Rules | Spiderworking.com's Social Networking blog

November 16, 2011

Keeping Teens Safe on Social Media – A Rough Guide

We are seeing more and more young people entering the world of Social Media. Facebook & Twitter are becoming the tools that our youth are choosing to communicate and for many parents this is worrying. Not only do many of them not understand the networks but they are concerned that their children could be leaving themselves open to dangers or acting inappropriately online.

It is important therefore for parents to familiarise themselves with social networks, to understand privacy settings and what levels of privacy are appropriate for young adults. Understanding the tools gives parents the opportunity to open a conversation about social media and for them to create a supportive environment in which children will feel more comfortable reporting any issues.

Some parents approach to social media is to ban its use altogether and it’s worth noting that both Facebook and Twitter do not permit users under the age of 13. However, banning a child over the age threshold from using these sites will just encourage them to use them outside the safety of the home. Internet cafes and friends with computers will give them the opportunity to set up accounts without your permission and without your advice.

It’s not all bad news…

The Good News

A study by EU Kids online showed that Irish Children were the most responsible in Europe, only 7% of our teens add personal contact details to their profiles as opposed to 14% in the rest of Europe and only 11% have public profiles in comparison to 29% in the EU.

Using social media can be very beneficial for young people:

Confidence – communicating online can give young people added confidence. Even a shy child will often come out of their shell and start talking online. This will build their confidence and communication skills in real life relationships and make it easier for them to integrate into new groups.

Social media is here to stay, it is already being woven into the fabric of our lives in much the same way as the phone and the email are already. This makes it an important life skill that will become more and more relevant in their future lives.

Children are able to connect with other like minded people. These could be people they share hobbies and interests with or support groups for children with issues.

Education – Social media can be a space where children can learn from each other, they can share, view and understand a wide variety of content and opinions and learn to debate these.

Staying in touch with friends and family geographically far away, this is becoming more valid in Ireland at the moment with many families seeking new homes overseas. Social networks allow children to keep their friendships alive.

How to stay safe online

I’ve created two downloadable guides to Facebook and Twitter privacy for teens.

Download the guide: Facebook privacy – Recommendations for teens and young adults by clicking here

Download the guide: Twitter privacy – Recommendations for teens and young adults by clicking here

Suggested Rules

After discussions with parents I’ve compiled a list of suggested rules for young people using social media. It is in no way complete and I’d love to hear your thoughts so please do leave a comment.

Don’t’ become friends with someone you don’t know in real life
Don’t agree to meet up with strangers
Don’t include personal contact info, hometown or other information that could have people track you offline
Think three times before posting something. What you post has longevity and could be connected to you in the future.
Respect the privacy of others
Never send personal contact info via a social network
Don’t use geolocation services that broadcast your current or past location
Computers should be used in shared family spaces
Never ever share your password

If you would like Amanda to come to your school or youth group and talk to parents or children about using Social Media safely contact us.

Tags: Facebook,Privacy,Twitter — Tags: privacy, rules, Social Media, teenagers, young adults, young people —

Comments (3)

September 29, 2010

The Rules Of Social Media – The Results Are In

This has been a really interesting discussion. We started in July with the second round in August. Finally we have a comprehensive list of the dos and don’ts according to all of our social media communities. A big thank you to all of you who took the time to contribute.

A big surprise for me was how strongly people felt about some issues. And I have to bow to popular demand and point out that the list below is simply a list of guidelines. There are exceptions to every rule and some people find even the highest rated don’ts work for them. However I would exercise caution, whatever your strategy it is important to measure the results clearly and consistently. Is social media really working for you and if not how can you adjust your behavior for better results?

I have also resisted adding my opinion to the survey so far as I wanted to see what others thought but now that the results are in I’d like to add my vote to ‘Do be polite, considerate and respectful’. I see this frequently abandoned in the heat of the moment and I think it is important to remember that everything we say on the Internet reflects on our business. Being controversial works but there is a fine line between controversy and rudeness, a line that I strive not to overstep. Having said this, again there are exceptions to the rule, controversy and rudeness, if it suits your business could be a big draw.

The Full List as suggested by our online communities:

Do give benefit to your community
Do be different
Do be funny
Do be interesting and relevant
Do be polite, considerate and respectful
Do be sociable
Do build a strong network
Do comment on blogs
Do complete your Linkedin profile
Do converse and reply when someone attempts to engage you
Do create your own App for Facebook or Smartphone
Do get involved in discussions
Do have an open and public Facebook page so those not on Facebook can access it
Do personalise Linkedin invites
Do post useful resources
Don’t insult people
Don’t apply ‘Old Media’ strategies to social media
Don’t be a creepy lurker
Don’t be repetitive
Don’t broadcast, engage
Don’t have personal conversations on Twitter (do it privately)
Don’t invite people who will get no benefit from it to fan your Facebook page
Don’t join Linkedin groups and not engage
Don’t just collect followers and likes, make them relevant
Don’t link your Twitter account to your Linkedin profile fully
Don’t only follow celebs
Don’t post inane tweets / posts
Don’t pretend you know about social media when you don’t
Don’t protect tweets
Don’t schedule tweets
Don’t sell, sell, sell!
Don’t spam Linkedin groups, only post relevant content
Don’t swear
Don’t think that Facebook is just B2C
Don’t post a big bunch of Tweets in a row
Don’t update Facebook personal and business accounts concurrently with the same info
Don’t use push over pull
Don’t write rules, suggest guidelines
Don’t post too often or talk too much