[Editor’s Note: The article starts below the infographic.]
Like teenagers go, so goes the rest of the world. This may sound a little crazy, but teens actually become one of the most influential age groups on popular trends. Teens spend about $ 208.7 billion annually, making it a key demographic for marketing of everything from clothes to movies. The teenagers were also the best indicator of which social networks will be successful. Facebook and MySpace were mostly teenagers and young adults and early adopters, and each had its own variation of success. Now that everyone has joined Facebook, teens are turning their attention, with 33 percent of teens claimed Facebook is the largest social network, down from 42 percent last year.
So what social network seeks to take its place? Instagram, Tumblr and newcomer and controversial app Snapchat are all vying for first place. All these focus on a more visual content sharing platform instead of the platform based on the profiles of Facebook and MySpace. Photo sharing is the new update status, and on the basis of data from the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which shows that we are now upload 500 million photos per day, compared to about 375 million last year and about 275 million the previous year. This is in large part to the great success of the new Snapchat photo sharing application, which is under fire from parents to their most common use photo sharing classified X.
Qu'est- what it means for us as parents? This means that we must educate ourselves. Parental control has not been developed for these applications photograph, so we need to be diligent to monitor the use of our adolescence. And as parents it is our responsibility to teach our children how to communicate properly on these new platforms, but the problem is that most parents do not even know how these new platforms work.
how these applications work?
Protect your teen is learning how these applications work. photo-based applications, including Flickr and Instagram allows users to post photos and a description of their profiles. Their friends - or strangers - can be preferred or as these pictures as well as leave comments in response to the photo. These photos could include everything your child or any other user takes a picture of, and messages on the application.
Snapchat functions very differently as Flickr and Instagram. This application does not allow users to post pictures directly to their profile, instead, it has a feature similar to sending picture messages via a text message. Snapchat allows a user to take a picture of what they want, and then send it to another user Snapchat. The difference between traditional and Snapchat SMS picture is that the person sending the photo can decide how long the receiver can see the photo. They can choose up to 10 seconds, then after the time limit is up, the picture is supposed to complete disappearing of the sender and the receiver of phones.
People use this window to send 10 seconds of X rated photos to another, which is what makes it so dangerous Snapchat for teenagers. What is also troubling is that 10 second window does not always work because a Utah medical examiner discovered ways to restore deleted media. In addition to sending photos to Snapchat, users have the ability to draw on the photo itself or add a caption to the photo. This application also allows users to send video - similar to that photos can only 10 seconds
.The three applications can be used on a smartphone Apple or Android. They are free apps in the iTunes application store and Google Play, however, they require Internet or wireless data to function. The three applications also only allow people 13 or older to use the application, however, Instagram and Flickr allow users under 13 to use the application with parental permission. Parents must create a Yahoo! Family to allow their children access to Flickr, which is owned by Yahoo.
How can a parent monitor their children when using these applications?
There are some steps that parents should take to monitor the use of these applications for their children, according to parenting expert Michelle LaRowe, editor of eNannySource.com and Executive Director Morningside Nannies. She said parents need to communicate with their children and know what applications their children use.
"Parents should clearly communicate their expectations regarding the use of smart phones, mobile devices and applications and talk about pictures and relevant content that should be shared," she said . "They should also have access to their accounts and monitor the use of their children."
LaRowe said parents need to establish a relationship with their children that clearly that parents are in charge of the media. "Coming from the perspective of 'this is mine and I am allowing you to use it" sends the message that because you, the parent, pay the bill and the purchase of equipment, you have the right and responsibility monitor use, "she said.
what parents should look for when they monitor the use of these applications?
once the parents have developed this relationship "borrowing" with their children, they need to ensure they put the profiles of their children to Instagram and other social media to private as well as check the privacy settings regularly. LaRowe said there are additional things that parents need to look in terms of privacy. "in addition to establishing their private accounts, parents should be sure that their children do not use their real first and last name in the part of their user account and do not include personal information that will be shared by default in their profile, such as their phone number, "she said.
LaRowe said parents should also make geo-tagging - to tag the location where the photo was taken - is disabled on the phone, and they have to follow their children on Instagram and other social media to make sure they post photos and appropriate content. Geo-tagging can be disabled in the settings option on the iPhone or Android for your children.
Regarding the control of the privacy of your children on Snapchat, parents would like to see that their child regularly communicates with the application, and make sure you know who they are. If you are not sure who they are, you should talk to your children about who is that specific user and / or remove them from the list of their friend.
While all of these steps are important to protect your child on applications such as Instagram and Snapchat, the most important thing is that parents communicate with their children. LaRowe said parents need to clarify that the use of appropriate and inappropriate cell phone. "Parents should communicate the rules regarding the use of cell phones and applied, for example, parents can require their teens to shut down phones 10:00 p.m. to 7:00," she said. "They should also model the usage patterns and the behaviors they want their children to emulate. "
If you are worried about your child's identity being stolen, it could be a good idea check the specific identity theft protection services to the child.