Tag Archives: teens

New Blogger Neighbor Inspires Girls Everywhere at New Moon Media

I first ran across New Moon Media when I was researching social networks and sites for teens/tweens, and I was blown away by their concept. Not only it is smart and savvy, but it was and is developed by teen and tween girls themselves (along with some adult guidance).

New Moon Media looks to empower girls making by being led and developed by the girls themselves. Originally a magazine written by and for girls ages 8-12 years old, the girls have expanded into multiple blogs, a MySpace page, e-newsletters, widgets, and NewMoonGirls – an online community for girls ages 8-12 which luanches Sept. 1, 2008. Also in the works is New Moon’s user-experience, Orb28, aimed at girls 13-15+. The video below explains:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFdV5ZZuoQU

Enjoy, =)

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Blog Name: New Moon Girls / Girl Media Maven / orb28

Blog Topics: New Moon Girl Media blogs about issues important to girls and to adults who care about girls. Our girl blogs feature girl-created content on topics such as Health, Technology, Politics & Current Events, Friends & Relationships, and Powerful Women, while Girl Media Maven focuses on topics relevant to parenting as well as girls’ challenges and breakthroughs today.

About the Author: New Moon girls range in age from 8 to 15+ and hail from all over the globe! Adult staff who help coordinate and moderate the girl blogs are highly experienced in girls’/women’s issues, journalism, media, and the internet. Nancy Gruver, who hosts Girl Media Maven, is the founder and CEO of New Moon Girl Media.

If you could live on any street, what would that street be named and why?

The street would be called Voices Lane. New Moon Girl Media would love to live on this street because our company began with founder Nancy Gruver’s dream to give girls a platform to speak out and maintain their sense of self throughout adolescence, and today, the goal of the company is still to bring girls’ voices to the world in significant ways.

Who would be your dream real-life neighbor? Confident, happy girls who go after their dreams!

If you were in charge of the planning the neighborhood’s block party, what entertainment would you plan?

We would plan a variety act showcasing what makes girls unique, special, and capable. This event, which could include girls’ poetry and story readings, music, theatre, dance, and athletic performances, artwork displays, video screenings, and more, would empower girls to speak out in public and feel proud of themselves just who and how they are.

What latest news bites would you share with your neighbors if they asked you how you were doing?

New Moon Girl Media is celebrating the 16th year publishing our ad-free, by-girls for-girls magazine; now, to reach more and more girls, we are additionally launching NewMoonGirls.com, an ad-free, safe, girl-only online community for girls ages 8-12 on September 1st. We are very excited about this new community and hope you will help us spread the word! You can keep updated on the latest at New Moon Girl Media and share with friends on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, and even embed New Moon’s new blog widgets into your blogs and personal sites. We’d love for you to have New Moon news delivered right to your inbox by signing up for our e-newsletters, and you’re also invited to join the New Moon Girls Street Team, where girls and adults spread the love for New Moon!

What first prompted you to blog?

For years, New Moon Girl Media has been a leader in publishing real girls’ voices in print; as more and more people connect, learn, and have fun online, New Moon Girl Media’s blogs are a great way to explore and come together around girls’ issues, bringing even more girls’ voices to even more of the world.

If you customized your own license plate, what would it say and why?

Our license plate would say “Go Girls!” because girls need more empowering and positive messages around them reflecting what it means to be a girl or woman.

What would you gift to a new neighbor as the perfect welcoming gift?

A subscription to New Moon Girls magazine and membership to NewMoonGirls.com!

What’s your favorite blog post and why? Anything written by a girl!

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from blogging? Despite it’s many dark corners and pitfalls, the positive opportunities presented by the internet for connection and social change are very inspiring.

Past Blogger Neighbors Include:

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This continuous weekly series highlights different blogs and their respective bloggers in the blogosphere neighborhood. Following the great Mr. Rogers, who tells us to ‘Get to know your neighbor,’ this series introduces us to our blogger neighbors, making for a more unified, collaborative voice for the social sector. Like to nominate someone or be featured yourself? Contact me @ socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com.

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Internet Addiction: Self-Test to Balance Work, Life and the Internet

Having a professional job in online marketing, as well as an online hobby, this blog, I am constantly working to keep my internet usage/exposure at check. Today, I thought maybe others could relate…especially when I overheard a couple teens talking on the metro on my way home about this very issue. Thus, I did a little search (is it ironic?) on the internet.

I came across the Center for Internet Addiction Recorvery, which has been treating internet addiction since 1995. The Center offers numerous downloads, resources and materials for groups broken down into therapists, lawyers, business, and then parents and schools. The Center recently launched it’s new blog, which is full of interesting information. From a brief glance, I read:

  • A debate about if internet addiction is really….real
  • that Korea is becoming the most addicted to the internet
  • about a case where a man died from playing Stargate for 50 straight hours
  • how the internet can cause marital problems of neglect (let alone affairs/adult content issues)

The most interesting part of this site, were the self-tests the Center offers. The most interesting is the IAT, Internet Addiction Test which is the supposed first validated and reliable test to measure internet addiction.

Go for it. Take the test and let us know what me know what you think. The questions alone helped me figure new ways to gauge my own internet dosage.

And, it got me thinking…if internet addiction is real, as it is currently being considered to be a new clinical disorder, I think that possibly, it goes beyond the individual’s responsibility to possibly us as whole. As a social media marketer…this definitely makes me think more about the services we are creating, that we are creating purposeful content.


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