Savvy Social Networking

By Wilmie van Tonder (Social Worker and Family Therapist)

The internet, along with other modern technologies, has brought us vast benefits over the past fifteen years.  It has started an evolution in the way people, especially the youth, communicate with each other, access entertainment and engage with communities of interest.

This latest wave of technologies, grouped as Web 2.0 technologies, includes Social Networking Services (SNSs). These services enable users to connect to others as friends or as like-minded strangers (depending on the network being used). There are however pros and cons of using these services:

Pros of SNSs	Cons of SNSs
Promotes specific interests.	Easy for predators to find victims.
Helps you find like-minded individuals.	Exposes you to impersonation and legal repercussions.
Provides a new tool to reach students and audiences.	Promotes isolation, which may lead to social health issues.
Allows people to create new relationships and reconnect with friends and family.	Increasing security threats and potential computer viruses.
Allows for creative expression in a new medium.	They are sometimes used to make money, not to improve peoples lives.
Lowers inhibitions to overcome social anxiety.	Can become addictive and overwhelming.
Used by parents and teachers to encourage kids to develop reading, writing, conflict resolution skills, expressing themselves more clearly and to meet different kinds of students from around the world.	Possible personality and brain disorders in children which can lead to the inability to have real conversations, limited attention spans, need for instant gratification, ADHD and self-centred personalities. The fast pace of the sites may rewire the brain with repeated exposure because parts of the brain used for traditional offline activities become underused.
Assists low-income families with becoming more familiar with computers and related technology.	Loss of profits from decreased worker productivity when employees use social networking sites.

These are the most popular SNSs at the moment and what or who they have been created for:

• Facebook (general SNS) - 500 000 000 users, open to users 13 years and older;
• MySpace (general SNS) - 130 000 000 users, open to users 13 years and older;
• Twitter (general SNS, micro blogging) – 175 000 000 users, open to all;
• Classmates.com (school, college, work, military SNS) – 50 000 000 users, open to users 18 years and older.

 

General Principles of the Social Networking Services

The EU has compiled a document titled ‘Safer social networking principles for the EU’ in which they pose the various threats related to children.  SNSs have agreed to the following principles that should be put in place in order to protect young and vulnerable users against viewing illegal and age-inappropriate content, inappropriate adult contact and the potentially risky conduct and behaviour of online users.  SNSs should therefore:

• Raise awareness of safety educational messages and acceptable use policies to users, parents, teachers and carers in a prominent, clear and age-appropriate manner;
• Work towards ensuring that services are age-appropriate for the intended audience;
• Empower users through tools and technology with targeted, easily-accessible and up-to-date information;
• Provide easy-to-use mechanisms to report conduct or content that violates the terms of service;
• Respond to notifications of Illegal content or conduct;
• Enable and encourage users to employ a safe approach to personal information and privacy;
• Assess the means for reviewing illegal or prohibited content/conduct;
• Work collaboratively with law enforcement bodies to share their knowledge of social networking and to support investigations in line with applicable laws.

Parents and teachers have an important role to play in both educating and fostering an ongoing dialogue with children and young people in their care about safe and responsible online behaviour.  In the same way users themselves (adults, young people and children) should at all times respect a service’s terms of use and/or community guidelines.

They should also make good use of the educational tools, settings and reporting mechanisms designed by SNSs to encourage them to play their own role in managing the community to which they belong.

 

What you, as a parent, can do:

If your child is under 13 years of age and you come across slack technology, you as a parent should do the following:

• Choose a social networking site for your kids under 13 years of age.  Do internet searches for “safe social networking sites for kids under 13”. Choose each site and carefully browse through it for possible red flags such as provocative profile pictures, ‘shady’ personal information and foul language.  See what topics are being discussed and if the content is appropriate for your child;  
• Research the following sites which have been deemed suitable and safe for children (according to more than one resource):  Kidswirl (2 years old, very popular), whatswhat.me, togetherville.com, barbiegirls, clubpenguin, dizzywood, kids.com, Kidzworld, kidchatters and Chat Avenue.  Although this might be acceptable to others, you should still do your own research and decide whether you find it acceptable for your child;
• If your child suggests a chat room that you are unfamiliar with type it into a search engine in order to do a background check before you allow your child access;
• Pay close attention to people who are on the sites you have chosen for your child.  If their language and vocabulary seems above the level where it should be - be cautious.  If people sign in and sign out of a social networking sites quickly, then that is a sign that they are either bored or prowling.  Avoid sites where you notice a large amount of this;
• Try finding a chat room that utilises a moderator, which will keep the conversations appropriate and red flag any discussions or interactions that are not age appropriate.

Parents have the right to and should be applying pressure on slack technology providers.  As parents you should read through all technology providers Terms of Use, their Statement of Rights and Responsibility and Privacy Policies, before allowing your child access to any given site.  

If there are discrepancies you should voice your concerns strongly by contacting them directly.  Facebook (for example) have the following recommended ‘help’ pages:

…for complaints about our privacy policy or practices; …to report use by a child under age 13;

They also have the following safety mechanisms in place:

• Reporting an imposter;
• Reporting abusive content;
• Reporting a compromised account;
• Reporting and blocking third party applications.

Resources used

Kidslearntoblog.com Facebook©2010 Wikipedia –

List of social networking sites

Social Networking ProCon.org Pros and Cons of Social Networking Sites Social Networking Tip: The Pros and Cons HowStuffWorks EU Document