in_the_media

October 23, 2010



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Want to know how pretty you are? There's an app for that. It's called the Ugly Meter, and it uses facial recognition software to analyze facial features and assign a score. Jonathan Singer, Assistant Professor of Social Work at Temple, says the app could be damaging to adolescents. "When you get a teenager who is so concerned about how other people see them, to have a computer program that says 'You're ugly' could be devastating." Singer urges parents to be aware of which apps their kids download and to talk to them about dealing with cyber bullies.