Family Tech Blog

Tag: social media

Early Spring Cleaning on the Snapchat Discover Page.

Last fall I shared a video about my distaste for Snapchat. It wasn’t about the images being shared as much as some of the inappropriate things you could find on their Discover page. This week Snap Inc. has announced that they’re going to be cracking down on inappropriate images, clickbait, and fake news in their Discover feed.

Since the company is soon going to release shares to the public they’ve decided that their Discover page should be more serious about how users get their news. They will be asking publishers to use an age gate for images that might be deemed inappropriate for younger users. This gauge gate will not apply for folks who are older but could help parents keep some of our younger teens from seeing things we don’t want them to see.

Since the Discover page came out a couple of years ago it is becoming one of the main sources of news for the young users on Snapchat. This fact is another major reason Snap Inc. has decided to clean up some of the content. Publishers like MTV and Cosmopolitan have been accused of posting images that some call obscene. This will have to stop soon since the new regulations take effect this week and the age gate will apply as early as next month.

What Should Parents Know

This latest news confirms my concerns about the Snapchat discover page. Thankfully it’s news that includes fixing some of the problems I had with it. My recommendation is that parents keep tabs on what your kids are doing on Snapchat. Take a look at the Discover page every few days yourself and see what news articles are being shared and what images are being used to promote them.

It is also important to pay attention to how you get your news. Not checking facts and falling for clickbait isn’t just a problem with young social media users. This is something that is been in the news for all people lately. Lead by example and be sure to talk with your kids about how they use social media, where they get their news, and how they can find out if it’s accurate or appropriate before they share.

January 24, 2017
Advertising on Snapchat Gets Creepy

Snapchat’s Always Been About Privacy

The initial appeal of Snapchat was the disappearing images. The idea was that your conversations with friends stayed between you and them. It was a novel concept in a world where anyone who wants can comment on your post on Facebook or Retweet you on Twitter. SNAP inc., the company that now develops Snapchat even let the privacy theme stay in the way they allowed advertisers to use their site. Last fall a feature allowed business accounts to import their email and phone contacts to target current customers with advertising but that meant the companies were using information that already belonged to them.

The new announcement about advertising means that marketers can use data from a third party data collection agency to target their audience based on what they do outside of snapchat. You know the feeling when you follow a whim and lookup the entire collectors set of Star Trek The Next Generation on Amazon and then see the ads for Star Trek pages on facebook the next day? Well, now the same icky feeling is available on Snapchat.

The silver lining here is that you can opt out of targeted advertising on your accounts page. Snapchat has yet to release an in-app announcement notifying users of the addition or the option to toggle it off though.

Snapchat’s CEO Said Ad Targeting is Creepy

“I got an ad this morning for something I was thinking about buying yesterday, and it’s really annoying” Spiegel declared. “We care about not being creepy. That’s something that’s really important to us.” – Snap CEO Evan Spiegel

Snap is a Real Company Now

In September of 2016, Snapchat changed their company name to SNAP Inc. This led to some changes in how they did business, including adding hardware (Spectacles) to their repertoire. It has also meant that some of their earning decisions have changed and this step to provide more accurate advertising to companies who use Snapchat for marketing is a perfect example of one of those decisions.

SNAP isn’t a company that makes an app for High Schoolers anymore. According to the latest reports Snapchat brags 301 million monthly users and are projected to earn over $900 million in advertising in 2017. That’s right, it’s time to take snapchat seriously. The app was largely considered a young person’s trend for a while after it launched but it has quickly become a serious part of the Social Media landscape. In fact ages 18-30 are one of their fastest growing user demographics. When you take all of this into account you realize that this shift in the view of targeted marketing was just a matter of time.

Marketing Ruins Everything

Remember when email was simpler? You had one address and just used it to chat with family or to do business. Now you have to have your spam address, newsletter address, family address, signup address, business address, and the email you never check anymore. This all happened because marketers ruin everything.

