Old enough for social media?
Social media is an integral part of children's and young people's lives. A survey conducted by DFPA shows that 64% of students in grades 4-6. class has a profile on one or more social media. In 7th grade and up, almost everyone has a profile on one or more social media.
It is difficult to say exactly how much time children and young people spend on social media, because they do not log on and off as such. Instead, they are available on social media most of their waking hours.
Old enough for social media?
Although children learn to operate an iPad from the age of two, it is not until around the age of eight that they start using social media.
Most social media, including Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Musical.ly have an age limit of 13, but it is very easy to cheat and create a profile even if you are younger.
The question of when your child is old enough to get on social media is primarily a question of maturity: Is your child mature enough to understand and navigate a given medium?
Prepare for the online world
If your child is on social media, it makes demands on you as a parent. Just as you have to teach your child how to navigate in traffic, you also have to teach your child to navigate in the online world and take care of him- or herself and his/her friends.
Take time to monitor your children's media use, and be aware that new media and apps that your child may start using, are often developed.
It is a good idea to talk to your child about life on social media from the age of eight, when they get their first mobile phone or iPad.
Talk about life online
Talk about being a good friend - both online and offline, that it's perfectly okay to post pictures of yourself. Your child just needs to remember that once you put a picture online, it will always be there. Tell them that you must not share pictures of others without their permission.
Let your child feel that you are interested in his or her online life without monitoring it, and let your child know that he/she can always come to you and tell about unpleasant experiences.
Five tips to prepare your child for social media
- Talk about how to be a good friend - online and offline.
- Ask your child what type of pictures are okay to share - and talk about the contexts the pictures might fit into.
- Tell your child not to share photos of others without permission.
- Talk about what information to be careful about sharing - for example, one's address or the code for social media profiles.
- Be curious about your child's online life - and let your child know that she/he can always come to you with unpleasant experiences.
Should you be friends with your child on social media?
There may be several reasons why you want to be friends with your child on social media. Maybe you want to keep an eye on your child's online life, maybe you are curious about what your child posts, maybe you just think it would be nice to be friends online.
Before adding your child on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram, it's a good idea to ask if your child wants to be friends with you.
If your child does not accept your friend request on social media, you must respect this.
What is Facebook?
In short, Facebook is a website and an app where users can share content with other users in the form of videos, images, texts and links. Facebook users can share the content publicly with everyone, with specific Facebook friends or with individuals.
Facebook is a huge online network with 1.7 billion users worldwide. Facebook's official age limit is 13, but a large European study shows that one in five 9 to 12-year-olds has a profile on Facebook.
The many users and many different options for sharing content mean that it can be difficult to see how exposed you are on Facebook - especially as a new user. If your child is on Facebook, it is therefore important that you help them navigate. For example, you can help the child familiarize himself with the many privacy settings, talk about how to be a good friend on Facebook and that things they share on Facebook cannot be removed from the web again.
Furthermore, a central part of Facebook is that Facebook collects information about their users' age, gender, place of residence and interests. Facebook uses this information to sell targeted advertising to various companies, which are allowed to advertise various products via Facebook directly to users.
An alternative to Facebook for children under 13 is the social media Momio - read more about Momio under 'What is Momio?'.
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social media, where you can share videos and pictures, which other users can "like" and comment on. You can choose to have an open or a closed profile. On an open profile, the photos and videos you share are visible to everyone. On a closed profile, only the people you have approved to follow you can see the things you share.
When sharing photos and videos on Instagram, you can tag them with hashtags (#), for example: #bestestevenner. If you have an open profile, anyone who searches for the hashtag you have used can find your picture. In this way, Instagram allows you to meet users that you don't know beforehand, but who have the same interests as you.
The age limit on Instagram is 13, but many children under 13 also have an Instagram profile. Some believe that Instagram is a good social media to start with because it is relatively simple and transparent. However, there are several things you should be aware of if your child is on Instagram.
