Social media guide for parents in 2014
It’s no secret that social media is a popular way for people to communicate — but for parents, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest developments. In this article, we look at the most popular social media platforms and streaming services and their key features, while providing some useful tips and resources to help keep your child safe online.
Social media
Easily the most well-known social media platform, Facebook is used by more than one billion people around the world. It allows users to make a profile, and post messages, videos and photos to their own or friends’ profiles or ‘timelines’. Users can connect with others by adding them as a ‘friend’, follow pages of interest, and like and comment on ‘posts’. Messenger, Facebook’s chat feature, now sits as a separate app. It allows users to send messages to their Facebook friends, including a ‘group chat’ feature where they can talk to multiple friends within the same conversation.
Instagram sees users share photos and videos with their followers, using custom filters and editing tools for enhancement. Users can choose to have a public account, where their content is available to anyone using the app, or a private account, where only their followers (who must be approved by the user) can see what they share. There is also an option to send photos directly to friends through a private messaging function.
Snapchat
While recent updates have seen Snapchat expand to include messaging and calling functions, the founding focus of the app sees users send photos and videos for up to 10 seconds before they disappear. Snapchat also features a ‘my story’ feature, which allows users to send a series of videos and photos to everyone on their friend list. Users can add to their ‘story’ throughout the day, and their friends can watch everything in a slideshow-style format until the story expires after 24 hours. In addition to personal stories, Snapchat features stories from events around the world, such as the Academy Awards, sporting matches, cultural celebrations and music festivals.
Users send out ‘tweets’, which are short messages of strictly 140 characters or less. Tweets can include photos, videos and links to external content. Twitter provides an opportunity to connect with other users (including celebrities and influencers) by including their Twitter ‘handle’ (username) in a tweet, while hashtags make it easy for users to find and contribute information about topics of interest. Twitter profiles can be public or private.
FaceTime and Skype
These platforms allow users to communicate via video and voice calls. On Apple devices, FaceTime can be used to make video or voice calls to people in the user’s contact list. Skype, on the other hand, requires users to create an account to connect with other Skype users, mobiles and landlines via video calls, voice calls and a chat feature. While Skype to Skype calls are free, mobile and landline calls incur charges. Other Skype features include group calls and chats, the ability to send files and screen sharing, where users can share what they’re looking at on their screen.
WhatsApp, Kik and Viber
These messaging services provide an alternative to communicating via traditional text messages. Messages are sent using wi-fi or mobile data — offering a great alternative for those communicating with friends or family overseas. As well as text, users can also send photos, videos, sketches and stickers, and talk to multiple friends in a group chat. Those using Viber and WhatsApp can also make free voice and video calls to other users.
Described as a ‘visual bookmarking tool’, Pinterest allows users to browse and save creative content and ideas, such as recipes, DIY projects, fashion and beauty inspiration, gift ideas, travel tips and more. Users can create ‘boards’ about certain topics of interest (healthy eating, wedding inspiration or interior design, for example) and ‘pin’ photos of interest to the board. Pinned content can be shared to other social channels, including Facebook and Twitter.
Vine
This service allows users to share video clips of six seconds or less, which are played on loop. Users can browse through videos on different channels, including comedy, music, dance and sport. There is also a separate app, Vine Kids, for younger children, allowing them to watch age-appropriate clips such as animations and educational videos.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a blogging platform that sees users share photos, links, music, videos, writing, quotes, art and more on their own personal blog. Users can interact with others by viewing and following other blogs and ‘reblogging’ content that they like, which will then appear on their own blog.
Streaming services
Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora
These services allow users to stream music to personal devices such as a phone, tablet or computer. Instead of purchasing individual songs or albums for download, users are able to search for songs from an extensive online library. There is also the option to save songs for offline use, create and browse playlists, and listen to tailored radio stations. Free memberships and trials are available, but some features are only available to paying users.
Netflix andStan
Like the music services above, these platforms allow users to stream movies and TV shows to personal devices such as tablets, smartphones or computers, or to their TV through a device such as an Apple TV or Google Chromecast. The range of content on offer varies between the platforms depending on streaming rights and agreements. While one-month free trials are available on all platforms, ongoing users are required to pay a monthly subscription to the service, costing anywhere from $9 to $15 a month.
Things to watch out for
- Privacy: Each platform has its own privacy policy and settings. Some allow users to adjust the privacy of their account or profile by choosing who can see what they share — only them, friends or connections, a custom audience or the general public. You should talk to your child about only connecting with people they know in real life and being careful about sharing personal information.
- Data: These apps can use up quite a lot of data in a short amount of time — particularly streaming services such as Spotify. To combat this, it’s a good idea to connect to a wi-fi network whenever possible and regularly monitor data usage each month to avoid unexpected fees. If you find that your child is going over their data allowance, you may consider adding extra data to their plan or looking at which apps are using the most data and encouraging them to limit the use of these apps when they are on the move.
- Sleep deprivation: It’s not uncommon for kids (and adults!) to stay up till the early hours of the morning on their phone or laptop after they do go to bed. You may consider keeping these devices in a communal area, rather than your child’s bedroom, to encourage a good night’s sleep.
- Sharing inappropriate content: It’s important that your child takes time to carefully consider what they post on social media — they never know when it may come back to haunt them. While a post, comment or photo may seem funny at the time, they need to realise that once something is on the internet it’s there forever. Encourage them to think about how future employers may react to the content they post and to not share anything that they would be uncomfortable with you or another family member seeing.
- Cyberbullying: Once confined to the schoolyard, bullying has now found its way into children’s homes and bedrooms through online platforms. It’s important to maintain an ongoing discussion with your child about how they interact with others online — encouraging them to speak up if they do encounter any issues, while educating them about what is and isn’t appropriate behaviour. See Six steps to protect your child from cyberbullying for more information.
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