Facebook was all about social connection, now you can’t scroll through three posts without a sponsored ad beckoning to you to buy some monthly box of uselessness. Marketers ruined Facebook too. Don’t get me started on YouTube. Sitting through a lame movie trailer before you can watch the cool movie trailer you clicked through to see…it’s all too much.

It looks like Snapchat is next in line. The inclusion of ad targeting by Snap will allow everything, even some of your offline behavior, to influence the advertising you will see on your Snapchat story.

What Parents Should Know

Snapchat makes a lot of appearances on this site because it’s one of the most relevant social media apps out there. I recommend understanding the app and how it works if you’re the parent of a teenager. If they don’t use the app then they want to and you will need to be knowledgeable about it before you make the decision whether or not to let them start Snapping. While sexting is always a concern on any messaging app, the marketing announcement today confirms what I have been saying since this fall. Advertisers want to notify your teenager when they have a new message for them and Snapchat just made it even easier for them.

January 19, 2017
You Can Vote For Monopoly Tokens to Reflect the Culture

Does art reflect culture or does culture reflect art? It’s a chicken or the egg level conundrum but Hasbro’s classic board game Monopoly is letting their fans decide. A new website is making it possible, and even fun, to help them choose the next series of tokens or game pieces for their game. They have over fifty options and the run the gamut from the classic thimble and battleship to new, tech inspired tokens like a hashtag or wink emoji.

Monopoly has been around for a long time and they always seem to be updating to encourage you to upgrade your version of the game. They’ve added credit cards in the past, they have make different versions for different age groups or interest types, now they are letting fans of the game be involved in the design process. The site is even fun to use. It’s set up like a house and you click your way through different rooms that feature different tokens. When you click on one you like you see it more close up and see the name they call it. You can chose to vote for it there on that popup or you can click an arrow to see the next on the list already in that zoomed in mode. It’s easy to use and fun to look around seeing what they’ve come up with.

The new version of the game with the winning designs will be available this summer and for the purists like myself, (I HAVE to be the battleship!) a “Token Madness” edition will be available that will include the classic tokens as well as the newest, fan selected, versions. You can vote until January 31 so head on over and chime in.

When Tech Bleeds Into the Board Game

My family loves to play board games. My wife and I even spend the majority of our date nights playing a two-player version of some tabletop game. You will often see the digital world work it’s way to the analog products we enjoy. It’s obviously a way to try and stay relevant and attract buyers. I remember seeing “Words with Friends” the board game in Target and my wife and I laughing at each other…”Isn’t that scrabble???” Maybe, as parents of digital natives, we can use this as an advantage. Use an offline version of a mobile game like “Words with Friends” to encourage a few hours of family time. Maybe some emoji tokens in Monopoly will provide a bit of delight that will cause your 16 and 12 year olds to want to sit down with you and play for a while. Try it out sometime soon. But first, go vote on the new Monopoly Tokens.

January 10, 2017
How Social Media Sites Use Your Photos to Learn About You

A new extension (plugin or addon for a web browser) has just highlighted an issue we all probably won’t be surprised by but have never thought about. Our social media sites are scanning our photos to learn more about us. The extension is called, get ready it’s a mouthful, “Show Facebook Computer Vision Tags Extension” and it displays the detailed tags that Facebook has used to label your photos when you post them to the site. The tag information is built by automatically scanning every image you post and using the information to create trackable details about that image. So, for instance, if you post an image of you and your kids at the zoo it may show tags that say: “3 people, smiling people, animals, nature.”

This may seem like no big deal but when you think about just how much information can be obtained from a simple thoughtless upload of a family photo, it can get a bit creepy. Most likely this info is used to help Facebook target you better with those advertisers who pay for the privilege to use the data to identify potential customers. It also is used to help with search results when someone is looking for photos of you or somewhere you’ve been.

Use this as a tool!

Oversharing online is more than just annoying. When you post a picture of your food that nobody cares about you are identifying yourself as a consumer who wants to be advertised to about that type of food. When you post that bad blurry picture of your kids in their princess dress, you’re highlighting that you should be targeted with more Disney advertising. Use this extension as a tool to help you learn that lesson, and teach it to your kids.

