Family Tech Blog

Tag: snapchat

  • Snapchat to Offer Mental Health Support to Users

    Snapchat to Offer Mental Health Support to Users

    The post on Snapchat’s blog says they are trying to “create a safer internet.” Snapchat will offer mental health support to their users through a feature called “Here for You.” This feature will provide mental health resources and other information as a result of searches within the app that involve mental health topics. 

    “Here For You, which will roll out in the coming months, will show safety resources from local experts when Snapchatters search for certain topics, including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying.” Snapchat Blog

    They are also adding features that promote a healthy mental state, with lenses, creative tools, filters, and a quiz. Snap claims to have always had their users privacy and security at the forefront of the design of their platform. The addition of “Here for You” is another step to promote safety and security for their users.

    What Parents Should Know

    What would cause Snapchat to offer mental health support to their users? Could it possibly be the outcry about social media being terrible for your mental health? Comparing yourselves to others, being called out for your own faults, bullying, and many other issues have caused our young people to be more susceptible to depression and negative self image. Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, with their story features have allowed people to post with a false sense of ephemerality. This is the belief that what you post is temporary and therefore you’re safe to post what you want. Ephemerality is a myth on the internet and social media. When you post something online, it is forever. Snap Inc. is touting themselves as a pioneer of privacy and safety in Social Media but truthfully, they’ve created an ecosystem that allows more bullying, sexting, and bad advice than ever before.

    Pointing users in the direction of professional mental health advice is a very good step in the right direction. In my opinion, however, it is just an attempt to cover themselves for a problem they’ve caused. It’s like a mechanic taking a part out of your car accidentally and then telling you they decided to replace it for you for free. You didn’t have as much of a problem until they caused it in the first place. Shouldn’t we expect that they would do whatever they can to make it right?

    It’s Up to Us!

    We, as parents, are the only ones truly looking out for the safety of our children. Every one of these tech companies has a fiscal reason to provide “solutions” to mental health problems. They all have shareholders screaming at them to keep their company out of the news except for the right reasons. Hearing that depressive symptoms is linked to social media is the kind of thing that will cause stock prices to drop. It makes sense that they would scramble to provide some kind of “band aid” for that issue. Be smarter than the average consumer and protect your own and your children’s mental health by keeping them from overuse of social media. Make your plan, set your limits and don’t be afraid to have the hard conversations with your kids.

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  • Instagram is Adding Useless Age Verification to Comply with Child Privacy Laws

    Instagram is Adding Useless Age Verification to Comply with Child Privacy Laws

    Users on most social media platforms are supposed to be 13 years old or older. Some apps have had a form of age verification available for a long time. This allowed them to collect data on all of their users without failing to comply with child privacy laws since you can’t have an account if you’re 12 or younger. They then, as much discussed on this blog and elsewhere, sell that data to advertisers or use it to sell targeted advertising on their own platform. Instagram hasn’t had age verification since it started. That is changing as of this week.

    You may have already seen your birthday show up on your profile in the Instagram app. Don’t worry, that information isn’t public, only you can see it. All users will have their birthday information on their profile as of this week. If the birth year used to create your profile shows that you are under the age of 13, your account will be suspended. When setting up a new Instagram account, the app will now ask for you to put in your birth date.

    “Asking for this information will help prevent underage people from joining Instagram, help us keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall,” the company wrote. “In the coming months, we will use the birthday information you share with us to create more tailored experiences, such as education around account controls and recommended privacy settings for young people.”

    Asking for users ages has already been a part of major social media apps like Snapchat but Instagram hadn’t added it to their sign up process yet. TikTok added age verification after being fined nearly 6 million dollars by the Federal Trade Commission. The problem with these age verification practices is that they are fully reliant on users being honest about their age. All you have to do is a little bit of math to determine when you have to have been born to be over 12 years old. When you enter your new determined birth-date you would be allowed into the app just like anyone else. Parents have been known to lie about their kids ages to allow them to have social media accounts, this is allowed by COPPA as it counts as parent permission. The problem is that developers of these apps can’t tell the difference between a parent making an an account for their child or the kid making their own and lying about their age.

