Ellegirl.com gutted (So sad. I thought they were doing ok. They laid off fashion editor Joyann King; senior editor Holly Seigal) (Paid Content)

- Dove fires back (says ads were not digitally altered, at least not "substantially") (AdAge.com, reg. required)

- Beyonce's creepy new kids' line (a little too adult for the Romper Room set. And Perez Hilton has a new fashion line, too) (Gawker)

- Grand Theft Childhood (reviewed by Ars Technica - in a nutshell: games don't make teens killers. Plus game sellers getting better at enforcing ratings, i.e. not selling M rated games to teens and tweens)

- Mobile social networking (is growing. Plus youth consume the most online video. And stats on the aging hip hop/urban youth market) (MarketingVOX) (MarketingCharts) (Media Post, reg. required)

- MySpace goes portable; let's users share (allowing you to import your data on lots of sites) (SFGate.com)

- You have to watch 'real' news (to get Jon Stewart....according to this think tank.) (AP)

- The greening of campus food (Plus Gradspot.com offers a free eBook on life after college.) (WireTap)

P.S. If any Ypulse readers attended the Joan Cooney Ganz Center Symposium today and would like to write a guest post summarizing -- let me know! They released two papers: The Power of Pow! Wham!: Children, Digital Media and Our Nation's Future and a policy brief from Dr. James Paul Gee. And more research on parents' perspectives on digital kids.

P.P.S. Here's another silly but fun Obama video for all you supporters out there. Have a great weekend!

Posted by anastasia

'Deathbowl to Downtown' (cool looking doc about the New York City skateboarding scene from the 70s 'till now - thanks Bill!)

- Grand Theft Auto biggest selling game... (ever. I get to hear it being played for the next few weeks in my living room) (Reuters)

- More 'advertainment' on MTV (the network will be creating more branded entertainment. Plus the nerds of "Superbad" rule the MTV Movie Award noms) (New York Times, reg. required) (Reuters)

- Turner's comedy site Super Deluxe (to be absorbed into Adult Swim...anyone heard much about Funny or Die lately?) (NewTeeVee)

- Tweens abandoning Miley? (maybe, but the ratings decline seems to have started before the Vanity Fair photos) (Gawker)

- Dove's 'real beauty' (not so real. Evidently the "real" looking women were airbrushed - big credibility blow) (AdAge.com, reg. required)

- School administrators concerned (about teens hopped up on energy drinks - thanks Andrea!) (The Moderate Voice)

- Fashionspace (social networking for fashionistas last year is evidently doing pretty well. And check out Coolspotters where you can find out how to dress like your favorite celeb. Plus Stardoll launches an app for girls to design their own virtual clothes) (Reuters) (Media Post, reg. required)

- If you love M.I.A.'s colorful videos (you'll probably love her new fashion line) (PSFK)

- Salvia madness (evidently kids' posting videos of themselves high on Salvia is helping to get the drug banned. Plus Facebook about to launch major new safety measures. And a new UK safety campaign for little kiddies online called Hector's World) (Gawker) (Tech Crunch) (BBC)

- Teen pregnancy prevention (goes viral - with a new campaign from our friends at Nextgreatthing.com)

- Totally wired youth activism (danah has the scoop and an essay in a new book focused on youth leveraging social media to organize)

Posted by anastasia

I wanted to let Ypulse readers know about a couple of great events happening -- one IRL (in real life) in the Bay Area and another streamed live online. First up is an event put on by SDForum, the leading Silicon Valley not-for-profit organization providing an unbiased source of information and insight to the technology community for the past 23 years. The SDForum has also been a valued partner of Ypulse in helping us promote our annual Mashup event. Next week (May 13) they will be hosting Teens Plugged In! Their Second Annual Teens in Technology Conference in San Jose. This conference really focuses on supporting teen entrepreneurs and seems incredibly cool. Highlights include:

- Profile in Entrepreneurship: Anshul Samar, Alchemist Empire, Inc.
- High School Panel
- Marketing to Teens: A View from the Tech Community
- What will Happen? Teens in the Workforce
- Profile in Entrepreneurship: Salina Truong, Gumball Capital
- Investing in Teens and Teen Products: What Does it Take to Succeed?
- What's Happening with Teen Entrepreneurs?
- Inspiring Teens in Technology and Entrepreneurship: What Non-Profits are Doing

Ypulse publisher Charles Pelton will be at the SDForum event -- silver hair, black Converse high tops. If you see him, say hello.

