Young people spend many hours each day online, and their abilities to multi-task and communicate are often misunderstood by parents and educators. Cyber bullying, addiction, sexuality, and virtual friendships are only a few of the complex situations kids confront online. Dr. Larry Rosen offers a full overview of these issues while challenging our commonly held beliefs that these communities are damaging. With his extensive background in both child development and the impact of technology, Dr. Rosen uses down-to-earth explanations of sound psychological theory, incorporates groundbreaking research, and shows parents and educators how social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook can improve adolescents' socialization skills and their overall emotional health. Book jacket. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Call them Millennials, Gen Yers, or MySpacers but pay attention! Millennials (those born after 1979) are different from their predecessors; not only do they use their time differently, but they seek to create content, are bored if not multitasking, are far from private, and are always online. Rosen (psychology, California State Univ.; coauthor, TechnoStress: Coping with Technology @ Work @ Home @ Play) offers a well-documented comparison between and among baby boomers (b. 1946 64), Gen Xers (b. 1965 79), and Millennials their values, career goals, loyalties, workplace styles, and more. When not on social-networking sites like MySpace or Facebook, Millennials are IM'ing, conducting research online, visiting the virtual world Second Life, or playing video games sometimes all at the same time. Interestingly, Millennials also value their parents' opinions and are career- and college-focused, emotionally open, and very social. Rosen advises parents to be proactive and to learn how to avoid problems before they start e.g., by placing the family computer in a common area of the home, setting limits, using MySpace themselves, and talking with and listening to their kids even more. Highly recommended. Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, PA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Dr. Larry D. Rosen is a professor of psychology at California State University Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

List of Tables and Figures	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Chapter 1 Living in a Virtual World	1
Chapter 2 The MySpace Generation	19
Chapter 3 Real People in Virtual Relationships	37
Chapter 4 Me, MySpace, and I	63
Chapter 5 Virtually Exposed	91
Chapter 6 Sex and the Media	117
Chapter 7 Just a Few More Minutes, Mom	151
Chapter 8 MySpace and Your Family	173
Chapter 9 Hate Mail	193
Chapter 10 Proactive Parenting: Teaching Your Children to Look Both Ways in Cyberspace	207
Notes	227
Index	253

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.