This extension can be a pretty cool way to help you and your kids see how much information about you is available when you post online. I always advocate for parents to teach their kids that the internet is a public place. Whatever you post can and will be used against you IRL (in real life) and so you should think about that before you post. This extension may be a great way to drive that advice home with your kids.

If you want to see for yourself, you can download the chrome extension HERE.

January 4, 2017
Group Video Chat is Everywhere! Now, even in iMessage.

Kik has been popular with kids and pre-teens for some time. It’s a messenger that allows them to chat over wifi using a made up profile or “display name.” The app recently joined the likes of Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, and FB Messenger by adding group video to the mix.

Then, a few days ago, a new app called Fam came onto the scene. Fam allows group video chats within iPhone’s iMessage. When iOS 10 released for iPhones it came with the ability to add and utilize apps, stickers, and games within the app itself. This has opened up the ability to put in GIFs, use emojis that aren’t available on your keyboard, and even share music or money with just a few taps in the iMessage app. Now, Fam is capitalizing on those abilities.

How Does it Work?

You’ll have to find the Fam app in the app store and install it. Once it’s on your phone you can activate it by selecting the apps icon next to your text box and then the small icon that looks like a group of app buttons on the bottom left. Next you’ll tap store, and then the manage tab on the upper right. Once you toggle Fam to be active it will show up within iMessage (your text messaging app) alongside your other apps. Once you have it you just have to tap the “Create Video Chat” button and it will send an invite to up to 8 people in your iMessage thread. (See the gallery below for those instructions with some photos.) If your friends have the app installed then they’ll be able to join right away, otherwise they’ll have to go install and activate the app too.

What Should Parents Know?

The dangers with video messaging are pretty obvious. If your teen is wanting to have an inappropriate video conversation with someone there are plenty of options to do that. The truth is that group video has become a mainstay. The conversation in social media and tech circles is that having group video chat available is now expected on any and every social media platform. As a parent we have to understand what apps can do what and know how to disable certain features if you decide it’s best for your family.

That said, Fam is a pretty neat addition to iMessage. I was excited when they added the ability to put apps in iMessage and apps like Fam are precisely why. This is a way to communicate over video with the folks you contact the most. I will most likely use it, that is, if the people I talk to would be willing to install it.

I recently spoke to a father who was trying to make the best decision to let his daughter get her cell phone back after losing it due to some behavior her parents didn’t approve of. My recommendation was that they take baby steps and I advised him to not let her have any messaging apps, to only allow her to use the basic text messaging on her phone. There was a time when that would keep you away from a lot of the danger. The dangers of some of those messaging apps is the creation of often anonymous accounts. Your kids may not always know who they’re talking to. A video messaging app in iMessage (which uses only their contacts) can help keep that from being as much of a fear.With apps like Fam stepping into the light, though, I have to emphasise the importance of checking out your child/teen’s phone every now and then. Look at the apps they use and even the apps they use in their messenger. Read through some of their conversations and make sure you know everyone on their contacts lists. If you don’t you should be finding out who they are immediately. Especially since they can now have a video conversation with your kid.

January 3, 2017
Snapchat Answers the Photo Messaging Challenge with New Features

The battle for the best messenger and photo messenger app continues and this time Snapchat has launched a counter assault. Excuse my military history illustration, I know I’m a nerd. While Facebook has been building up the features list on their popular messenger app, their photo app Instagram, and their texting app, WhatsApp, Snapchat has been working on some updates of their own.

Let’s take a look at what today’s update has and what it will allow your kids/teens to do while in the app. Then we’ll chat about what parent’s response to this app should be after the latest update is installed. It’s super important to stay in the know, even if some of the updates may not be potentially dangerous. Here’s our breakdown:

Snapchat’s New Features

Paintbrush and Scissors

These artistic new tools will allow you to do more customization than ever before. Paintbrush is a bit novelty and is just a way to make your photos look different but scissors is actually a pretty cool idea. This feature allows you to take “cut out” portions of a post or photo and save them to use later as a “sticker.” This feature gives you be the ability to become your own emoji. I am kind of looking forward to one of the apps I actually use copying the Scissors feature. It’s pretty awesome.

