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A British couple who kept their child’s gender a secret for five years have revealed that the child is male. Beck Laxton and Kieran Cooper say that they kept their son’s sex under wraps because they wanted him to grow up free from society’s preconceived ideas about what constitutes gender-appropriate behavior. The couple, who asked their midwives to withhold information even from them about the child’s gender for a half-hour after his birth, named their child Sasha and referred to him as “the infant,” rather than using gender-specific pronouns. Until recently, even most of the child’s relatives were uncertain whether Sasha was a girl or a boy. Sasha’s parents allowed no television in their home and restricted him to gender-neutral toys. Rather than restricting him to gender-neutral clothing, however, they dressed him in boys’ clothing and girls’ clothing on alternate days. Sasha’s enrollment in school prompted the decision to finally reveal his gender. His parents say that it became too difficult to keep Sasha’s gender a secret once he was attending school regularly. Laxton and Cooper are still unwilling to bow to convention, however. Even though his fellow students now know that Sasha is a boy, his school uniform still contains the same shirt girls at his school wear, complete with feminine gathers across the front. Further, his parents encourage him to wear flowered blouses on weekends. In an interview, Laxton stated that she wanted to avoid exposing Sasha to gender stereotyping because she considers it “fundamentally stupid,” and reported that she considers her own early gender conditioning harmful. “Gender affects what children wear and what they can play with, and that shapes the kind of person they become…I just want him to fulfill his potential, and I wouldn’t push him in any direction.” Decades ago, psychologist Sandra Bem pioneered the idea that masculine and feminine gender roles are restrictive and advanced the theory that androgyny is healthier. Although she later revised her theories somewhat, Bem attempted to raise her children without confining them to gender roles. However, she never tried to hide their sex or to force them to be gender neutral. Psychologist Daragh McDermott, of Anglia Ruskin University, said that no one knows how raising a child to be gender neutral will affect the child because there has been little research conducted on the subject. However, he points out that it is impossible to raise a child without exposure to gender conditioning or stereotypes, since school, the media and society in general consciously and unconsciously enforce society’s gender roles. Studies have shown that even parents unconsciously reinforce gender norms during their interactions with their newborn infants. No matter what parents do, he says, children will develop their own gender identification, whether masculine, feminine or gender-neutral. Related posts: Being An Only Child Does Not Hurt Social Skills Gender Gap In Spatial Ability Can Be Reduced Through Training Gender Wage Gap [Infographic]

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Child Raised ‘Gender Neutral’ to Avoid Stereotyping

First off, social media usage actually makes consumers even more engaged with their email inbox. Plus social media users are likely to share their email-delivered content with their personal networks. That’s additional juice for email campaigns. In the new eBook The Definitive Guide to Integrating Social Media and Email, find out how to: Discover where your social media audience is Use social networks to grow your email list Use email to grow social followers and expand your reach Develop the right content approach for each channel Tie it all together for integrated campaigns Monitor metrics and measure results Start making email and social media complementary marketing channels, and boost your campaign ROI. Download your copy of The Definitive Guide to Integrating Social Media and Email now! Request Free!

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The Definitive Guide to Integrating Social Media and Email

Are you confused about how to determine the true value of social business initiatives? That’s not surprising given the various misconceptions circulating about ROI. Results such as influence, engagement, impact or customer satisfaction are not values but benefits. If you want to gain the green light on your social initiatives, then you must discuss the value with your executive team in monetary terms. This research brief will tell you what you need to know, and explain the benefits of social business including: Extended influence with prospects and customers Improved branding Improved customer service Heightened customer loyalty Better insight into customers Request Free!

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2010 The True Value of Social Business

According to social networking researchers, the old saying “birds of a feather flock together” applies even in the vast realm of cyberspace. This is the topic of the recently published research findings of Dr. Cuihua Shen, an assistant professor at University of Texas Dallas. Her findings have been reported in a recent issue of the First Monday publication. Shen examined the community dynamics of users from SourceForge, a massive internet open source community. Shen conducted social network analyses on these users to determine the social motivations within the communities and the shaping of collaborations within these communities. Peter Monge, another researcher in the area of social network analysis who published “Who Connects with Whom? A Social Network Analysis of an Online Open Source Software Community,” discovered that users within Web communities determine which other users to interact with online. According to Monge, the choices of these users can reveal the motivations underlying the creation of these social networks. For the most part, Web developers who are considered to be accomplished and successful tend to form elitist groups with other equally qualified and accomplished Web developers in the open source software community. Unfortunately, less accomplished and successful Web developers have greater difficulty forming circles with more accomplished developers, so less accomplished developers tend to collaborate with individuals of equal or lesser skill. In some cases, less successful Web developers might have difficulty forming collaborative relationships with any other peers due to the disparity between the successful and less successful developers. Open source software is software that allows users to study, manipulate, and re-distribute the software without legal penalty. This particular manner of developing software encourages the formation of social networks within the Web development community. When developers collaborate on projects, a social network is formed within the open source software community. Shen and other researchers have used social network analysis to examine development of these creative ties and discover the dynamics underlying many social network interactions. Shen hopes that her recent research in the field will open the door for further studies about the creation of social networks and the formation of collaborative ties among users in the internet community. Related posts: Social Networking and the World [Infographic] Experts Agree: Generation Y Will Not Tire of Social Networking [Study] Interpersonal Communication In Social Media Leads to Higher Customer Satisfaction [Study]

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Social Network Analysis and the Dynamics of Web-Based Networking [Study]

