Family Tech Blog

Category: Video

VIDEO: Add Your Child’s Account To Your Instagram App

As I’ve shared in many posts over the past months, one of the best ways to monitor what your kids are doing online is to follow them with your account. The only thing better is to actually have access to their account. Many parents already do this by looking through their phones every now and then. While I definitely support that method there is a better way. The Instagram app allows you to use multiple accounts in a single installation of the app. You can be logged in to more than one user name and easily flip between them from a dropdown above the profile page. In this video I will walk you through the simple steps to log in to another account and I’ll also discuss a couple of key points when it comes to social media and privacy for your kids.

Here’s the Video:

May 11, 2017
FB Video Autoplay with Sound is Coming Soon, Here’s How to Turn it Off

Facebook is quickly working towards becoming a serious contender as a destination for video. SmartTV apps with better video controls and a more video friendly UI (user interface) are just a couple of things they’re doing to be more video friendly. There’s another major change coming that will drive you nuts, I’m going to do you a favor and help you avoid it.

Facebook has announced that they’ll soon be rolling out video autoplay with audio on your timeline in the Facebook app. This means you’ll be bombarded with the first few seconds of sound from every video your lovely Facebook friends have posted. If you have already disabled autoplay for some reason (like to save data or battery) then you’re good to go. If not I’m here to help. The video below will walk you through a few simple steps to help you disable video autoplay on the Facebook app altogether. You’re welcome!

February 16, 2017
VIDEO TUTORIAL: iCloud FamilyShare Set-Up

Apple has a great way to help families keep track of what their children are downloading on their ios devices. Your kids can even have their own profiles. It allows for families to share the apps they have downloaded without having to purchase multiple copies. It lets the administrator see what apps the other accounts have downloaded. Best of all, though, it lets you set requirements for young users to ask permission before an app can be downloaded. If you have specific requirements and standards for the apps you want your kids to use, this feature will help you keep those standards in tact.

The video below is a simple walkthrough on my Macbook of how to set up your iCloud FamilyShare settings. I will add one new child account and even give some information about why you may want to use this feature.

December 1, 2016
VIDEO: FACEBOOK LIVE Q&A

Circle, Accountable2You, YouTube Kids, Young Kids and Internet Safety. All this and more in this Facebook Live video. This #givingtuesday live video was a great way to meet parent’s needs right where they are. Be sure to visit BecauseFamily.org/partnership to learn more about donating.

November 29, 2016
VIDEO TUTORIAL: Turning off Safari in iOS

If you have an accountability software and/or a filter installed on your kids’ iPhone, iPad, or iPod you’re wasting your time unless Safari is also disabled. You will want to disable the ability to download new apps as well. In this video tutorial I explain why you’ll want to take these critical steps and walk you through the steps themselves. (more…)

November 28, 2016
VIDEO TUTORIAL: Setting Restrictions in iOS

Step one of the BECAUSEFAMILY S.A.F.E. plan is Set Up. Setting up the parental controls on your kids devices is the beginning of this important process. If you need to set up an iphone or ipad this video will walk you through the initial setup of the restrictions. This is a video tutorial available for subscribers. Subscribe below… (more…)

November 24, 2016
Should Your Teen Use Snapchat?

I think Snapchat is a bad idea, and not for the reasons you may think.

The video below gives a pretty good description of my feelings and what I think parents should do when they see Snapchat on their kids’ phone. (more…)

November 3, 2016
KNOW YOUR MOVIE RATINGS

What’s that movie rated?

It’s too important to ignore. While we are protecting our children online, we also have to work to protect them from other content they shouldn’t be accessing. That includes movies designed for those above their maturity level. This short feature we did in 2015 unpacks the supposed mystery behind the movie ratings system in order to help parents make quality decisions for their children’s viewing habits. Watch the video below… (more…)

November 3, 2016