Best Tips for Kids Navigating Social Media Safely

Social media platforms are the ultimate reason behind people connecting more and having better accessible access to ways of communicating with others. However, those platforms have contributed enormously to the division of societies by having a bad influence, especially on kids. 

Many kids seem to be on a certain level of comfort with technology and the internet. However, kids tend to forget that they’re still learning and may not be prepared to spot the pitfalls and risks of being connected, especially with social media.  

Parents monitoring social media 

All forms of parental control on social media, including Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube parental controls, are a must for one reason: no rules and restrictions are present to help people, especially kids, guide them on what to do a search for.  

One of the best solutions and most challenging is to monitor the content, especially by the parents, although it’s an ongoing debate:  

• Have a conversation with your kids concerning the process of how to avoid strangers, the way to prevent exposing too much about themselves, and general internet safety. 
• Parents monitor social media by teaching their kids about social networking safety tips- mentioned below – to help them learn about what could be deemed as red flags. This also includes encouraging them to come to their parents for guidance when questionable content or situations arise.  

Both parties, parents and kids, should follow the social media safety tips:  

We’ve also written about some tips for adults to ensure a positive social media experience:

• Educate yourself about social media: find out what sites and apps the child is interested in. For instance, app reviews, fine print, and age limits should be inspected.  
• Start and open a new account: if the user doesn’t have an account on any social media site your kid wants to use, start by creating one. Teach yourself all the characteristics related to the site, then make sure you understand what they can and cannot do, and decide what they should and shouldn’t do.  
• Educate the child about posting on the platform: it does not mean it’s permanently removed from the web after deleting a post.  

It is worth mentioning that all online posts, including likes, comments, and shares, are part of the digital footprint.  

For example, posting inappropriate content would impact the kid’s online reputation; however, it may not seem like a big deal now. It could potentially hurt them when they get older and enter the job market or college. 

Learn about privacy  

Privacy is another crucial element in today’s world, especially social media. For that reason, kids have to know the importance of privacy.  

Most social media sites ask for dates of birth, names, school names, and hometown. One way to help keep kids safe, teach them how much personal information is too much information to be posted online.  

And one fact that is important to grasp is that some personally identifying information could make them vulnerable to identity theft if exposed in a data breach. Social media platforms are being used as a weapon during any war or crisis, making them lose credibility, especially when publishing fake news and posts.  

Social media platforms are being used as a weapon during any war or crisis, making them lose credibility, especially when publishing fake news and posts.

Like what you read? Learned something new? Enjoyed it? We have tons of exciting content related to social media and we publish it almost every week. Stay tuned to Inside Telecom’s social media news to be up to date with the latest and greatest social networking effects and updates. 

Inside Telecom provides you with an extensive list of content covering all aspects of the tech industry. Keep an eye on our Ethical Tech section to stay informed and up-to-date with our daily articles.