Social media tips for parents

Understanding social media and the available platforms is also helpful in navigating as a family.

Keep reading for a set of example ground rules and list of popular social media platforms and their use thanks to our partner, Trend Micro

Ground rules

• I will only follow people I know personally
• I will always show an adult any message or post that makes me feel uncomfortable or threatened
• I will never share any personal information about myself. This includes my age, my address, school etc
• I won’t post my location. I will adjust the location settings of any programs that let anyone know where I am or where a photo is taken
• Photos can be shared far and wide with anyone in a matter of seconds. With this in mind, I won’t publish anything I wouldn’t want my parents, teachers or grandparents to see
• When it comes to creating passwords, I will create one that would be difficult for someone to guess but also easy for me to remember. I will not reveal it anybody (except my parents or a trusted adult)
• I will check my privacy settings consistently and go over them with my parents. This is to ensure my personal information is protected
• I will practice T.H.I.N.K. before I leave a comment or send a message: is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?
• I will not upload or tag photos of other people without their permission

Understanding Social Media

Unsure of the social media platforms your kids may be using? There are so many options when it
comes to social media so they may be using a combination of platforms to communicate. See the table below for popular social media platforms and their use.

PLATFORMS WHAT ARE THEY?

• Messaging
• Facebook Messenger
• WhatsApp
• WeChat
• Kik
• Viber
• GroupMe
• Jott
• Tango

These apps allow you to send text messages via mobile data or WiFi.

Features included:

• group messaging
• free calls
• extra emojis
• video chat
• photo sharing
• messages that delete after a set time
• Photo sharing
• Snapchat
• Instagram

These apps are primarily used to share selfies, photos and short videos.

Some of the apps have self-destructing messages, which means there is a time limit on viewing content.

Confessions and “feedback”

• Reddit
• Tellonym
• Ask.fm
• Whisper

These sites allow you to post photos of yourself or confessional posts and invite feedback from friends and strangers.

Streaming and Video

• Tik Tok
• HouseParty
• Squad
• LiveMe
• YouTube

Some of these apps allow one on one or multi-person video conversations.

Other apps allow users to upload self-made music videos or livestream videos so you can directly interact with your audience.

Apps to “meet new friends”

• Yubo
• Holla
• MeetMe
• Monkey

These apps are used to meet new people, but can also be considered “flirty”.

For example, Monkey connects you with random strangers for 15 second video chats. Whereas Yubo is described as “Tinder for teens” – by swiping right and left on user’s profiles.

Life Ed has been endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider (see esafety.gov.au for more information).