A Letter to My Younger Brother

Before you go online let me give you a few pieces of advice. You may be a know-it-all kid who thinks they’ve got all of technology understood and my advice is simply codgerly rambling. In fact, I’m pretty much certain that’s exactly what you are. You’ve probably been working on ways of getting around some of our parent’s rules about Internet usage. I don’t blame you, that’s a fair description of me at your age, too. Still, if you indulge me I think you’ll find my Pro tips fairly common sense and you’ll save yourself a lot of time.


Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Make sure you always use proper grammar. This is one of the simplest and most basic rules of the Internet. The easiest way to make fun of someone you don’t know online is to attack their grammar. Don’t let “text talk” slip into what you write, no matter how tempting. I will find out, and then I will take time out of my day to personally make fun of you for it.


With the obvious out of the way, let’s move on to the slightly more advanced advice. 

First off, look before speaking. This was described back in my day by the mandate to “lurk moar” (I know the spelling is wrong. Getting into all of the nuance of grammar online is for the master class only, so shut up). What I mean by this is that you want to spend a lot of your time online, starting out, just looking around. Joining in on or, god forbid, starting a conversation with anyone online has a lot of unspoken rules and social mores that are different from site to site. The way you’d talk with people on Club Penguin isn’t the same way you’d talk in the YouTube comments section. You don’t need to talk with anyone if you don’t want to, and when you do want to, make sure you have a general idea of what the people are like first.

Secondly, don’t ever give out any personal information. I can already hear you tuning out, sure that you’ve already got that rule down from your parents hammering it into your head after what must have been a boring and forever-taking lecture, but hear me out. Your personal information doesn’t matter to most people you’ll meet online. You probably won’t get “hacked” and you’re unlikely to run afoul of sketchy dudes who will use your information to follow you around in an equally sketchy van. There’s two very simple reasons why you don’t give out so much as your age or even your first name. First, anything learned about you can and will be used to troll you. Think of it like your online Miranda rights, only you start off guilty and you’re being judged by a court of jerks. Secondly, you can just lie. Seriously, lying about yourself on the Internet is great. It’s kept my identity safe over the years and I love doing it. Sometimes I’m a middle-aged dude with a degree in Business. Other times I’m a teenager from California. Once or twice I’ve put a beautiful girl as my avatar. And my birthday is always January 1st.

Point is, you owe the people you meet online nothing. Look around, explore, and when you feel like you’re ready to join in on the conversation, maybe by then you’ll have the savvy to know what not to say.

Topics in Internet Safety

 CLICK HERE to read articles that Wired Moms were talking about in 2009 - in some ways we have made  improvements and in other ways we still have a great deal of work to do.

News from E3: Video Games for families

Wired Moms E3 recap

By Johner Riehl, Founder & Editorial Director, FamilyFriendlyVideoGames.com

There’s no doubt that the 2012 video game trade show called the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which just concluded in Los Angeles sent a strong message about the future of video games. But it may not have been the best message for families.

Sure, the group that puts on the show, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), touted some impressive statistics about the broad demographics of gaming in a press release highlighting the show. We now know that 49% of American households own a video game console. And that 40% of parents play video games with their kids once a week. These are great facts, and are trends we’d love to see continue.

But yet, from both a family perspective and from an industry perspective, the focus at the E3 trade show on gory and violent games was striking. For parents who may already be a bit fearful of the impact of violent video games on their children, hearing about the next wave of games that involve heavy doses of torture, profanity and bloody death may make them want to invest their money on educational apps instead of game consoles.

However, we waded through gore and found a few console games that families can look forward to this year. These games are set to provide fun, wholesome and in some cases active bonding experiences, and are all perfect for playing together.

Here are the best games for families to play together that we saw at E3 2012:

Wii-U and NintendoLand – By revealing more details about their next generation Wii, Nintendo cemented their status as the trusted brand for families who play video games together. The Wii-U will feature two tablet controllers called GamePads which can be used in games like NintendoLand to allow for all-new types of cooperative and competitive gameplay, such as playing a four against one game of hide and seek, or allowing for a player to help others from their unique GamePad perspective. The games in NintendoLand are based on popular franchises like Zelda, Donkey Kong, Animal Crossing and more, and centered around a theme park setting which is great for family play. The Wii-U will be available this holiday season, with NintendoLand as one of the launch titles, and both are shaping up as absolute must-haves for families.

RabbidsLand – Ubisoft’s Rabbids franchise is long known for a sense of humor that is chock full of bodily noises, toilet jokes and three-stooges-style slapstick. Basically, it's right in the wheelhouse of any elementary-aged boys (and their dads). This new title for Wii-U will play like a board game, and pit the Rabbids against in each other in any variety of sophomoric circumstances in the virtual RabbidsLand theme park. We can’t wait to play this one at our weekly family game night when it comes out this fall.

Dance Games –The two best dance franchises for families are coming back for more this year. Just Dance 4 uses the Wii-U gamepad to let one player help select the dance moves that are coming next for up to four of their friends and family. Dance Central 3 for Kinect features celebrity choreographers like Usher teaching routines and moves that are used in real-life concerts. And there’s even Just Dance Disney Party designed for younger kids to dance around to Disney favorites from movies and the current slate of shows on the Disney Channel.

Kinect TV Games – Designed in conjunction with the real-life shows, Kinect Nat Geo TV and Kinect Sesame Street TV from Microsoft place parents and kids into the onscreen action, allowing for co-playing opportunities as well as simply co-viewing. For example, after watching a lesson from Nat Geo about how Grizzly Bears eat, you’ll need to get off the couch and swipe and chomp fish like a grizzly bear on-screen. These are the ultimate play-together experiences and are great for families with young kids. The Kinect TV games are due out this holiday.

Skylanders Giants – If you’re family hasn’t gotten into Skylanders yet, you definitely should as it’s clearly becoming one of the biggest toy and gaming crazes since Pokémon. Just as in the 2011 smash hit, this holiday’s Skylanders Giants from Activision allows players to take their real-life toys and place them on the portal of power to control their creatures within the video game. It’s a perfect two-player cooperative experience, figurines from the original Skylanders will work with Skylanders Giants, and there are nearly 40 new figures to collect this holiday season. Start saving now, because Skylanders Giants are bound to be THE hottest toy for the holidays yet again.

Epic Mickey 2 – This game is being published by Disney and is designed with the fact that parents will be playing with their kids in mind. That alone should be enough to convince you that this will be a great cooperative experience for families, but the improved graphics on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, along with lessons learned from last year’s darker-themed Epic Mickey, leave us with high hopes for Mickey and Oswald as they travel through classic Disney environments, applying paint or thinner as necessary to solve puzzles and defeat bad guys.

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – Nearly any conversation about playing games together includes a Lego game of some sort, and this year’s entry in the Lego series will definitely appeal to nearly everyone in the family. Featuring non-violent and perfectly-challenging gameplay, as well as the trademark Lego sense of humor, Lego Batman 2 will let players take control of Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman the flash and dozens more DC comic characters.

Johner Riehl is a freelance writer focusing on family technology and online safety. As founder and editorial director for FamilyFriendlyVideoGames.com, a site that provides reviews and recommendations geared towards families, he examines hundreds of family-friendly games and apps every year. He’s also been a PR rep for Nintendo, Microsoft, Midway and more. TWITTER: @FamilyTechDad & @FmlyFrndlyVdGms