The other event is the live webcast tomorrow of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center Inaugural Symposium, Logging Into the Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children's Learning. I was invited to attend, but am speaking at another event in San Jose on May 13th (which is why I won't be at the SDForum event) and then catching a Red Eye to Toronto (I'm tired just thinking about this). Didn't want to zig zag across the country. This event is packed with heavy hitters from industry, academia and the non-profit/foundation space. It is literally the embodiment of what I wrote about needing to happen in my BusinessWeek Online column a few months back. Check out their full agenda here (.pdf). Of course it starts streaming at 6 a.m. for us west coast folks (ouch). I hope they will put video up on YouTube later as well.

Posted by anastasia

Real Teen Secrets (another teen confession site -- with no moderation or resources)

- To stream (or not to stream? More discussion on The CW, "Gossip Girl" and cannibalizing TV. Plus Channel One goes digital) (AdAge.com, reg. required) (Media Post, reg. required)

- Jessica Biel (and her dad launch another cause oriented social networking site)

- More Miley redux (parents outraged, tweens don't care) (AdAge.com, reg. required)

- 'The Death of the Record Store' (new doc on the survival [or demise] indie record stores featuring Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth and Ian Mackaye of Fugazi) (WireTap)

- Seventeen music widgets (Hearst teams up with Jango to create co-branded celebrity music widgets)

- Drinking virtual Pepsi (appears to work, according to an MTV case study. Look for more integrated content on every conceivable digital platform aimed at teens) (AdWeek)

- The true story (of a bogus blog -- Coach sponsored a class project that backfired.) (AdWeek)

- Back to school May 1? (ok, I know this isn't the focus of this piece about Staples and DoSomething joining up for a cause marketing initiative, but they are launching their annual back to school campaign before school is even out) (PR Week)

- Slurpee rocks out (7 Eleven's classic drink sports Aerosmith on its cups in a Rockband Guitar Hero promotion)

- Grand Theft Childhood? (cool looking panel at Berkeley on violent video games - thanks Jennifer!)

- 37 percent of teens (texting while driving. Stop the insanity!)

- 'Thinspo' (is the search term to find pro-ana and mia stuff on sites like YouTube and Flickr. Sad.) (New York Times, reg. required)

- Identity theft increasing (on social networking sites where youth with no credit history are prime targets) (L.A. Times, reg. required)

- Global youth research (Next Great Thing keeps releasing more. Plus slides from Ypulse Mashup speaker Graham Brown/World Wireless Forum)

- Youth open to national service (according to new research...you just have to ask them - thanks Sheri!) (Washington Post, reg. required)

Posted by anastasia

The WB makes a comeback with online-only TV ('WBTVG' will show as well as original content) (NewTeeVee)

- Online alter-egos (44% say their online identity is different than real life) (PSFK)

- Economy hurts summer job hunt (a work-free summer vacation sounds kind of nice) (CNN)

- Defining high school success by college admittance letters (the psychological and physical toll rejections have on college bound students) (New York Times, reg. required)

- From goth to emo to 'scene queens' (the evolving nature of teenage subcultures - let's call it nouveau-emo) (Contra Costa Times)

- Oxygen believes millennial should be referred to as 'Generation O' (the network hopes to attract "young and hip women" with new lineup) (Salon, reg. required)

- Excitement for release of Grand Theft Auto IV despite the $60 price tag in a 'troubled' economy (one college student says he would be willing to part with his cell phone in order to buy the game) (New York Times, reg. required)

- Rock the vote from your phone (embracing wireless applications and social networking to appeal to the youth vote) (Telephony Online)

Posted by casey

Note from Anastasia: Please note Ypulse's new assistant editor Casey's first post today as well as our ongoing Ypulse Books coverage from Alli (the Ypulse Books channel is coming soon).

Parents Television Council goes after 'Gossip Girl' (And although The CW is claiming a ratings victory after damming the stream online, the Alley Insider says "not so fast." And, of course, "Gossip Girl" fashion is becoming its own cottage industry. Speaking of, did anyone else notice MTV plugging fashions worn by "The Paper's" Andrea?) (MediaWeek) (New York Daily News)

- Tight times mean thrifty teens (when is comes to fashion) (USA Today)

- Disney to put 'Narnia' exclusives online (from the new flick "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian")

- 'Heroes' Hayden Panettiere goes 'Al Gore' (with a new documentary about the ocean) (Contact Music. Plus Greenpeace takes on Dove for destroying forests in "Onslaughter")

