social mediaAll our Privacy Parent articles about or related to the potential issues of social media.
All our Privacy Parent articles about or related to the potential issues of social media.
February 26th, 2023
Your infant grandson sitting on the (endlessly patient) family dog. His older sister’s kindergarten portrait. The giddy dance they perform every time you play “Yellow Submarine.” They’re all moments you cherish and want to remember. And you know your friends would love them, too. So you do what so many of us do now. You share them. Not just with your closest confidants, but with hundreds of “friends” and countless people you’ll never meet.
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January 6th, 2023
Remember those “This is your brain on drugs” ads with the egg in the frying pan? The New York Times has an interesting article out about research exploring how the heavy use of social media can affect teens’ brains. As one of the researchers put it, “teens who are habitually checking their social media are showing these pretty dramatic changes in the way their brains are responding, which could potentially have long-term consequences well into adulthood, sort…... Continue reading >
December 22nd, 2022
Heroes might be a strong word, but hats off to the young, self-proclaimed Luddites recently featured in the New York Times. They’re experimenting with living without smartphones or social media and exploring the world without an every-present digital sidekick. “Social media and phones are not real life,” says one of them. Flip phones, books, and in-the-flesh friends, these Luddites say, are. We’re not trying to convince anyone to ditch their iPhones altogether, but it’s refreshing to read…... Continue reading >
November 4th, 2022
Is Messenger Kids OK for your kids? Sort of. Here’s what you should know.
Messenger Kids is an app designed for children for messaging and video calls that runs on Fire tablets and iOS and Android phones and tablets. This free app is from Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), which designed Messenger Kids so parents can control its settings.
The target audience is kids, which Meta wants to bring into its platform…... Continue reading >
September 28th, 2022
Be honest, parents. You’ve heard of Twitch, but you have no idea what it is. That’s OK. You’re hardly alone. Here’s a primer.
The basics
Put simply, Twitch is a gaming platform that allows users to livestream the video games they’re playing. According to Windstream, Twitch hosts at least 15 million visitors on average every day, with more than 3 million of those being creators sharing their gameplay.
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September 21st, 2022
Your data is so valuable, that companies around the world want it. But here’s a twist: some of the biggest collectors of that data have no idea where it is. According to recent congressional testimony from a Twitter whistleblower, the social media platform can’t really keep track of it all. Nor, it seems, can the other tech giants, including Facebook and Google. From the Washington Post:
Some of these systems are black boxes…... Continue reading >
September 13th, 2022
Instagram was fined more than 405 million Euros, which amounts to about $400 million, for failing to protect kids’ data. The penalty was issued by Ireland’s data privacy regulator. The watchdog agency said the social media giant allowed children aged 13-17 to operate business accounts, leading to the release of their personal information, including phone numbers and email addresses. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has said it would appeal the ruling.
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August 21st, 2022
TikTok can track your every click and keystroke, including passwords and other personal information. As if anyone needed another reason to be wary of the rapidly growing social media platform, here’s another. When users click a link within the app, TikTok’s browser inserts code that allows it to record how users interact with whatever site they’re on. Taps on the keyboard, clicks, scrolls, TikTok can track it all. In a word: Sketchy. Be careful.
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August 18th, 2022
In a welcome bit of news, Snapchat is letting parents in the proverbial room. The company announced recently the launch of Family Center, an in-app tool that allows parents to see who their kids are chatting with and to more easily report suspicious accounts. In a statement, the company said, “Family Center is designed to reflect the way that parents engage with their teens in the real world, where parents usually know who their teens are…... Continue reading >
August 4th, 2022
It isn’t your kid’s job to influence anyone but you. So think twice before making your kid the star of your social media feeds. This recent CNET piece points out the perils of turning your kid into an influencer. It sacrifices their privacy and it puts them at risk. “Sharents,” parents who regularly share information and images about their kids, need to be aware of those risks. As one expert cited in the piece put it, “When…... Continue reading >