Social Media

From Liz Atwood: I can't believe I've come to the point where I actually would like to see the kids wasting their time playing video games.  What has driven me to this drastic change? Lately the kids have taken to wasting their time texting friends and posting pictures on Instagram and Twitter. Their new preoccupation with social media sets up a whole new challenge. In the past, I only needed to look at the rating on a game box to get a sense of whether the content was inappropriate.

Many Harford County residents were missing from work and school Tuesday, at least some of them, presumably, to attend the massive celebration held in downtown Baltimore in honor of the Ravens' Super Bowl victory. Attendance at Harford County Public Schools was at 89 percent as of shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday, Teri Kranefeld, communications manager with HCPS, wrote in an email. She noted that not all schools had reported their attendance for the day, but said "daily average" attendance is usually at 96 percent.

If you look to the Super Bowl for a team's Q-rating, the marketing metric used to measure the popularity and appeal of a person or thing, the Ravens -- at least unofficially -- came off as the more likeable team after Baltimore's 34-31 win yesterday. And that certainly hasn't been the case in recent years. Anecdotal evidence from media reports and social media sites indicates John Harbaugh was seen as more poised, affable and telegenic than his brother, San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, throughout Super Bowl XLVII.

Minutes after the Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots to advance to the Super Bowl, Seth Meyers, the head writer for “Saturday Night Live,” tweeted: “Baltimore vs. San Francisco! Brother vs. Brother! The Wire vs. Full House!” The message linking Baltimore, “The Wire” and the Ravens resonated nationally with more than 3,000 retweets. Terrell Suggs repeated the connection while speaking at Super Bowl Media Day in New Orleans. Great sports franchises do reflect their communities - or, maybe, they shape the perception of their communities among the millions who watch them on TV in championship games.

When Alissa Harrington was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38, she did what she's accustomed to doing when she needs answers. She reached for her smartphone. The Stevenson University technology professional says mobile apps helped her overcome one of the biggest burdens for anyone confronting a life-threatening illness: Managing the deluge of medical records and appointments and communicating what comes out of those to friends and family. "Mobile apps have really eliminated that," said Harrington, who as an instructional designer builds online courses and trains faculty how to apply technology to learning.

With his retirement ride wrapping up in the Super Bowl, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis remains a popular topic on social media. And while perceptions have changed since Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in relation to a double murder in Atlanta in 2000, some on social media remain critical of the 17-year NFL veteran. According to Forbes.com, which recently spoke to a social media firm called Fizziology , approximately 20 percent of all mentions of Lewis on sites like Twitter and Facebook were analyzed as negative or mixed in the past week.

Ken Ulman hopes you're hungry. For a Ravens win in the Super Bowl AND a big 'ole breakfast. The Howard County executive, who always gets in the spirit for the big games, has come up with the menu for a Ravens-themed breakfast that he'd like to share with one lucky winner and their office. The menu will include: T-Sizzle sausage and eggs Brendan Ayanba-bagels Michael Eggs Oher Easy Box O'morning Joe Flacco He wants to hear more menu suggestions. And he wants to see people showing off their purple pride.

When will they ever learn? Probably never. We all know social media can be a figurative stick of dynamite in the hands of angry, frustrated NFL players. Now it's pretty obvious their wives should stay away from it, too. For evidence, look no further than Wes Welker's wife and her nasty Facebook rant about Ray Lewis, which has blown up in her face and in the face of the New England Patriots' organization, too. Not dealing well -- obviously -- with the Ravens' 28-13 win over her husband's Patriots in the AFC Championship game Sunday, Anna Burns Welker wrote this on Facebook about the Ravens' legendary and soon-to-be-retired inside linebacker: "Proud of my husband and the Pats.

I like Oprah Winfrey, and I was happy to see her Tuesday morning on CBS with her old pal, Gayle King, hitting on all cylinders as they hyped the gate for her interview with Lance Armstrong. She promised King, Charlie Rose and everyone else on the last-place morning show set, "You will be satisfied," by the interview that airs Thursday night on the OWN cable channel. "You will come away understanding that he brought it," she said, though she did hedge on the  specific extent of his confession versus her expectations.

Call 2012 the year that TV got social -- real social. And if you want the moment of moments, it came in the first debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, when someone created the #SaveBigBird hashtag on Twitter after the GOP challenger said he wanted to cut funding for “Sesame Street.” Talk about losing the battle but winning the war. Even though the president got hammered during that debate in...