    What Parents Should Know

    Age verifications on social media apps are a hand wave towards regulations that depend solely on users to take the rules into account when using the apps. This means that they aren’t concerned with the safety of users as much as their own ability to skirt around fines and other regulations from the Federal Trade Commission. It is very obvious that these apps are meant to be open and as public as possible. The want as many users as they can get because they aren’t social media companies, these are advertising companies. They sell ads, plain and simple. When you sign up to use social media you are signing up to be advertised to specifically and aggressively. When we sign our kids up and lie about their age we are telling these companies to treat them just like any other consumer.

    If you are honest with yourself, the reason you’re allowing your young kids to use social media is pretty weak. Because their friends have it? Because a teacher says that’s how they contact students? There are ways around any of the reasons you think lead to your hands being tied. All it takes is your own knowledge of what being on these social media apps means for your kids and then a little bit of confidence to just say no. Stand up to your kid, you are the parent after all, or stand up to that teacher or coach. Ask them why they want to contact your 12 year old on social media anyway, does that sound appropriate to you? I submit that in nearly any other context it would not be acceptable.

    You are the first line of defense. Advertising and data collection is the main issue that the government leans on when saying they are trying to protect children online. There are, however, so many other issues to be concerned with. Pornography is rampant on apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. You se report after report of young people discussing suicide, mental health problems, and eating disorders on these apps. This information is just sitting there for our children to see. When you give in and allow them to use social media at an early age simply because you think it’s no big deal, or you trust your child, you are allowing things into their minds that cannot be unseen. You’re giving them access to a world that cannot be left behind. Once you know about or begin to contemplate these things, they are permanently a part of your psyche. We must do better. We have to be smarter about our children’s access apps with user generated content. Whether it be games, social media, or any other software. We cannot trust software companies to do the right thing. They are looking after their bottom line first. It is up to us to protect our children. Not the government, not app developers, not the schools, or even police departments and social workers. It is up to you, mom, dad, aunt uncle, grandma, and grandpa. Only you.

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  • ALERT! Kids Can Get to Pornhub from Snapchat in 5 Clicks

    ALERT! Kids Can Get to Pornhub from Snapchat in 5 Clicks

    We don’t like Snapchat. It has a history of allowing content that isn’t appropriate for kids even though the app is rated 12+ in the app store. The app is built around disappearing messages that are a nightmare for trying to prevent predatorial communication and sexting. Now, Protect Young Eyes has written an article highlighting the fact that, in just a few taps on your screen, you can get from Snapchat’s home page to Pornhub, the most popular pornography site on the internet. They even included a video that shows how easy it is to navigate to the adult site without ever leaving Snapchat’s app.

    Monitor Song Lyrics with Bark!

    What Does This Mean for Parents?

    Most filters for iPhone don’t monitor browsers in apps like Snapchat and Facebook. This is why the ability to connect to adult websites within these apps is so dangerous. It only takes a few taps on your screen to go from the Snapchat story to the “Premium” page on which you can click links to all of their other accounts. These links don’t open other apps that would be blocked by Screen Time or other parental control software. Instead, it opens in a browser within Snapchat, allowing access without being blocked by your filter or sometimes even reported by your Accountability software. The only real way to keep your kids off of those sites is to limit which apps they are allowed to use by blocking the app altogether.

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  • Memes: A Parent’s Guide

    Memes: A Parent’s Guide

    The term Meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene.” It was simply defined as any form of media that was passed from person to person until it reached a massive level of popularity. Nowadays we would call that going viral. It is difficult to put your finger on a single meme as the first one or even to identify how some of today’s most popular memes got their start. In this article we’ll look at the history of memes, how we got to where we are, and what it parents need to know about Memes. Keep in mind that you can see some Meme examples in the video above.

    History of the Meme

    It didn’t take long once the internet was available to most people for Memes to become a major part of how people spent their time online. In 1991 we saw such memes as the dancing baby, motivational posters, and the hamster dance being passed along in emails and forums. These images, videos and gifs were passed from person to person and inbox to inbox, shooting this silly content to Meme stardom.

