CTIA launches BeSeen social media awareness app for teens

SAN DIEGO--CTIA-The Wireless Association introduced BeSeen, a new application designed to help teenagers better understand the dangers inherent in social networking.

Developed by the Carnegie Mellon's Information Networking Institute and digital safety nonprofit Web Wise Kids, BeSeen is designed to teach young people the tenets of responsible online behavior, touching on key points like securing personal data, maintaining their privacy and protecting peers against cyber-bullying. The single-player mobile game simulates a social networking site--players create a profile and navigate through a condensed school year, earning awards by making positive choices when presented with challenging social situations.

Initially targeting Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS platform, BeSeen is slated to expand to Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android later this year.

"We want to warn teens about the risks involved in inappropriately using social media," said CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent during Wednesday morning's keynote session here at the CTIA Enterprise & Applications 2011 conference. Citing a recent Pew Recent Center survey indicating that half of all teens now access the Internet via mobile device, Largent added "We think it's a great teaching tool at the right time."

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