Shazam

You, most likely, are familiar with Shazam. It’s an app that allow you to identify whatever song you’re listening to by allowing the app to “listen” to it and then give you the details. This update allows you to use Shazam right in Snapchat. You just open the camera, hold your finger down, and the option to find the song will come up. Once the song is identified you’ll be asked if you’d like to purchase the song. Shazam has been around for a long time, this integration is a pretty unique idea and will keep users from closing one app to use another one.

Group Chat

Group Chat is self explanatory. You can chat with up to 16 people at a time and set up your chats in groups. This allows users to keep their most common friends together in one group so they can have quick access to their conversations. Your teenagers are socializing online now so this allows them to do so in a larger group.

Every feature included in this update is another step towards Snapchat becoming the catch all app for young people. The most common users are ages 18-35 but there are many high schoolers who have already been snapping their friends for years. If they haven’t already, these updates are sure to lure them in.

What Should Parents Know?

As I’ve mentioned before. My main concern with Snapchat isn’t the messaging or photos, it’s the advertising. Their curated “discover” page has been and always will be a deal breaker for me. I know you may not agree so regardless of your reasons for being safe here are my tips for parents of Snapchat users.

Don’t allow Snapchat if you’re uncomfortable.

It’s important to remember that you have to have a say over what your kids are doing online. If what Snapchat does makes you feel uncomfortable you shouldn’t allow it on your child’s phone. Whether you’re afraid of what people may send them or what they could see on a public story. Maybe you’re just concerned about people they don’t know getting ahold of pictures of them. You also could simply be trying to keep the marketing gurus who are publishing content straight to your child’s phone from turning them into the consumer they want them to be. No matter your reason, be true to that instinct and hold firm to your position. Your teen won’t understand and will argue but you have to trust yourself on these issues.

Use family sharing to know when apps are installed.

I walked through family sharing and how to set it up in THIS tutorial. This is a great way to keep track of what apps are being installed on everyone’s devices. You can even set it up to ask you permission before something is installed. If you have decided to take a stand against your teen joining the Snapchat trend Family Sharing is a great way to be sure they’re sticking to those rules.

Follow your kids’ “Story”.

If your teen is using or wants to use Snapchat and you’re ok with it I recommend you get an account as well, even if it’s only to keep tabs on their “Story” yourself. This isn’t spying since you will communicate with them that you’re following them. Let them know it’s not that you don’t trust them, it’s that you have a responsibility to protect them from those who won’t use the social media service in the safest way.

Talk to your kids about how they use Snapchat.

Now comes the inevitable plea to be transparent with your children. Be open with them and honest about your concerns with Snapchat. Let them know you want to protect them from whatever it is you’re concerned about. Boundaries become stupid rules if there is no relationship. If you’re going to be following the on their account they need to know about it and know why. If you’ve decided not to allow it at all then you’ll have to be honest about why. Let them talk to you about why they want to use it. “Because it’s how my friends talk to each-other is a legitimate concern for a teenager. Social connection is the most important thing during that time of their lives. That shouldn’t cause you to back down from your rules but instead help you show empathy and compassion while you are patient enough to give them time to adjust to the rule.

These new updates are being discussed in the tech world as another big “shot across the bow” to Facebook and Twitter and other social media giants. You can expect more and more features to roll out on all of these services. Also expect to be asked by your child if they can start an account and be ready ahead of time with your answer.

December 15, 2016
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.

December 12, 2016
Three Things from This Week!

It’s been a slow Family Tech News week but here are a few tidbits that you should know were making headlines.