    Then came the 2000s, some would say this was the golden age for memes due to the rise of YouTube, Social Media, and Viral Videos. This took us from sharing content within a limited access forum or the contact list in our email to sharing them on our public social media page to be re-shared over and over again to thousands or millions of people. This period is where we were blessed with the rick roll, Chuck Norris jokes, turn down for what, cat videos, and Vine videos.

    We are currently living in the age of the modern Meme. Most originating on Reddit before they become popular on other social media sites, Memes are going mainstream in television, radio, politics, and marketing. Memes are used to promote idealogical ideals. Memes like the Harambee meme are an outlet for those who are bothered by certain things in society to express their belief or concern. Politicians even capitalize on the popularity of their own Memes, sharing them on their social media accounts to gain recognition and strengthen support.

    The Dank Meme

    Dank usually means dark, damp, and gross. When it comes to Memes, dank is a positive term. A dank Meme is usually one that can be used and reused with different other Memes added. Sometimes popular sound clips or songs from a Meme will make its way through a whole bunch of different videos. Something like the “oof” of a dying Roblox character being dubbed over videos of people falling or otherwise hurting themselves. This is what a dank meme usually is.

    The Memes you see gain popularity on your social media account. That Condescending Willy Wonka image with someone’s sarcastic comment typed onto it is a dank meme, having been reimagined several times, thus gaining more popularity.

    What Parents Should Know

    Memes are an easy way to express yourself. It can be a fun way for kids to have a laugh or share what they think about certain issues. My problem with some Memes is that they tend to simplify complex concepts. Something as complicated as political beliefs are packaged as Memes and expressed in a shallow, unhelpful way. The Meme is a limited genre, only allowing so much space for sharing what you think. This can cause confusion and can ultimately be polarizing.

    Memes also have a tendency to take us in a circle of reasoning. We share more Memes that we think are funny because of the statement they are making and this tells the algorithm of the social media account we use that we want to see more Memes like this. We then are simply only fed a steady diet of the same thoughts, repackaged as dank Memes and our view is never questioned or challenged in a way that can be healthy and help shape who we are.

    Finally, we have to be careful because Memes can often be very adult oriented. Memes are an expression that has been limited to those who understand them. When we start into the Meme rabbit hole, whether it’s on Reddit or Youtube, we can tend to find ourselves getting to some strange and even dark places. I am not squeamish and there are a lot of Memes that I’m a fan of and I share regularly when I see them repackaged in a way I find humorous. I did, however, get into some content while researching this article that just made me feel stupider for seeing it. See what I go through to help you out?

    Thanks for reading. Share this article with a friend who needs to know what a Dank Meme is.

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  • Snapchat’s Social Gaming = More Time on Social Media

    Snapchat’s Social Gaming = More Time on Social Media

    It has barely been a year since Snapchat joined Facebook in a movement to help people better manage the amount of time they spend in the social networking apps they develop. Snapchat added the ability to silence notifications from certain conversation and redesigned their app to be more about time with your friends and less about time in the app. Yesterday, however, CED Evan Spiegel announced their new focus on Social Gaming and several new original video series citing a new way to keep young people in their app even longer. 

    The games featured you and your friends’ Bitmojis. In them you play silly games that include pool toy fights, field goal kicking, and keeping your Bitmoji atop a spinning record as your friend DJs for you. In the announcement Spiegel says “On Snapchat, you’re free to be you, with your real friends. As we use the internet more and more in our daily lives, we need a way to make it a bit more human.” Apparently the idea is that as social beings, we need to hang out and since we are all spending so much time on our smartphones, Snapchat wants to be the place your kids hang out in.

