Monday linkdump – Habbo, Glasto and low level sonic weapons

Habbo and MTV are now best of friends and will be cross promoting content and working closer together than ever before. Can’t wait to see Habbo’s first ever TV ad.

Number of ‘Neet’ (Not in education, employment or training) teens 16-18 falling, but still high. It’s gone from 10.3% in 2008 to 9.2% in 2009 (just in England).

Glastonbury’s finished and, apparently, lots of teens were there.

“Why facebook want you to believe that email is dead” << the suit and tie analogy made me laugh.

More calls for the Mosquito to be banned. Fingers crossed, it’s a disgusting product. Article here.

Update: it wasn’t banned. Damn.

June 28th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 0 Comments

Habbo gets teens to ‘March on Government’

Habbo, banging on No. 10's virtual door

Dawn Butler, Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement, has partnered up with everyone’s favourite teen virtual world Habbo to give young people a chance to be vocal about the things that matter to them in a space where they’re used to expressing themselves.

They’ve got a public room (’March on Government Lounge’) where they’re encouraging habbos throughout this month to..

“…think about what matters, start a debate, get involved in the solution, take action and pass it on.

From climate to careers, from volunteering to youth clubs, you can make a real difference in your area.

We’d like you to be vocal about the issues that matter most to you. Meet with other Habbos about how you can fix the issue, then convince others to join in and take up the cause.”

The powers that be at Habbo will take a look at this explosion in political engagement, then pick the most vocal, the most passionate and the most informed teens and give them a chance to attend two virtual events, putting their views to politicians and celebrities.

March On Government: Event 1

Date and Time:
Wednesday 10th March, 4:30pm

Attendees:
Dawn Butler Minister for Youth Citizens and Youth Engagement
Annie Tagoe England Athletics U17 Women’s 100m champion.
50 VIP Habbos our competition winners as chosen by Dawn Butler.

and

March On Government: Event 2

Date and Time:
Monday 15th March, 4:30pm

Attendees:
Dawn Butler Minister for Youth Citizens and Youth Engagement.
Chipmunk Celebrity Visitor.
1 VIP Habbo our overall winner, logging in from London Habbo Office.
50 VIP Habbos more winners.

But don’t worry, it’s not JUST for the winners – unlimited numbers of habbos can spectate on the live chats online as well.

Going to spaces where teens are, making it a competition with celebs and online-status as prizes, and the involvement of a senior member of government all combine to make this, in my opinion, a flippin’ brilliant idea.

I really hope that Dawn Butler can follow this up with some meaningful action in some area that she can directly relate back to the work that the Habbo community will have done. Either way, at the very least, it will make a lot more teens think about and articulate their viewpoints on a range of issues, which can only be a good thing.

Bravo Habbo, and bravo Dawn. Can’t wait to see how it goes.