Written by Natalie Hunter The adoption of social networking sites has been nothing less than spectacular. While once Google and other search engines reigned as kings, sites such as Facebook and Twitter attract more attention and more hours each day from nearly a billion users. Visits to Facebook and Twitter are at an all-time high. It has been reported that over 1 billion people are using social media sites, with Facebook in the lead. Most people that frequent social media sites have more than one on which they post. As of today, Facebook alone has about 750 million active users. This puts the nation of Facebook, if there were such a thing, as the third largest country in the world. Social Media’s Impact on Young People There are some harmless results of social media that take the kind of shorthand used in SMS’s, to the messages used on the web, to e-mails. Initialisms such as BRB (be right back), LOL (laughing out loud) are becoming spoken acronyms and creeping into other written forms of communication. This is changing the shape of the English language and, according to some, creating its own new dialect. This isn’t just affecting a small number of young people, either. According to the Wall Street Journal , 38 percent of 9-12 year olds are using social networking sites. In addition, an amazing 77 percent of 13-16 years olds are frequenting these types of sites. How does this impact their social interaction? In many ways, their privacy is lowered. Sharing secrets on the playground or in the lunchroom can be subject to gossip on a small scale. Sharing personal information on line that may be sensitive or embarrassing leaves these children exposed to all of cyberspace. Sometimes, this has devastating consequences. Cyber-bullying has resulted in suicides in more than one case. Regular bullies may bother a child at school, but cyber bullies are able bother them wherever they go in much more insidious ways. As well, many young people become highly reclusive, preferring to interact with people in video games and go to online schools as opposed to going outside and actually speak with other people. Society is still coming to grips with these unanticipated impacts on social interaction. Social Networking Enables Social Interaction People who are less mobile, such as the elderly, can find great comfort in meeting others online. People with disabilities, who are shy, or have limits on their ability to travel all have their social lives enhanced through social networking . Those that live in remote areas or areas far from others with shared interests may also find new friends and enjoy enhanced lives through interacting long distances on line. Where once, a local stamp collecting group may meet monthly with a dozen or so members, these same people can meet with millions around the world on a daily basis to share exponential amounts of knowledge. Loving relationships can even blossom online, as evidenced by the boom of online matchmaking sites. These types of interactions are considered to have a significant positive impact on society. Yet there can be risks to making friends with people whose faces you have never seen. One such risk is that your friends may not be who they say they are at all, and may even be trying to scam you. When you meet friends at a party or public place, there is often a social group that will recognize you and create a record if you meet and leave together. Online interactions have no such “audit trail” and relationships can go on for months or even years without having a clue about each other’s true identities, and without anyone else actually knowing. After establishing trust, online stalkers and predators will set up meetings with unsuspecting victims and the results are sometimes front page stories. There are some excellent tips for safely meeting a cyber-friend in person here . Social Media’s Impact on Political Involvement Those of us that may have strong political ideas have traditionally kept to ourselves or voiced them within a small social group. Our voices would not be heard on any large scale and the result of our thoughts, no matter how earth-shattering, were insignificant. The only people that could get a voice about political issues, were professional politicians with financial backers and qualities that people found appealing. This is no longer the case. The average person is able to gain a voice and join with others to make their political and social statements heard. Instead of idle chatter with a few friends over coffee, those with social change in mind are meeting in virtual town squares by the thousands and even millions to demand change and solidify their power. This was never possible until social networking arrived. Twitter and Facebook have been so powerful in creating change in Iran and Egypt; countries like China have banned these social sites completely. With the advent of social media, otherwise disconnected people are able to connect and organize at levels frightening to many governments. A Force for Good On Feb. 12, 2009, 202 cities around the world took part in Twestivals. This was an online event to raise money for “charity: water.” Charity: water helps to provide drinking water for people around the world in need. They dig wells or find the best solution for the situation. They’ve helped millions so far. The Twestival event raised more than $250,000 for the cause. There was also a “Tweetsgiving,” a project by Epic Change that managed to raise $10,000 in 48 hours for a school in Tanzania. Beyond that, there was a 12-hour “Tweetathon” that raised money and awareness for “Water is Life.” The “Well Wishes” campaign enacted by Laura Fitton utilized Twitter to raise over $20,000 for charity: water by asking just $2 from each of over 12,000 people. The low amount was possible because of the great number of people on her list of followers. Since social media has the ability to contact so many people, events like fund raising and helping others have become much easier to organize and promote. Some of the events become viral and don’t require the usual meetings, flyers and bulk mailings that were needed before. In this way, those that act for social good have had their social interactions revolutionized by social media. Accepting the Good with the Bad Social networking is here to stay. Twitter, Facebook and other leading social networking sites are growing at 2-4 percent each month and more. New applications are springing up all the time that continue to revolutionize social interaction. The impact of the prevalence social media in our lives can be a mixed bag. Sometimes there are suicides, and sometimes entire countries are liberated. As when humans first came to handle fire, we have to accept the dangers with the benefits, and take the time to understand how best to handle these innovations. Related posts: How the Academic World Is Using Social Media Is Social Media the Next Tech Bubble? Perry Hewitt on Harvard’s Social Media

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The Ramifications of Social Media On Actual Social Interaction

Facebook is growing and so are its features. In this eBook social media experts Jason Keath, founder of Social Fresh, Justin Kistner, Senior Manager of Social Media Marketing for Webtrends, Ellie Mirman, Inbound Marketing Manager at HubSpot and Justin Levy, Senior Social Communications Manager at Citrix Online offer their insights and helpful ways to use Facebook for your marketing. From this eBook, you will learn about: Benefits of customized tabs Geo targeting & location on Facebook How to leverage contests on Facebook Who is doing it right on Facebook Request Free!

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