Social Media & Int. Web Guide

Navigating safe social Media and Internet Use

A guide for parents

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Questions this Guide aims to answer:

What apps are popular & how do they work?

How does media impact & target youth?

What are the risks I should know about, & how can I manage them with my child?

What can I do? Where can I find more support & education?

Main Menu

Resources

Social Media & Ads

Risks Online

Utilizing AI

Access to Substances

About The Apps

Mental Health

Conversation Starters

Sexting

RI Regional Resources

Media Literacy

Privacy

Reference Page

Youtube

BeReal

TikTok

Instagram

Snapchat

Gas

Roblox

Spotify

Twitch

X (Twitter)

Social Media's Impact on Mental Health

Excessive Use

Recommendations for Parents

The Benefits

Problematic Content

Media Literacy

How companies use targeted ads:

• Sponsored ads, ‘pop-ups’, in newsfeeds or stories
• Personal data
• Engaging fans via creating official brand profile content is highly interactive and easily shared- frequently breaches

• Influencers allow companies to bypass codes and advertise directly to young followers

the voluntary self-regulatory codes

The fact is...

• 40,000+ alcohol ads per year are on Instagram and Facebook alone
• 93% of 16 to 17-year-olds have seen alcohol ads

(American Addiction Centers, 2022), (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2023)

Accessing Substances

Online Purchases

• Easy
• Many sites don't require age verification
• Some offer discrete packaging

Retail stores

• Not always strict on checking IDs
• Some teens use Fake IDs
• 45% non-relative, 24% relative

Parent hack:

sOCIAL cIRCLE

• 80% of teens purchased the last vape they used from a friend
• “I don’t know anybody who has a fake ID because you really don’t need it here. If you really want to drink, you can go get a drink, like I said everybody has connections […] it’s a small town.”

(Friese et al., 2013) (The University of Sydney, 2022)

Sexual Health Risks

Sexting: Exchange of messages videos and photos with explicit sexual content through smartphone apps Sextortion: Perpetrators threaten to expose sexual images to coerce victims to provide additional pictures, engage in sexual activity, demand money, or agree to other demands

Social Media's Role

Prevalence of risky behavior

• 33% of cyberbullying is sexual
• 48% of adolescents participate in sexting
• 6% of preteens aged 11-13 sext
• 26,718 reports of financial sextortion in 2023
• About half of sextortion involves minors

(Vaughan, 2023), (Enough is Enough, 2024), (Verrastro, 2023), (Bergman, 2024)

Privacy

Reducing Exposure to Paid Ads

Activity Status

Tagging & Sharing Location

Utilizing ai as a tool

Know the Risks

How it can be used as a tool:

Conversational Guides

AI

Substance Use

Social Media

Creating Safe Media Plans

Text button

Mental Health

Tracking Locations

Communicating & Relationships

Sextortion

Advertising

Resource Hub

Screenagers

RI Regional Prevention Resources

How Teens Get Trapped in Sextortion

My Life My Quit

ConnectSafely Resource Guides

Parent Support Network of RI

URI Media Education Lab

tHANK YOU!

The Risks of AI:

• 44% of students report being likely to use artificial intelligence (AI) for their schoolwork
• Deepfakes:
• Videos
• Calls
• Pornographic images
• Music

(Shaner, 2024)

(Formally Twitter)

About

• Short messages under 280 characters
• Users have 'Handles' or usernames allowing them to be followed and tagged or mentioned via an @ sign
• Hashtags (#) track posts/ attract users to a topic - ex) #beachday or #grammys
• Cashtags ($) used to follow a company's investments - ex) $TSLA for Tesla, Inc.

Controversy

• Owner, Elon Musk, made changes to the platform in 2023 which made it a less reliable information source
• 'Block 'and 'mute' functions changed allowing more cyber bullying

Privacy Settings

• Restrict posts and direct messages to followers only
• Block and mute accounts
• Restrict discoverability by email and phone number

(The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2024)

YouTube

Tools for Parents:

• Online video-sharing platform
• Watch, like, share, comment on, & upload videos

• Restricted Mode
• Supervised Experiences
• Monitor Viewing History
• Screen Time Limits

Features:

• Videos
• Channels
• Likes, Comments, & Shares
• Playlists
• YouTube Kids & Premium

(Internetmatters.org, n.d.)

Gas

App discontinued, but learn why it matters...

About:

Apps are constantly changinG.

• 'Gas' someone up by giving a compliment
• Anonymous and poll-based, users answer questions about their friends

Sexual abuse is common on many social media apps

The Decline...

