What is your opinion of Social Media? We ‘Started the Conversation’ on social media in this month’s edition of Northern Connection magazine. There is no doubt that it is here to stay but how do you teach children and teens to not talk, text, chat, or meet strangers? One rule we have is that everyone can only post past events. For example, “We went on vacation…”, “I went to the mall…”, and so forth, so no one knows the house was empty.
Another rule we have is the golden rule of, “if you can’t
say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all”, which is very difficult
when so many people feel so comfortable in being rude on social media and write
nasty things that they would never say in a face-to-face conversation. Leading
to having to resist the temptation to retaliate and “turn the other cheek” instead.
Also in the article, we mention, if you are mean out in
cyberspace, you can be in jeopardy of being criminal, according to new laws and
adaptations to existing laws against harassment and stalking. So be aware that
if someone is cruel to you or your child online, you and your child have
rights! Check out http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/cyberstalking-and-cyberharassment-laws.aspx,
to learn more.
In doing research for this article and blog, three great
teens that I happen to know informed me that since all the parents are on Facebook
and Twitter, they have started hanging out in other sites, such as:
www.Instagram.com –
more photo and video intensive than Facebook and Twitter, it streamlines getting
impromptu pictures without as much text and then it is easy to share out the
pictures or videos that you want to Facebook.
www.Pinterest.com –
this site really helps you organize any content that you have found on the web
so you can come back to it and relocate it in a snap – it is infinitely more
efficient than just saving out “favorites” in your web browser.
www.Snapchat.com – similar
to Instagram, it came with the promise of photos only lasting 30 minutes and
then they’ll auto-delete. Unfortunately, this is NOT entirely true and people
have been hurt because if a so-called friend sees it during that 30 minutes and
downloads it, then they can share it out to Facebook or wherever they want and
you have no control over it.
www.Spotify.com – this is
the ultimate in managing your music via playlists. You can upload your own
playlists but you can also access all the other playlists that have been
uploaded to find various kinds of music and genres and people can access your list, as well.
www.Tumblr.com – an “edgy”
version of Facebook – this has become a big favorite among teens.
www.Vine.com – recently purchased
by Facebook, Vine is similar to Instagram but with more of a focus on short
videos.
www.YikYakApp.com –
similar to Facebook and Pinterest but it is a public bulletin board that is
based on your location – so you see the posts of people physically near you and
they can see your posts. Supposedly streamlining what you see, relevant to
your area. (Personally, I think this is a bit close for comfort – but is that
me?)
If you want more statistics on people using the Internet for
social media, check-out: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
As always, we are very interested in your
comments and opinions, so let’s continue the conversation and please enter your
thoughts in the comment section below, Is Social Media Friend or Foe? (Also,
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