    Facebook and Snapchat Join the “Time Well Spent” Movement

     

    What Parents Should Know

    I have said it several times before, we can’t blame tech companies for wanting people to spend time on their software, that’s how they make their money. Quotes from this announcement boast of a place that people can be themselves, obviously what they truly are creating is a place where we can spend more time, see more ads, and make Snapchat and its shareholders more money. No matter what social media companies say about time well spent, privacy, or security they are protecting their bottom line. They have shareholders that they must impress with the numbers so that’s what shapes their decisions. Knowing this helps us remember that the responsibility for healthy tech use falls to users, and our kids’ tech health is the responsibility of parents.

    Talk to your kids about the amount of time they spend on social media. Don’t allow them on social media that is rated higher than their age. Teach them not to expose sensitive information like their phone number or the name of their school on these apps. Finally, use some sort of filter or time management software to help you enforce your standards. Parents are the first line of defense against the dangers of unlimited and unmonitored internet use. We have to take on that responsibility because nobody else truly will.

    You can listen to this post as a podcast episode below.

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  • 5 Kinds of Apps Parents Should Look Out For

    5 Kinds of Apps Parents Should Look Out For

    It’s that time again, time for BecauseFamily to release our list of apps you should look out for on your kids phones. Unfortunately things change so fast that is seems silly to just throw a list together and tell you to look for those particular icons. Instead, this is a list of app categories that you should be aware of. Some are very malicious and can be dangerous for your kids, some aren’t inherently dangerous but can have some risk associated with them. The list below is not exhaustive, though, I have included several examples of some of the most popular apps that come up when you search for these particular types of app in the app stores. Hopefully this will help you make quality decisions as to what apps your kids have and don’t have on their devices.

    Photo Vaults

    These apps allow users to store private images and videos behind a password of some kind. Oftentimes hidden behind a calculator, camera, or music icon, these apps are intended to fool people into ignoring them and are disguised well. Of course these apps can pose a problem for parents who are worried about their child(ren) sending or receiving inappropriate images or videos. Having a supposed safe place to hide them could make more kids prone to take the risk. Some examples of photo vault apps include:

    Social Gaming

    Many games come with built in friend messaging and ways to connect with players you didn’t already know. This is considered social gaming and it’s standard with most mobile games. Many games seem like they are intended for a younger audience but are actually played by people of all ages. Language, sexual innuendo, and much more can be expected in these “in-game” chat rooms. Also, predators have been known to use messaging in some of these games to identify, target, and groom their prey. Some examples of these social games are:

    Apps with Disappearing Messages

    Cyberbullying and sexting have become a major issue for many junior high and high school administers. Parents are also concerned that their kids are sending and receiving messages they shouldn’t be distributing. Disappearing messages can encourage more of this behavior since it enhances the sense of anonymity. It’s critical our kids understand that what you send over the internet should always be considered permanent and that just because something said it has disappeared doesn’t mean it’s gone. Some examples of apps that allow you to delete messages after sending are listed below:

    Dating Apps

    Online dating is nothing new, apps that connect singles for chatting, dates, and much more are all the rage as well. Sometimes they become trendy among teens also. The following apps are meant to connect older users for romantic purposes but have no foolproof way to be sure kids don’t use the app:

    Live/Life Streaming Apps

    It seems like every social media platform encourages its users to “go live” as often as possible. Live streaming broadcasts you to all of your followers and allows them to engage through comments and questions. Oftentimes you can even broadcast publicly and allow anyone who would like to watch you. Life-streaming is when kids, teens, and adults broadcast much of every day of their lives. The following apps allow kids to life stream to their audience:

     

    Try Not to Freak Out

    Please keep in mind that just because you see one of these apps on your kids’ phone or tablet doesn’t mean they are using the app for the wrong reasons. Much of this list is based on a risk that is associated with the app, not an automatic danger as soon as it is installed. We need to be vigilant when it comes to our kids’ online activity. Not because of fear or mistrust but from a place of wisdom. Remember to keep communication open with your kids. You should be a safe place to come if something negative does happen to them online. I never recommend spying on your children without their knowledge and I always recommend over communicating with them about the steps you are taking to keep them safe and what you expect from them while they use their connected devices. Be sure to download the PDF of our internet safety resource list!

