Social Media — News & Popular Guides
Instagram Adopts “PG-13” Defaults for Teen Accounts: What Parents & Teens Should Know
Instagram will automatically places users under 18 into “13+” mode.
Why Surgeon General’s Social Media Warning Label is a Bad Idea
The Surgeon General called for a warning label on social media platforms, but it’s not a good idea
China Ownership Grabs Headlines, but TikTok has Reasonable Teen Safety Policies
President Biden signed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok within a year or face a U.S. ban.
What You Need to Know about Instagram Map
Instagram’s new map lets you share locations with friends—useful, but raises privacy concerns parents and users must manage.
Treating Social Media as Windows into the Lives of Others
It’s important to remember that they are only snapshots into their lives.
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Ask Trish: Stressing About Social Media
I’m always so stressed about social media, like who’s viewing my stories, how my pictures look, and if I “measure up” to everyone else. How do I let go?
Ask Trish: Social Media and Mental Health
Dear Trish: Maybe it’s just me but I just feel really bad about myself when I’m on social media. Like literally everyone seems to be living their best life and it reminds me how much is wrong with mine. How can I feel better?
Parent’s & Educator’s Guide to Media Literacy & False Information
Two-thirds of students can’t identify sponsored content.
Protecting Mental Health on Instagram
I’m grateful to the Wall Street Journal for shedding light on some of the ways social media can contribute to a sense of inadequacy and other mental health issues. But what the article didn’t include is tips on how parents and teens can deal with these issues for a healthier online experience.
Seniors Flocking to TikTok
When you think about TikTok, it’s easy to conjure up images of young teens lip-synching and horsing around in short videos they share with their peers.
Family Guide to Parental Controls
How do I know when to use them, and should I tell my kids?
Quick-Guide to Secure Passwords
The FBI along with other security experts are now recommending a “pass phrase” rather than simply a password. Such a phrase should be relatively long – at least 15 characters.
Ask Trish: The Pressure to Be Perfect
“I sometimes feel like the pressure to be perfect on social media can be so overwhelming. Do you have tips for...
Tips for Dealing with Teen Sexting
Also see: Teen Sexting: Quick-Guide for Parents and Teens “Sexting” usually refers to the sharing of sexually explicit...
Battening Down your Facebook Hatches
Controlling who can see your friends list is only one of many optional privacy settings.
Family Guide to Messenger by Facebook
Features include blocking, vanish mode, and enhanced protections for teens.
How We Got Here
Because they’ve been written about extensively, there’s no need for me to repeat how the internet – Facebook, Twitter and lesser-known sites like Gab and the now-suspended Parler have contributed to the division, vitriol and violence that has shaken our country.
Parent’s Guide to Tech for Tots
Teaching even our youngest children how to use devices and interact with digital content in a healthy way has become an important part of parenting.
Tips to Help Stop Cyberbullying
Guidance for parents and young people on cyberbullying, including advice for ending (or preventing) the cycle of...
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Protecting Children from Inappropriate Content in the UK
We talk to John Carr about internet safety for kids in the UK and newly regulated laws to protect children from inappropriate content and the proper education methods to seek information.
Why Tech Companies are Offering Services for Younger Children
We’ve all heard the stories about kids spending too much time with their devices or, worse, spending that time doing things online that they probably shouldn’t be doing. It’s been an issue since I started writing about kids and tech in the early 90s but with the proliferation of phones and tablets — sometimes now getting into the tiny hands of toddlers — the issue has the attention of the media, policy makers and the public.
Teens Stress Authenticity at First US ‘Kids Have Your Say’ Meeting
As part of the Kids Have Your Say project, coordinated globally by ConnectSafely, Insight , our U.S. partner, My...
Dire Warnings About Children Dying Because of Apps and Games are a Form of ‘Juvenoia’
We can educate children and families about the dangers that surely exist in the Internet world, without having to exaggerate the nature of the danger and the degree to which the Internet itself is a risk amplifying environment.
Facebook & Instagram Offer Controls to Manage Time Online
Facebook has announced tools to enable both Facebook and Instagram users to better manage the time they spend using those apps.
Survey Shows Adults Lack Trust in Social Media
It’s been obvious for awhile that we’re starting to experience a tech backlash, with an increasing number of people expressing skepticism over whether our devices and social media are doing us harm. Some of this skepticism can be healthy when, for example, it leads to people tightening up their privacy settings or putting down their phones and stepping away from their computers for quality time with friends and family. But, as a couple of recent surveys have found, it’s also starting to cause people to think more about regulating technology companies.
The Good and Bad of Location Sharing
Two recent news stories about cell phone location services recently caught my eye. One was a positive development and the other quite negative, until it was at least partially fixed.
Facebook Slips, Snapchat Grows Among Teens — Nearly Half Online “Almost Constantly”
A new survey from Pew Research found that Snapchat is now the social media app that teens use most often, followed closely by YouTube.
Facebook is Cleaning Up Inappropriate Content But You Still Need to be Vigilant
by Larry Magid I’m about to report on some interesting numbers from Facebook regarding inappropriate material it...