Presentation initially delivered Feb. 29, 2012 at a public school in the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. 5 basic tips to help parents understand and mitigate the risks of their children using social media.

1. Parenting & Social Media
Tips for Safely Using Social Media
@aknecht

2. About Me!
• Author
• Online Lecturer for University of
San Francisco
• Partner at Digital Always Media Inc.
• Avid user of social media since early 90s
• Parent (12yr old girl & 10 yr old boy)
@aknecht

3. My Definition of Social Media
• Social Media (noun)
a variety of medium used to draw
together people with a common goal or
objective
Source: A. K’necht
@aknecht

4. Popular Social Apps
• Facebook • YouTube
• Texting • G+ (Google)
• Interactive games • Apple - FaceTime
• Chats • Skype (webcams)
• Blogs/Review sites • Email
• Twitter • Flickr
@aknecht

5. Which Ones Do Your Kids Use?
@aknecht

6. Social Media & Parenting
• Which type parenting style is best?
@aknecht

7. @aknecht

8. @aknecht

9. @aknecht

10. Tip 1: Have the talk
@aknecht

11. Tip 2: Build Trust
@aknecht

12. Tip 3: Automate Monitoring
@aknecht

13. Google Alerts
• Set-up an alert on your child’s name +
– School
– Sports team
– Other identifiable activities
@aknecht

14. Setting up Google Alerts
• http://www.google.com/alerts
@aknecht

15. Setting up Google Alerts
@aknecht

16. Email Monitoring
• Configure email account to
automatically bcc you on all email they
receive
• Easy to do if you administer the email
@aknecht

17. Email Monitoring
• Register a personal domain for your
family or your child
– FamilyName.ca/com
– FirstInitialFamilyName.com/.ca
– Etc.
• Make a memorable email
– firstname@lastname.ca/com
– nickname@firstname.ca/com
@aknecht

18. Facebook
• Make sure your child friends you
• Don’t spy, but their posts will show up
in your stream
• Respond when appropriate
• Periodically take a look at what
they’re up to
@aknecht

19. Don’t Assume!
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/teenager-faces-47-charges-in-child-luring-case/article2329710/
@aknecht

20. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/33-facebook-terms-kids-use-and-parents-should-know/8450
@aknecht

21. Tip 4: Protect Yourself Now
& In the Future
@aknecht

22. Teach What Not to Post
• Only post/write what you’d want:
– Announced over school’s PA system
– Your grandmother to see
– Displayed on main bulletin board at school
– Kids telling other kids at school
• Both today & in the future
@aknecht

23. Once Posted to the Internet
@aknecht

24. Once Post to the Internet
@aknecht

25. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/over-3-years-later-deleted-facebook-photos-are-still-online
@aknecht

26. Tip 5: Don’t Share Too Much
@aknecht

27. Don’ts for Parents
• Don’t check in on foursquare at your
child’s school
• Don’t tweet out personal info on your
kids
• Don’t post personal identifiable
information on your kids (i.e. on
Facebook) and make it public
@aknecht

28. Do for Parents
• Do check social media application
privacy settings regularly
– Perhaps every 30 or 60 days
• Do know who has access to your posts
and act accordingly
• Get active in social media to see
what’s out there
@aknecht

29. Do for Parents
• Turn off geo-tagging for photos on your
phones when taking pictures of your
kids
• Wait until your back from vacation to
post public photos (burglars know how
to use social media)
@aknecht

30. The Paid Option
• SocialShield
– Searches the web & consolidates
information
– $9.99 US per month
– http://www.socialshield.com
@aknecht

31. So Now You Know!
@aknecht

32. Thank You
Alan K’necht
alan@DigitalAlwaysMedia.com
@aknecht
Just type my name into Google
@aknecht