Firstly, Instagram is a "glossy media" where most people only share the pictures of themselves and their friends, which are taken at perfect angles with perfect photo filters. In this way, Instagram is helping to shift children's and young people's (and to that extent many adults') notions of what is normal. Instagram can lead to a feeling of inferiority because you don't feel you can live up to the glossy images you come across on the medium.
If your child is on Instagram, you should also be aware of the vulnerability associated with sharing pictures of themselves and one's life. Children can be hurt that their picture is not "liked" by their followers, or that some write ambiguous or downright unpleasant comments on their pictures. It is therefore a good idea to talk to your child about how to react positively to each other and not exclude anyone by not liking their stuff.
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is an app where you can send videos or pictures - called "snaps" - directly to your Snapchat friends. Half of all 12-19 year olds use the app.
The special thing about Snapchat is that one's photos and videos stop being visible when the recipient has seen them or when they have been in one's "History" for 24 hours. Snapchat has a chat function where the messages disappear as soon as the recipient has read them.
Because one's "snaps" disappear, there are many who expose themselves more here than on other social media. However, there is no guarantee that one's photos will disappear completely.
The recipient can take a screenshot. If someone takes a screenshot of something you sent, you get a notification from the app. Therefore, some take pictures of messages with another phone. That way, the sender is not notified that their picture or message has been saved.
What is Ask.fm
Ask.fm is a social media where users can send each other questions.
You create a profile and connect it with your other social media profiles to connect your friends. On Ask.fm it is possible to ask each other questions anonymously - which a lot of people do. Many questions are banal, but there has been an unfortunate tendency for children and young people to take advantage of the anonymity to ask each other offensive questions.
As a recipient of questions, you do not have the option to remove questions or hide them from your profile. All questions and answers are public. This combination of being able to ask public questions anonymously has resulted in an unfortunate bullying culture among some users.
What is TikTok
TikTok is an app and social media where you can make short music videos by filming yourself miming to a piece of music. When you have recorded a video, you can choose to share them, so that other users can "like" them and comment on them.
This is where many children have their first experiences with social media. This can both be positive and promote feelings of togetherness and self-confidence, but it also carries the risk of experiences of online bullying.
When you create a profile on TikTok, it is basically public, so strangers can see your videos. It is possible to change this through the privacy settings of the app.
What is Yellow?
Yellow is an app that helps one find new friends to chat and send photos with over Snapchat.
In the style of the popular dating app Tinder you are presented with a bunch of strangers' profile pictures. By sliding these profile pictures either to the right or to the left, you indicate whether you want to chat with the person in question. You can choose both gender and age on the profiles you are introduced to - but there is always a risk that the people you come into contact with are not who they pretend to be.
The subsequent contact takes place in Snapchat.
What is "Grooming"?
Grooming is the process by which sexual offenders contact and manipulate children and young people through online meetings. Typically, the meeting takes place in chat forums and on websites aimed at children, where the abuser makes contact with the children often by pretending to be a peer.
Through online chat, the offender builds a familiarity and relationship with the child, which they later use to blackmail the child into, for example, sending nude photos or sexual encounters. All children can become victims of grooming, but children without strong adult contact and children with low self-confidence are at greater risk, as the abuser will often be able to manipulate the child more easily.
What is Momio
Momio is an online universe for children under the age of 18. Your child becomes part of the Momio universe by creating a profile with an associated Momio figure. On Momio, users can chat with other users and share texts and images privately and publicly.
On Momio, the child can apply to become friends with other children. Although there is an upper age limit of 18, there have been several cases of adults posing as children on Momio and using the site to try to get children to send nude photos. If your child is on Momio, it is therefore important that you talk to your child about the fact that the people they are in contact with on Momio may not be who they pretend to be.
If you teach your child to be critical and attentive when navigating Momio, you prepare them for their future life on social media.
Read more about Momio on Momio's own blog for parents.
