Practical guide of social networks for parents
Regarding social networks, many adolescents and young people recognize that they know much more than their parents. And here lies the risk in using them. Parents must get up to date to instill a good use and teach them traditional values through them adapting an educational message.
It is important to be clear that there is nothing free on the Internet. Therefore, if they are not the client, perhaps they are the product. We should not forget the traditional aphorism "We are masters of what we keep silent and slaves of what we say". There is no way to ensure in a social network who contacts us who they say they are, so we are in permanent risk of identity theft
That "only my photos can see my friends" is false. It does not mean that our children lie to us to keep us calm, probably even they are not aware that anyone can know who they are or who they are with.
Practical guide of social networks for parents
To know the terrain of social networks, these are some of the most used by teenagers and young people to catch up:
Tuenti: social network of Spanish origin that operates internationally. Although originally it was aimed at university students, it was later opened to any user over eleven years old, although in the initial electronic register there is no way to ensure the veracity of the person's age. Currently, the profile of Tuenti users is that of adolescents who use the social network as a means of personal interaction: stay to go out, chat, play with other users in real time, share photos or videos and send private messages among registered users. As they are so young users and do not share space with adults, it is difficult to help them control their behavior
Twitter: microblogging network that allows you to send messages with a maximum of 140 characters, as if they were articles in a blog. Each user can subscribe to as many publishers as he wishes. To these messages you can attach photos, videos, links to web pages, etc. The social impact of Twitter is overwhelming; in fact, it is one of the most visited pages on the Internet. The problem in this network is that young people receive a huge amount of information and opinion from sources that are not necessarily contrasted, in which it is impossible to prioritize which things are important and which are accessory. It can lead young people to lose perspective of reality.
Facebook: the social network with more followers offers numerous additional services to the search of friends, such as lists of friends of our friends, chats, publication on the wall (own or of friends) creation of groups, of fan pages, photos, gifts, advertising , manifestation of interests ("I like"), games, applications, etc. Along with important benefits in communication, it raises the traditional problems in time-wasting networks by snooping into the lives of others and the possibilities of cyberbullying.
Instagram: In this social network, the image prevails. The successful network of photographs has been strengthened with the improvement of mobile cameras and editing programs. Each photo made with the application through the mobile can be retouched with a multitude of photographic filters and then published in the social network itself or in others. It is one of the fastest growing networks and the base of many photoblogs. It is important that adolescents understand the value of privacy so that they do not publish inappropriate photographs, their own or those of others.
Pinterest: is a social network that allows you to share images (pins) by classifying them into thematic personal boards or as collections of images related to an event, interest, hobby, etc. Its objective is the connection of all its members through common interests among them. It allows them to get in touch with groups with whom they have affinity but it can become a hobby that steals them too much time.
Flickr: is a web page where registered users publish, order and sell photographs and videos. The system allows tagging and commenting on users' photographs. It has a free version and a paid version. It is less used by teenagers.
Youtube: It offers a service to upload videos and view the ones that others publish, but it is not necessary to create a profile to be able to see the content of other users. The danger is that minors have inappropriate content at their disposal, but we can enable the so-called "restricted mode" that will hide adult videos. If used correctly, YouTube is very positive for our children, because it has didactic and practical content, and is free. The minimum age to create an account is 13 years.
Tumblr: is a microblogging platform that allows the publication of various documents, texts, images, videos, audios, etc.Some users can follow the contents of others by registering follow-ups in which a high degree of personalization is allowed. Well used, it offers important benefits
Periscope: is an application to broadcast videos in real time through Twitter, so you must have an account in this other network. It offers other possibilities such as adding geolocation, making a private broadcast or sending a notification on Twitter. But in adolescents, there is a risk of moving their lives to "direct" without understanding the need to reserve spaces for privacy.
Sara Pérez López