- Social shopping/networking for good (I'm intrigued by Fanista's social shopping for a cause model as well as Socialvibe's team with brands and donate to your charity models. Oh and here's the actual Piczo press release - blogged about their new channels yesterday in Essentials)

- Cellphones still banned (in NYC schools. Plus BK launches a "King" mobile game) (Textually) (Media Post, reg. required)

- Little League (gets its own video game)

- Mr. Youth releases a white paper (on "Consumer 2.0" - full disclosure: Mr. Youth is a Ypulse sponsor) (.pdf)

P.S. I received this email stating: "We're a bit perplexed at present because ComScore's data shows that MySpace and Facebook get more traffic from 9-11 year olds than Webkinz and Club Penguin do...." Waiting for the news story on this one...

Posted by anastasia

There are over 100 virtual worlds for kids... (either live or in development. Wow. Add Moshi Monsters to the list of now live and Cartoon Network's Fusion Fall to the list of "taking its time.") (MediaWeek) (Reuters)

- Call GoFish (GrowFish -- the tween/teen ad network keeps adding new sites)

- Coming in July... (the "High School Musical" reality show) (MediaPost, reg. required)

- MySpace launches 'Beyond the Rave' (with an 18 and up wall sure to entice every teen under 18 [already lying about their age on MySpace] to watch. I haven't watched it yet...feel free to weigh in if you have in the comments)

- MediaPost on The CW's OMFG campaign (and the mags who turned it down. I thought "Gossip Girl." Evidently no matter how big a hit you may be on iTunes, TV ratings still matter)

- TommyTV (Tommy Hilfiger launches a YouTube Channel)

- 'Iron Man' mobile promotions (LG pushing the latest Marvel flick) (AdAge.com, reg. required)

- WeCheer (for all those girls who didn't make the squad. You can still cheer...on the Wii) (WorthPlaying.com)

- Young people beginning to feel the pain (of inflation. Plus another column on "Gen Me" @ work - this time in the New York Times Style section, reg. required) (Quad City Times)

- Marketing the priesthood (the Catholic Church updates its recruiting posters for the internet generation) (Miami Herald)

- Baracking the vote (online. I'm going to try to check out this event [Facebook link] focusing on the youth vote tonight in SF) (Search Engine Watch)

Posted by anastasia

Paris searching for her new BFF (on MTV.com....oof. In better news ThinkMTV teams with HighSchoolJournalism.org to help schools without a paper launch their own. And for all you "Real World" junkies, gobs of video can be found here) (Paris via Fimoculous) (Real World via Reality Blurred)

- Avril is the queen (of YouTube...where apparently music videos are very popular. Speaking of queens, Madonna is making a video for the Queen of All Media's site -- PerezHilton.com. Trying to stay connected with a younger fanbase, perhaps? And "Juno" is available on iTunes [the movie] - very smart) (Alley Insider) (PerezHilton) (PaidContent)

- Declare Yourself voting tees (exclusively at American Eagle)

- Inside GOOD mag (winning awards while giving away lots of cash to non-profits. Sounds pretty GOOD to me) (Media Life Magazine)

- Shocking HIV PSA (The Shot. I don't know how I feel about this. Very disturbing. Thanks Andrea!)

- Should video games get serious? (There are serious games, but critics say not enough of them. And for my readers who are educators, bookmark MIT's New Media Literacies blog for ideas on how to teach digital literacy/ethics in the classroom) (NPR)

- 'Freshman 15' a myth? (yes, according to this study. I'm still working on the "Married 20") (iVillage)

- My Beautiful Mommy (WTF? Plus like mother like daughter? Gag) (Boing Boing) (Jezebel)

- Go mobile (to reach young men. New study says texting makes teens' hearts grow fonder...of their parents. U.C. Berkeley student Twitters from an Egyptian jail. And ringtones down, ringbacks up.) (mMetrics) (TCM Net) (Textually) (Washington Post, reg. required)

- Individual yet respectful of authority (the new generation of Chinese youth) (Destination CRM)

P.S. Thanks to the Ypulse newsletter reader who corrected my "Motley Crew" typo yesterday. Evidently my hair band spelling has lapsed.

P.P.S. A big welcome to new Ypulse site sponsor SurveyU. If you're interested in advertising on Ypulse, get in touch with Charles Pelton today.