16% of young adults in the U.S. experience sexual abuse online before the age of 18 (UNH, 2022)

• Speculations of ties to sex trafficking
• Despite speculations being found untrue, downloads decreased by 97%
• App removed November 2023

Understanding risks with each app is important

(Hughes, 2023)

Twitch

~15 million daily users

• Livestreaming platform to watch or share video gameplay
• Popular games streamed: Fortnite, League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto
• Other content: music performances, cookery demonstrations, tutorials on arts and crafts, and an IRL (In Real Life) section where people live-stream their lives

Settings and controls:

• Livestream settings can filter to moderate language in chat rooms
• Youth 13-18 can only use platform under guardian supervision

Risks

• Livestreaming is uncensored
• Many games have an 18+ rating and contain graphic content

A similar app:

(Sanaulla, 2019)

TikTok

~4.7 billion downloads as of February, 2024Children spend ~75 minutes per day

About:

• Watch, create, and share short videos (content)
• "Influencers" create paid content via company sponsorships
• For You Page a never-ending page is an algorithmic feed based on videos you’ve interacted with or watched
• Private and public accounts

Making Videos:

• Add filters and sounds
• Users engage with other users, through “response” videos or “duets” (duplicate a video and add themselves alongside)
• Hashtags promote “challenges” or trends

(D’Souza, et. al, 2024)

Incredible Years Program

Talking to Your Child: Alcohol and Substances

Teen World: A Guide for Parents

Catch My Breath ToolKit

Queer Inclusivity Booklet

Parent Backpack

Problematic Content

Dangerous Behaviors

• Access to all forms of content
• Deaths related to self-harm related content

Unrealistic Ideas

• Edited and filtered photos create unrealistic body image
• Influencers promoting trends, products, and unrealistic lifestyles often leading to 'FOMO'

Sexual Exploitation

• People target adolescents for sexual and financial extortion

Ex) Catfishing

(Bonnhy, 2023), (Katella, 2024)

Spotify

It's a music streaming platform... what makes it social media?

• Users create profiles with a photo
• Follow other users, bands, and artists
• Collaborative playlists
• Can see what friends are listening to

(Sanaulla, 2024)

Reduce Exposure to Paid Ads and Inappropriate Content

(X)

(Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2023)

SnapChat

Need to knows:

• Quick and simple way to share moments
• Messages are meant to disappear but don't actually
• To add friends: Upload contacts, search for people you know, or automatically add a user via their "Snapcode"
• Photos—not text—usually start communication

• Ways to share: Individually, group chats, group stories, main story
• Photos can be saved regularly & in 'My eyes only'

Challenges:

• Age requirement not checked
• Chat settings & screenshots
• Sexting
• Photo-editing tools and "Filters"

(Elgersma, 2018)

Activity Status:

Allows followers to see when you are online...

Instagram

Settings and activity > Messages and story replies > Show activity status > Switch off

TikTok

Settings and privacy > Privacy > Activity status > Switch off

Snapchat

Tap on Bitmoji > Settings (tool icon) > Scroll to Privacy controls > Activity Indicator > Switch off

Snap scores increase with the number of snaps sent...

Tracking Locations

Deciding to Track:

Should You Track Your Teen’s Location?

Pros and Cons

The Apps

The Conversation:

Discussing Location Sharing

Benefits Worth Talking About

• Positive connections with peers who have common interests/ identities
• Diversification of community
• Access to AI

Pew Research Center: 58% felt more accepted 67% more support during tough times71% have a place to be creative80% more connected to events in friend's lives

(Katella, 2024), (Sandhu, 2024)

BeReal

About:

• Share what they are doing at the moment
• 'Time to BeReal': Users all receive a notification at a random time once a day
• Cannot see other's posts until you post
• If posted outside of a 2-3 minute window, the post will say, 'Late'
• Number of times a picture is taken before posted will be viewable
• No 'Like' option, but reactions using a selfie or RealMoji (selfie reactions a user can make)

(Sprout Social, 2022)

Tagging & Sharing Location

• Telling others you are away from home
• Increased risk of stalking
• Increased risk of catfishing/ extortion

Snapchat

• Live location sharing
• Tagging locations on posts

Instagram

• Tagged location on posts
• Livestreams
• Common to share locations, nationality, and school in bio

Instagram

~72% of teens

Posts

Likes

Shares

Reels

inSTAGRAM pROFILE

Captions

Stories

Live Streams

Direct Message

Privacy Features:

• Two-factor authentication
• Block other accounts
• Settings and activity...

> Content preferences> Limit interactions> Tags and mentions> Private account

(Eldridge, 2024)

How Excessive Use Impacts Teens

Overstimulation of the brain's reward center: Constant stimulation can trigger the brain in similar ways to addiction.

The more 'time spent scrolling' the more...

• Problems sleeping
• Struggles with attention
• Feelings of exclusion
• Development of clinical anxiety disorders
• Participating in negative behaviors such as alcohol overuse and self-harm

It's not simply from using apps but certain behaviors exhibited on them!

(Zubair, 2023), (Katella, 2024)

"One of the most popular virtual playgrounds on the planet"

(CNN, 2023)

Roblox

• Gaming platform with dozens of user-created games made with Roblox Studio
• Games for all ages from role-playing to rhythm tiles to shooters
• Users under 18 need parental permission to play

Where social media comes in:

Free, but not really

• Users can interact while playing various games
• Connect users via friend requests
• Individual and group chat rooms to talk with others

• 'Robux' is the in-game currency, ex) $4.99 = 400 Robux

• Paid premium subscription gives monthly Robux allowances

(Common Sense Media, 2024), (Garrett, 2023)

Tips for Parents:

Determine the right age for your child to use social media.

Don't have devices in the bedroom.

Facilitate open communication, even when a mistake is made.

Be mindful of how you approach the conversation.

Follow your own social media rules.

Jump to Conversational Guides

(Katella, 2024)