The world of Social Media is only going to get bigger and when it comes to our children, we need to take some extra precautions on how they are using these different sites.
I know many parents don’t even realize their children are using different sites and were not involved when their accounts were being set up. I believe, as parents, we need to make sure that our children are protected BUT also help to make their privacy settings safe for them.
I am going to focus on Facebook BUT I want you to take the same concept for any other Social Media sites your child is using. I will make some additional points, further down, in regards to other sites.
P.S. My suggestions are based on the computer version of Facebook, not the App, however, these changes will affect the App version.
The great thing about Facebook, is they do have privacy settings that you can go through with your children and set them properly. I find the best way to understand what is being seen by the public is to view our profiles in that same environment.
- Go to your personal profile/timeline
- Click on the 3 dots just under the cover photo
- Choose the option “view as”
- This view will show you how your profile is shown in the public eye
- You want to go through/scroll and determine what needs to be fixed in regards to what you do NOT want the public to see
Your next step will be to go through all the “settings” that Facebook has put into place for. When you are your “home” tab, click the drop down arrow and go to “settings”. Take the time to go through each tab and read to see what the option is and determine how you want it applied to your account.
Another KEY point to take note of, is that when new profile pictures are uploaded, they are automatically set to “public” therefore, you need to make sure to change that privacy to “friends” after you have uploaded it. The reason being, is that when you change that picture again, the old ones will remain public and available for people to steal (this can lead to fake profiles).
If you find that when you are viewing your profile in the public view and there are elements you are not sure how to fix, just send me a message and I will help you.
I would also like to encourage you to remind your children that if they receive a friend request from someone they don’t know (even if it is a person of the same age or close to), to have you check that person’s profile before accepting. Use your judgment on what you see on that profile, click on the different tabs you see visible, scroll through their timeline, and go with your gut.
Other Social Media sites:
- Instagram and Twitter have privacy settings available to you, so you can take the steps and go through these with your children and make sure they are set up properly
- The majority of the kids are using Snapchat, so I found this great article that can teach you about the privacy side of things. CLICK HERE!
It is so IMPORTANT that we make sure our children are safe as this world is only going to get bigger. Take the extra time to go through all the sites they are using and educate yourself on the security side of things. There are tons of articles available in Google that can help you, embrace them.
Tammy Hudgin 