Ok, starting a new blog post for this session, since I got a little wordy before.

So! Next session – teenage girls and technology, sesion run by Lynn Langit, Microsoft Developer Evangelist.

This is a topic that’s very close to my heart. I was that little girl who wanted to learn how to program and I first started “programming” in BASIC when I was 7. It wasn’t easy AT ALL. The programming books I was using weren’t even at all helpful, all I could do was copy code into the computer and try to figure out what it meant. Tutorials didn’t really  exist, after all, operating systems were being rev’d faster than the books could be written. I’d spend hours typing hundreds of lines into the computer to learn how to draw a pretty picture (or something), and lose it all as soon as the computer as rebooted. Not a great environment for learning.

So! Microsoft has a program called Kodu that runs on X-Box (and is being ported to be for academic purposes) to help kids learn programming using a visual interface to make a game. Call it the second incarnation of Alice, which I was amazed with yesterday. This program is targeted at kids 7 and up, is multiplayer (wowie), and teaches them the basics of using objects, textures, and so on.

Another program is called Small Basic, which is, well, small basic. Lynn is demoing it by moving a turtle across the screen (no joke – turtle!), which is so cute. The environment is nice and easy for kids to use, and HELPFUL, there’s documentation split on the screen with the code.

It is really exciting to hear about these efforts going on for geeky girls. Previously, people kind of just sat around telling girls they could get into tech. “Sure you can be in tech, nothing’s stopping you.”

Finally it’s about action!! SHOW girls what they can do, show them other people doing the same.

Next up, a session about WordPress! Maybe I’ll learn how to make this blog look a bit less, oh, “clearly designed by a non-designer,” and get over my php issues.

Woooeeee I’m tired. Being a blabbermouth is exhausting!!

This afternoon I attended two sessions, one on personal identity, and one I gave on “creating the right product for the right audience.”

The identity session was fascinating to me. We all walk a very fine line between revealing information about ourselves online, and keeping things private. It’s very hard to know where the line is on what should and should not be said, and the line is very different for everyone.

There’s no question that it’s changed for me. At one point in my life, I was completely honest about everything in my life online. I maintained my live journal, which was locked to friends-only, and oh my, the secrets about me that were in there. I was also Bobbi, of course….BamBam didn’t come along until later.

At some point along the way, I realized that “friends-only” really didn’t mean much. Not only could I easily make a mistake and leave something open to the world, but god forbid a friend decided to be mean or something, they could easily take screenshots or copy/paste.

The words “private” and “online” simply do not belong together. No matter how locked down you may think things are, there’s always a way for things to get out.

So, in my case, “StephanieBamBam” was created at AOL. My friend Susan nicknamed me “BamBam” for being a klutz, and it stuck. The name was unique enough (your nickname has to be unique!) that it worked well, and I kinda liked it. StephanieBamBam took over, and everything Bobbi that I could find was pulled offline. You won’t find archives of those live journal entries, they don’t exist in digital form anymore. I pretty much recreated my virtual identity, changing from a pseudoanonymous “bobbi,” to a slightly more personal name I was willing to associate with the real me. There are some pieces of Bobbi still lingering about in various places, but you’d need to dig a bit to find, and honestly…if you’re going to dig THAT much…have at it. I’m not embarassed by anything I’ve done.

Admittedly, I’m in a special position, where I work online in social media. The session discussed things like people who truly cannot reveal their identities online due to safety reasons – how do they even use social media? How do you get a domain without a credit card in your fake name, how do you attend conferences, etc.

My recommendation – for most people – is don’t put anything online you wouldn’t want associated with you everywhere. You can live under a nickname, but live in the assumption that your real name will ultimately be exposed. Employers, schools…the world has access to ANYTHING you do or say online. Be smart.

The other session this afternoon was mine, so of course I thought it was fabulous. We talked about how to create a product for your market – how to know who you’re making what for. Professionally, I’ve created products targeted at adults, teens, and developers. And believe me, something that works for one will probably not work for the other.

So how do you know what to do? Be a teenager! Be a developer! Be an adult. That’s oversimplifying, obviously, but I’ve seen every single high school musical, read Twilight, watch Hannah Montana, belong to MyYearbook…. etc. I’m often called a teenager, even. Which is fine. People have got to remember that they are not building a product for themselves. Just because “this makes sense to me” doesn’t mean it’ll make sense to someone without the CS degree. Make your product for your audience, market your product to the right audience, and if you have a good product, it’ll work out.

More from She’s Geeky tomorrow – I’m giving another panel in the afternoon “how to launch a product.”