Family Tech Blog

Tag: facebook

  • Instagram Adds Live Video to their Stories Section

    Instagram Adds Live Video to their Stories Section

     

    It’s no surprise that we are covering more news from Instagram, they’ve been busy keeping up with the likes of Snapchat. Adding Stories and disappearing private messages were just a couple of their latest moves. Today they’ve released the first change that will allow them to pass up Snapchat in the Social Media “engagement” game. Today, they added Live Video!

    Live video has been available on Facebook for a while now so it’s a bit of a no brainer that it’s been added to their other assets. There are a few major differences between Facebook and Instagram’s live video. First, it’s the fact that Instagram’s videos disappear. Unlike making a live video on Facebook, where it will upload to your timeline and allow you to share it, Instagram’s version will end and never be seen again when you hit finish.

    Another major difference is the inability to share while you’re broadcasting. These features may change but for now they set it apart quite a bit from Facebook’s live option. The ability to go live at all is super trendy and sets Instagram apart from Snapchat which is a major win for them. It doesn’t change our view on Instagram but it can teach us a couple of things.

    What Parents Should Know.

    Snapchat is in every Social Media conversation right now, even when we’re talking about a different app. When apps like Instagram work so hard to keep up with what’s popular it’s a major sign for us as parents. We can see that live video is becoming popular on all Social Media platforms. The transparency and realism of Live Video is en vogue these days. Your kids want something real, raw, and in their face.

    As parents we have to keep this in mind while we raise our kids and keep them safe online. They are looking for something real. We have to be real with them when we are teaching them how to make good decisions. Whether it’s decisions online or offline they have to be taught in a way that your kids know is real. Your transparency and openness are critical because they can see through any facade.

    Usually I try to give you tech advice on Safe.BecauseFamily.org, but this post is all about using the trends in technology to help us learn more about our kids.


  • Facebook Messenger “Public Chats” Could Be a Problem for Parents

    Facebook Messenger “Public Chats” Could Be a Problem for Parents

    Fewer and fewer teens are on Facebook these days, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They’ve left the social media platform because of their parents and grandparents being on there so often, that is a bad thing. When Facebook launched their messenger app they made it possible to never use Facebook itself but still have conversations in messenger. Soon it may be possible to have those conversations in a public chat room. That, could be the new problem.

    Messenging is something that has commonly caused concern for the involved mom or dad. It’s easy to have conversations that parents never hear about and to get into discussions with people you don’t even truly know. The age old rule “don’t talk to strangers” doesn’t seem to apply online these days even though it really should. Facebook will soon be offering “Rooms,” in which users can discuss different topics and be connected by their interests. Rooms will be shared with a link and can be posted publicly to allow anyone to join the conversation.

    These rooms are different than group chats in that they allow more people than just Facebook friends and family to join. Literally anyone can join your “Room” if they have the link. Users will, however, have the option to set rooms to private and require administrator approval for a user to join. Facebook Messenger Rooms is currently being tested in Austrailia and Canada but look for it to be availible in the US before too long.

    What Should Parent’s Know?

    Obviously your children need to understand the dangers of chatting in public rooms on any social media service. Facebook messenger is one of the most common and popular so be sure to include it in your discussion. Also, pay attention to your child’s social media accounts. If you see them posting links that you aren’t familiar with or posting that they are opening up a public chat room, click through to that link and see what is going in in the “Room.” Again, you won’t be seeing this feature in messenger in the United States just yet, but be aware that other apps like WhatsApp have this feature already and you should be keeping track of what your children are doing in those apps.

    We have written extensively about mobile messaging and different terms you should know in our mobile device vocabulary series which is available with a subscription. Go sign up today and learn all you can to be ready for this coming update.