  • Leaked Snapchat CEO Memo Confirms a Greater Focus on Attracting Older Users

    Leaked Snapchat CEO Memo Confirms a Greater Focus on Attracting Older Users

    The messaging app that has had a reputation, whether for better or worse, for appealing to our teens and tweens is headed towards a more adult audience. Not necessarily in content but with a renewed focus on ease of use and organization. A new memo from Snap CEO Evan Spiegel highlights some of the changes the company needs to make to the Snapchat App in order to stop losing so much money.

    Since going public, Snap has been losing money at a rapid pace. This is both due to a major change in design within the app which lead to a somewhat mass exodus and competition from Instagram and Facebook. The most recent decisions at Snap have been a greater focus on how to make more funds and attract a greater number of users. This has led to an increase in advertising and changes to the look of that app in an effort to make it more user friendly. These changes seem to have backfired. This week, Spiegel’s memo is calling for a reinvention and a call back to “the core of what made Snapchat the fastest way to communicate.” 

    Back to Basics

    The memo mentions a refocus on chat in Snapchat. Spiegel says that the redesign of Snapchat caused user’s friends to get lost in the shuffle of influencers, paid advertising, and possible new friends. The discover page became a mess of tabloid like clickbait titles and friend’s posts vying for attention. The changes were rolled out too fast with not enough testing and the response to user outcry was the typical, “you’ll get used to it” attitude that most social media companies have when they make a change. Spiegel wants Snap to lean towards helping people make meaningful connections beyond a snap streak.

    Discover and Video Success

    Snapchat is seeing great success in the amount of people who are watching videos in the app. Even original and exclusive content is seeing great growth in viewership and Snapchat wants to capitalize on that. The number of folks who read articles on Snapchat’s discover is also seeing growth. Many media outlets are using Discover as a way to reach younger readers and seeing great success. 

    Attracting Older Users

    The problem with a user base made mostly of young people is that they don’t spend a lot of money in social media apps. Because of this Spiegel says that Snapchat is going to have to find a way to attract older users to their service. That is likely what the original (albeit unsuccessful) change of interface was all about. Spiegel mentions the need to age up their advertising, emphasize the ability to communicate efficiently and quickly in the app, and make the look of Snapchat more attractive to older users. 

    The memo mentions that older users see Snapchat as a “waste of time” or more for entertainment than serious communication. A focus on older users could lead younger ones to move on to something else. Spiegel and others who have invested in Snap may not care too much who uses their product as long as they start seeing the holes in the financial dam getting plugged. 

    What Parents Should Know

    Snapchat is still one of the top social media apps for tweens and teenagers. It is also one of the most used apps for predators because of the disappearing messages. The focus on attracting older consumers is going to mix up the user base of the app to where you can pretty much guarantee your kids are on there with people much older than them. To be honest, however, the same can be said for any social media app. 

    Snapchat is on my uninstall list because of disappearing messaging as well as the discover page which is basically the tabloid magazine section at the grocery store. It features stories from sources like Seventeen magazine and Cosmo and often contain R rated material. Remember that social media apps are rated 17+, even though you can open an account at thirteen. The 13 years old number is a protection for the company because of how the government says they are supposed to handle user data of kids ages 12 and under. Any app store will give social media apps an adult rating. Yes, an app like snapchat that is known to attract kids and teens is rated for adults. That’s why parents have to be paying attention. Learn about the apps your kids use and what they are rated. Assume you’re the only one looking out for their safety online, well, besides this blog of course. 

  • Instagram and Snapchat go Full Consumer Sales, Will Your Kids Migrate?

    Instagram and Snapchat go Full Consumer Sales, Will Your Kids Migrate?

    If it seems like every time you find the social media platform you like it gets ruined by marketers and salespeople that’s because that is exactly what is happening. First it was advertising, random ads showing up in between your friend’s IG Stories about their kids and coffee shop visits, now we’re seeing actual shopping being added to social media. Snapchat and Instagram seem to be going the way of Facebook by adding ways for companies to add products to their stories so you can shop right inside the app. 

