Can Yahoo! Buzz Index Help You Connect with Your Kids?

Anyone who works with kids knows that oftentimes they speak a completely different language. Most of them are walking compendiums of trivial knowledge, and will protect that knowledge from anyone who would attempt to call it "trivial."

For them, the "buzz" is where it's at. The trendy calls with more allure than many of them are able to stave off. To stay connected to them on those basic levels, and to show that you care about them and what they value, it is a good idea to have at least a working knowledge of some of the things that they value. There is no need to worship pop culture the way they do, but we can know a little bit about it to better connect with them.

So what can be gleaned from Yahoo! Buzz Index?
Yahoo! Buzz Index takes inventory of the most searched keywords and phrases and compiles them into useful data on current trends on the Internet. This can include instant statistics on popularity growth and decline, seasonal changes in search patterns, and top searches across a number of categories.

This can be used to show many of the big "buzz" words that your kids will be talking about over the coming weeks and months. A savvy Buzz Index reader can know what's coming even before his kids do.

What is the difference between Yahoo! Buzz and Yahoo! Buzz Index?
These two sites, while linked under the Yahoo! name and sharing information, can actually perform two different functions. For starters, the two have different URLs: Yahoo! Buzz is found at http://buzz.yahoo.com, and the Index is found at http://buzzlog.buzz.yahoo.com.

But on a deeper level, for the purposes of catching up with student popular culture, it is the latter that proves most useful. Whereas the Buzz site highlights news stories as people search and create them, the buzzlog Index will show statistics on actors, movies, music, video games, and the like.

Clicking on the searches and doing only a few minutes of research on some of the biggest movers and leaders among the searches will net huge amounts of information about these pop culture icons. Searching through the Buzz Index for a short time every few weeks can keep you on top of what your kids will be talking about.

Benefits
The Buzz Index can easily help us show our kids that we care about what is important to them, and that they can know what's going on in the world without going bonkers over it. With the Buzz Index there is no need to scour the internet for hours to find out what is most talked about, and you can quickly catch up with a working knowledge so that you can be conversant with the culture.

We can be students of culture without sacrificing what is important. Culture is merely a means to an end, and if we show our kids that there is a healthy way to know culture but not be consumed by it, our kids will be better off.

So head on over to the Yahoo! Buzz Index and quickly catch up on culture.