1. Fake News

Fake News on social media is finally getting labeled for what it is. It’s dangerous and stupid. Our kids buy into these things as easily as anyone so we should be glad that something is being done. We, as parents, also have to be careful not to just post anything that comes across our social media timelines. These messages are spread by those of us who don’t check our sources and just share things because what’s written agrees with our opinion. Nothing is more important than truth. If our children are going to be using social media, and they are, we need to do what we can to keep it the kind of place that can be as safe as possible.

I have shared about UGC (User Generated Content) before and how it is hard to control. The only thing you can control is what you post on your feeds and what social media you allow you children to be involved in. Let’s share responsibly.

2. Data Storing Toys

Did you see that movie where the toys your kids play with are listening to them and saving the information they share in some big company’s database? Remember the part where the toy asks the children questions and uses the answers to store data about the child and their likes and dislikes? That was crazy, how they used it to market to the kids and even let the police and government use the voice data to develop voice recognition software. Man, that was a scary movie. Except it wasn’t a movie, it was what happened in THE ACTUAL NEWS THIS WEEK!

Parents have to pay close attention to the toys our kids are playing with. Being more connected isn’t always good. Be careful to protect your kids by paying close attention to terms and agreements about what companies do with the information you and your kids put on apps, software, and toys that they use. You can’t be too careful when your family’s personal information and privacy is at stake.

3. Facebook Messenger Games

Here’s a fun one. You can now play games (Even some old school classics) within Facebook Messenger. Facebook is trying to get you to spend more and more time using their service so they can spend more and more time putting ads in front of your face. Right now these games are free and fun but there will soon be ads and most likely in-game purchases available too. Be aware that the more time your children spend online with other people the more time they have to be influenced by those people as well as whatever advertisers pay to put their content in front of your child’s face.

Weekly Recap

Here’s my advice. Hold your family close this weekend. Put away the tech toys, and the news, and the games and just enjoy being together. We can get so carried away with the next big thing or what’s happening in the news and all over our huge world that we forget what’s happening in our little world at home. Spend some time in that world this weekend. That’s what I’ll be doing. Have a good weekend, see you Monday.

December 9, 2016
Musical.ly Defends Appealing to Underage Users

We have already said Why We Don’t Like Musical.ly. The app is in the news again. The CEO of musically has defended their handling of young persons who use their app. More than 1 million videos are updated every day. They have over 40 million users and many of them are under the age of 13. Musically doesn’t ask, upon signup, if you are 13 years old or older.

We would collect ages but those kids would just say they are 13 so it doesn’t change the conversation. – Zuh (Musically CEO)

The company says that it is up to parents to be sure their child is old enough to use their service. Their goal is to make the “environment safe” meaning that their focus is to protect content and profiles within the app. They maintain that many parents encourage use in the app and some are even involved in the videos posted by their children. However, the CEO of the company admits that they have “no way to know for sure” if children are using the service in the safest way possible.

What a Parent Should Know

Nobody is going to look out for the safety and security of your kids except for you. You have a responsibility to pay attention to the privacy settings and functions of an app, game, or toy and decide if it lines up with the vision of your family. If they you are ok with them doing everything the app allows them to do then no problem. If you are throwing your hands up because you just don’t know what it does, you’re putting your children at risk.

December 8, 2016
Don’t Let Your Kids Download a New Calculator

Looking today at a list of free apps in the Apple App store I noticed that a secret calculator app has been discounted. Be aware that there are secret photo apps disguised as calculators available for your kids phones. The one below is pretty simple to spot since the icon shows photos behind the peeled back calculator but they’re not all that simple to identify.
You would normally look at a calculator app and not think anything of it but these apps will allow you to hide files behind a code that unlocks access when it’s entered into the calculator. In most of these apps, the calculator actually works as well. The best way to identify if your kids are trying to hide things from you with one of these apps is to look at it’s page in the app store. The description will mention the ability to hide files. If you find that your kids have one of these apps on their smartphone or tablet I recommend you uninstall immediately.

An important tool to help you with this is iTunes FamilyShare. Be sure this feature is set up so you can pre-view any app your kids want to download and they can even be required to ask your permission. Check out this tutorial on setting up FamilyShare for to subscribers.

December 1, 2016