Posted by anastasia

Scream queens (still rule with teens even though Brittany Snow is no Jamie Lee Curtis. Plus the in-theater publicity stunt that became a viral ad campaign for the flick. And the multitude of Sarah Marshall virals) (Detroit News) (USA Today) (Pop Candy)

- J.C. Penny targets teens (in stores...Plus an article on how celebrities are making fashion more appealing to teens....which may be why P&G's TAG body spray has teamed up with Def Jam?) (USA Today) (Marketplace)

- 'I Love Chieftown' (new MySpace series from the makers of KateModern [on Bebo]) (Alley Insider)

- The 'Rap on Rap' (The Parents Television Council attacks MTV and BET in a new report. Plus parents more disgusted with sex in video games than violence. And on the other side of the spectrum, one parent blogs about letting her kids go "free range" - thanks Andrea!) (Media Week) (Ars Technica) (Boing Boing)

- Crossing the street and cell phones (don't mix. Check out this horrifying PSA driving the point home) (Textually)

- Speaking of teens, phones & driving (NPR's beloved "Car Talk" hosts are getting their own animated show -- where you'll hear zingers like this in response to teens using cell phones while driving: "As a parent, you have to threaten to kill them." Added Tom: "What also works are punishments that disrupt their social lives. I found, with my son, that writing 'LOSER' on his forehead in permanent marker was somewhat effective.") (CNN)

- Trojan 'evolves' (launches the "Evolve Tour" to encourage safer sex. Good for them! And Reel Pop reviews the new Montana Meth Project ads directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, of "21 Grams" and "Babel" fame.)

- RAINN launches online hotline (The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network goes online offering even more anonymity and encouraging young victims to reach out for help.) (USA Today)

- UK study finds pro-suicide sites (overtaking suicide resources online - this is scary) (BBC)

- It's the plunging, padded... (Pre-teen bra! Plus the fashion industry trying to make runway modeling more like driving - 16 and up) (Telegraph UK) (Reuters)

- Miley makes mad money (Plus another story on how Disney created brand Jonas Bros. And if you're sick of all the sugary tween pop, check out the Tiny Masters of Pop) (MTV News) (BusinessWeek)

- Math Counts (launches a new site for the "tiny masters of math" in your life. And Wired's "Geek Dad" marvels at the 14-year-old founder of Elementeo)

- College Humor (now sells posters) (Alley Insider)

- Next Great Thing (has a new free youth trend report)

P.S. I'm watching "The Paper" tonight on MTV...look for thoughts tomorrow.

Posted by anastasia

ourWorld (another virtual world for tweens -- with lots of games. And speaking of games or advergames, Double Fusion is teaming up with Doppelganger's teen virtual world vSide to add...more brands! It's just like real life)

- Facebook launches chat (in "a few networks." Plus Virginia schools now teaching Net safety lessons...and it sounds like it's primarily focused on predators) (Inside Facebook) (Associated Press)

- More video content going mobile (like Hannah Montana...but not so many young people, at least in the 18-34 age range are watching) (Multichannel News)

- Speaking of age and watching (evidently you don't have to be young on TV to attract a young audience according to this article. Still the tweens will be more likely to watch Nick's new "Dance On Sunset" than Sam Waterston in "Law & Order") (Seattle Times) (New York Times, reg. required)

- Boob tube in the bedroom (breeds unhealthy habits for teens. I was shocked that 62 percent of teens in this study had a TV in their bedroom. I want to see a similar study on computers in the bedroom - thanks Andrea!)

- Game on... (too long? This story argues it's a fine line separating fun and "addiction" when it comes to video games)

- 'It's Complicated' (photos from It's Complicated: The American Teenager, by Robin Bowman -- black and white and done in a photojournalism style. Very different from Franzini's 100 Young Americans. Plus a new doc about young women and presidential politics called "What's your Point, Honey?" Trailer is here - thanks Andrea!) (NPR) (Dane101)

- Free prom dresses (Hearst launches DonateMyDress.org. Plus Gen Y craves "green" fashion) (Media Post, reg. required)

- To The Fallen (interesting "Consumed" column on a record label hoping to remind us that there's a war going on) (New York Times, reg. requried)

- Social studies/civics teachers say... (teens are engaged in this election and captivated by guess who? Yep. Obama) (Houston Chronicle)

- Teens still love big brands (BrandWeek on the Habbo study - yours truly quoted)

P.S. I wrote these Sunday night so if I missed something big and obvious, that's probably why. Though sometimes I just miss big and obvious stories anyway. Remember, Ypulse will be back on Wednesday.

P.P.S. I've been getting these interesting comments on my old interview with Gaia's CEO Craig Sherman. Evidently there are some unhappy [older] Gaians.

Posted by anastasia