    Instagram has expanded their discover section (when you tap the search icon) to include a shopping tab. This tab will be populated with products that are relevant to your activity on Instagram and will lead you to story posts that allow you to tap on products directly to make a purchase. Snapchat is also going to be adding in-app shopping with “Collections.” Collections will show up in between your friend’s stories and on the Discover page. These posts will give you the ability to actually select items you’d like to buy from within the app.

    What Parents Should Know

    You can expect to see these new shopping features roll out on Instagram and Snapchat over the next several days. Some have already been added. Your kids will notice them too and I expect a couple of different responses. First, kids are used to being advertised to. It happens to them all day long every single day. There is advertising in social media, in their games, and between all of the YouTube videos they watch. Many kids won’t be phased and may even find some useful stuff to buy in Instagram or Snapchat. 

    Secondly, I can see kids getting annoyed with the over focus on ads and migrating to a different option for their social media experience. Many kids already enjoy messaging through ad lite options like WhatsApp and Kik. They video chat with their friends through Houseparty, WhatsApp, GroupMe, or WeChat instead of Snapchat, IG, and Facebook messenger. I imagine their social media profiles will become more of a place to present the best versions of themselves instead of where they go to mindlessly scroll a timeline and connect with friends. 

    As parents, we should always know what apps our kids are using to connect with their friends. Do these apps require age verification are the default settings open and public so that anyone on the app can contact our kids? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves and our kids when they move from one social media platform to the other. Instagram is already so full of moms and dads that many kids are setting up secret “spam” accounts to avoid their oversight. The shopping features being added could lead to more kids moving on to other apps. Keep an eye on their downloads and on this site to see what they’re downloading. 

  • PODCAST: Does Your Kid Even Need a Phone?

    PODCAST: Does Your Kid Even Need a Phone?

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    Family Tech Update:

    Snapchat’s new message delete feature, new video games going to mobile for free, and John Wilkerson joins me to discuss getting your kids started with screen time and when (or if) thet need their own phone.

    Links Mentioned:

    Accountable2You.com (Promo Code: BecauseFamily)

    Dumb Phones for Your Kids

    John Wilkerson

    The Wired Homeschool

    Project Movie Time

    Social Media Links

    Facebook: http://facebook.com/becausefamily
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    Websites

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    Michael’s Speaking Info:: http://kmichaelprince.org

    Donate and Affiliate Links

    http://BecauseFamily.org/partnership

     

     

     

  • Now You Can Instantly Delete Messages You’ve Sent in Snapchat

    Now You Can Instantly Delete Messages You’ve Sent in Snapchat

    I’ve done it, you’ve done it, everyone has sent that message you immediately regret. Snapchat’s new feature will allow you to message “regret free” by adding a delete feature. You can now delete a message after you’ve hit that send button. Maybe there’s just a dumb typo, perhaps what you said could come across differently than how you meant it, no matter the reason, they’ve got you covered.

    To delete a message just long press it and select the delete option. Everyone will be alerted that you deleted the message but they won’t see the message itself. Previously, Snapchat only made messages disappear when everyone in the group had seen them but this will change that up quite a bit. Obviously, screenshots can be taken of your message if someone sees it before you’ve eliminated evidence, but you’ll be notified of that as well.

    Also Read: Snapchat allows x-rated material from cosmo.

    What Parents Should Know

    This is a small change for Snapchat but it speaks volumes about the nature of a messaging app like this one. The idea has always been to remove regret, apprehension, and maybe even responsibility for the messages you send online. Our kids should understand that there are consequences for what we do on the internet, even is some of our apps try to make us feel like there aren’t.

    One of my biggest concerns about Snapchat is the disappearing messages. I have heard story after story of parents reporting their kids being victimized by bullies or predators on Snapchat only to be told by police that there is nothing they can do because there is no evidence of the messages that were sent. Snapchat has always been on my uninstall list and it most likely will never be taken off that list. If your kids are under 16, think long and hard before you allow them to use a disappearing messages app like Snapchat.