading this on your phone. In which case, finish reading, send us money and then put it down.) Because—news flash—our phones can mess with our real-world lives and relationships something awful. I know, I know. We’ve said this sort of […]
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Underneath the reviews, the blog posts, the vodcasts and Twitter missives, Plugged In is built on one basic premise: Media matters. The entertainment we consume—the stories we watch and read and listen to and play—impact us deeply, and on levels we might not fully realize. Obviously, the relationship between entertainment and its real-world impact is […]
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Few inventions have reshaped culture the way television has. Since its mainstream emergence in the 1950s, television has both reflected cultural values and reinforced them, too. Since 1995, the Parents Television Council has sought to equip parents with information they need to better understand this medium’s influence, especially on children. The PTC has played strong […]
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The world was horrified last week when news spread of the horrific shooting that claimed the lives of 50 people at two New Zealand mosques on March 15. And though similar mass shootings around the world have become a terrible recurring story over the last couple of decades, such wanton carnage increasingly has a disturbing […]
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A whopping 84 Grammys were awarded this year (though not all were obviously doled out during Sunday night’s Grammy Award telecast). Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, took home three of them, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Lady Gaga picked up a couple, too. Country star Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour took […]
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