1. Social Media: What Parents Need to Know

2. What Is Social Media Anyways?

3. The Five W’s of the Middle School
Social Media Survey
Who?
–
80% of Middle Schoolers surveyed have smart phones. 80% of these smart
phones are iPhones.
What?
–
–
–
Schoolwide, the most popular platforms are Instagram, YouTube, and Skype
but most students use a wide variety - some have accounts across ten or more
platforms.
39% of students have opened an account without asking for permission from
their parents.
48% of students indicated their parents do not know their passwords for their
accounts.
When?
–
The majority of students spend 0-2 hours a day on social media. Over half
indicated they use social media ”occasionally” while doing homework or a
school-related activity.
Where?
–
Most students use social media at home: primarily in their bedroom or in a
room shared by other family members. The third most popular destination is
in the car.
Why?
–
“It’s a good way to connect with my friends.” “It’s fun.” “It entertains me.”
…or Why Not?
–
“It makes people overconfident.” “I’m not allowed until I’m 13.” “I don’t care if

4. Instagram
What is it?
A photo- and video-sharing and social
networking app that was acquired by
Facebook in April 2012 for $1B.
–
Similar to Facebook, users have the
option to “tag” friends in pictures and
videos
150 million users upload 40 million photos
daily.
Why is it fun?
An artistic and hypervisual way for kids to
dabble in amateur photography – or to see
what their friends are doing 24-7.
What are some of the
dangers?
A public account can be searched and is
visible to all of Instagram’s users, opening
photos and videos to online taunting or
“trolling” via comments. There have been
cases of cyberbullying via “code language”
in the Middle School (ie: “Rate me on a
scale of 1 – 10”).

5. Geo-Tagging Photos & Videos on
Instagram
After applying an Instagram filter and
adding a caption to their photo or video,
users can add a geotag, placing it on
their photo map.
This allows a user’s followers to
open his or her exact location in
Maps, essentially giving this gives
followers immediate access to
directions to their current location.

6. Instagram Sharing &
Hashtags
When uploading to Instagram, users have
the option to share their photos, videos,
and locations across Facebook, Twitter,
Tumblr, Flickr, and foursquare. If users
opt to share a photo with another
social network that is public, it will
show up to all of their
friends/followers on that specific
social network - even if their Instagram
account is set to private.
When typing a caption for an Instagram
photo or video, users can include
hashtags, similar to Twitter. A hashtag
creates a hyperlink that links them to
other users using the same hashtag if
their photos are not private.
ex: #TGIF, #selfies, #bored,
#mancandymonday

7. Basic Instagram Privacy Settings
By toggling posts to
private while in the
“options” section of his
or her profile, the
user can protect their
photos and videos
from public
consumption. When
privacy is turned on,
the user must approve
or deny future
follower requests
before people are able
to see their photos.

8. Instagram Web
Profiles
While photos and videos can only be uploaded to Instagram from the mobile app,
Instagram also creates a web profile for users that can be searched and viewed at
instagram.com/username. Public profiles display every Instagram photo and video
ever uploaded, while profiles that are set to private cannot be viewed unless
already-approved followers are logged in.
Public Web Profile
Profile
vs
Private Web

9. Live Gaming
What is it?
A service that uses the internet to
connect over 46 million subscribers
for multiplayer gaming and social
networking as well as make a wide
variety of Internet-enabled content
available to its users. Users can
play with friends, connect to
Facebook and Twitter, chat with
other users, stream movies and TV
shows, and more. The most popular
platform is Xbox Live.
Why is it fun?
Users are able to connect and play
games while communicating in real
time with other players from all
over the world.
What are some of the
dangers?
Because users are faceless and known
instead by created user names, trash
talk and foul language among
players is rampant. Identity theft is a
less common threat for kids but
still a reality due to malware,
phishing emails, or security breaches.

10. Live Gaming
Utilize parental controls
–
–
Parents can control everything from
how much time the console can be used
on a daily basis to what games and video
content can be viewed on the content.
Parental controls are divided into two
groups: console controls and online
safety and privacy settings. Console
controls are located in the Family
Settings or Family Center. Privacy
settings can be edited online under My
Account.
Set up an adult account for
yourself and a child
account for your child.
Keep the gaming console in a
place shared by multiple
family members. Limit the
amount of time your child
uses his or her headphones
to chat with others.

11. Skype
What is it?
A text, voice, and video service owned by Microsoft with over 250 million users
worldwide. It can be used on a phone, a computer, a tablet, or a TV that has Skype on it.
At peak times, there are an estimated 40 million users online. Skype can be linked with
a user’s Microsoft and Facebook accounts.
Why is it fun?
The service gives kids a way to interact face-to-face with family members or friends
who might live far away. It also offers another way for kids to chat outside of texting.
What are some of the dangers?
Similar to Xbox Live, Skype essentially invites strangers into your home - along with
viruses and potential security breaches.

12. Skype
Control who your
kids are chatting with
and use the block
users option when
necessary.
Skypito – a free download
created specifically for
children ages 2-14. It mimics
Skype but requires parents to
preapprove (“white list”)
who their children can talk
or chat with.

13. YouTube
What is it?
A video-sharing website owned by Google
that boasts more than 100 hours of video
uploaded every minute with 1 billion
unique users visiting the site each month.
Why is it fun?
Music videos, videos of people falling,
DIY / tutorial videos – it runs the gamut.
What are some of the
dangers?
Google Safe Search is not 100% accurate
in filtering content you would rather
your children not see. YouTube is also
notorious for vicious commenters
(“trolls”); the company announced in
September 2013 they are taking measures
to prevent “irrelevant” comments from
showing up and making it more difficult
for people to comment anonymously.

14. YouTube Safety Settings
If you child uses YouTube to
upload videos, protect their
privacy by setting personal
videos to “private” or
“unlisted.” This requires
other users to have a specific
URL to view the video.
Encourage your child to
“flag” videos and users that
may be inappropriate. This is
an anonymous action.
Check your child’s viewing
history periodically by
visiting Account > My Videos.
Be warned: this can be
cleared.

15. YouTube Safety Settings
Enable – and lock - safety mode on your child’s phone
or your family computer to hide videos that may
contain inappropriate content that has been flagged.
This also enables Google SafeSearch.

16. Ask.fm
What is it?
A website and app that allows
its 65 million users – half of
whom are under 18 – to
anonymously ask and answer
questions
Why is it fun?
Kids love to talk about
themselves. Ask.fm enables
them to do so anonymously.
Why is it dangerous?
There are hardly any privacy
settings and no real identity
controls. As of September 2013,
nine teenage suicides have been
connected to Ask.fm. In
response, the company is
beefing up abuse controls but
these are not expected to be in
effect until spring 2014.

17. Basic Ask.fm Safety Settings
Do not allow your child
to receive anonymous
questions.
Encourage your student
to report harassing
questions to the app
developer using the
report button located
beneath the “ask” button.
This will prevent a
reported user from
asking your child any
more questions.