Family Tech Blog

Tag: story

  • You May Soon Share Your Instagram Stories on Facebook

    You May Soon Share Your Instagram Stories on Facebook

    Facebook Stories still hasn’t taken off. Despite putting them on the desktop site and constantly encouraging you to use the feature in the app, Facebook hasn’t been able to increase usership of their stories feature. In fact, if you look at the top of your Facebook timeline you will probably notice that only one or two of your six hundred Facebook friends have actually posted a story for you to look at. In their latest attempt to lure users onto stories, Facebook may soon allow you to share your Instagram story to Facebook. 

    Instagram is testing a “share to facebook” feature in the story camera. Once you’ve taken your video or photo for Instagram stories, you’ll then be able to share it to Facebook or share screenshots to Twitter. This is one of the first times we’ve seen Instagram test a feature that will integrate directly into Facebook, even though both networks are run by the same company. We haven’t seen them cross over much since Facebook bought Instagram in 2012.

    What Parents Should Know

    Instagram stories is still the most popular feature of its kind in social media. Hundreds and millions of teens and adults alike use stories every day to share what’s been going on and what they’re into. Facebook, while they are obviously reaping the benefits of Instagram’s success, they’re also wanting to block Snapchat out of the picture completely. Pulling the 2 billion Facebook users into the story feature could go a long way to make Facebook’s social media selections stand far above those of Snapchat. Most likely, however, your kids are still going to be using the service that their friends are on and the fact that parents don’t really “get” Snapchat makes it more appealing to them. Be sure you spend some time using Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook so you’re familiar with all of the social media options available to your kids and teens. Set notifications so you’ll know when your kids are posting, and you can even log in as their accounts on some of the social media services. Whatever method you use, don’t be outside of the loop when it comes to your kids’ social media preferences. Talk to them about it, follow them on their favorite social media accounts, and use their login information to stay informed as they post and receive private messages.

  • Facebook Adds GIFs and Live Video to the in App Camera

    Facebook Adds GIFs and Live Video to the in App Camera

    If your Facebook feed is like mine there are only one or two people using the FB Stories feature at any given time. Instagram and Snapchat pretty much own the story market but Facebook is still chasing that “all inclusive social media app” unicorn.  Today, the app updated to include the ability to go live from the FB Story camera, to turn your images/video into a nifty GIF, and to share text over a colored background. (Much like the text status backgrounds available on your FB timeline.) It’s a bit surprising that the story feature hasn’t caught on as quickly on Facebook as it did on Instagram which has more users on Stories than Snapchat has over their entire app. There are more people using Facebook every day but they seem to prefer the timeline method to the 24-hour stories.

    One thing is certain, however, the apps that are popular with the younger crowd are the ones that get the most out of their stories feature. Facebook is, obviously, trying to attract that same crowd again since their average user’s age has increased over the past several years. Buffing up Facebook Stories is an attempt to reach out to that exact demographic. We’ve seen a small surge in the number of younger users to join or re-join Facebook but it’s nowhere near the growth that we’ve seen on Instagram and Snapchat.

    What Parents Should Know

    You still can’t take Facebook off of your apps to watch list. Your kids most likely prefer Instagram or Snapchat (if you allow them to use it) but some of these new features, which are designed to attract the teen and pre-teen demographic, could draw some kids back to Facebook. My advice is for parents to have their teen’s login information and to check in every now and then. You’ll want to see what messages they’ve received and what is showing up on their and their friend’s story. For many younger people, the fact that their parents use Facebook is a deterrent for them but some of the camera features and other new additions could cause them to change their minds. It’s important that you know if they have a Facebook account and keep an eye on what is going on there.

  • Turn Off Snapchat’s SnapMap NOW!

    Turn Off Snapchat’s SnapMap NOW!

    Snapchat’s newest addition to it’s offerings is SnapMap. This feature shares your location on a map so that other’s can see snaps from similar places or events in real time. This all sounds well and good but what’s really happening is causing tech experts everywhere to warn against using SnapMap. SnapMap shares your location every time you open the app, not just when you post something. This isn’t concerning for just tech safety writers like myself but everyone who spends any time learning about the latest Tech trends is warning that users should disable this feature on their SnapChat account.

    I heard a story last week of a mother who’s daughter and her group of friends had been targeted by a sex trafficking ring using snapchat. The predator befriended a large group of related friends all at the same time and just watched their posts for a while. They all thought they were befriending someone who went to school with them since they had a bunch of friends in common. This person got very close to my friend’s daughter and started talking about a meet-up. Mom saw the posts during a check-in of her daughter’s phone and decided this “friend” was a bit shady. She contacted the police and found out that this predator was part of a larger ring of sex traffickers who use Snapchat to locate and abduct their victims. These guys had to work for months to learn more about where these teens spent their time. The SnapMap would give them that information in seconds.

    SnapMap’s initial setup is only a four step process, if you decide to turn on SnapMap you won’t be warned that your location will always be available. You’ll only be told how your friends can see where you are when you post. If you aren’t sure who all of your friends are and if you don’t know that SnapMap is pinging your location every time you open the app whether you post or not, you’re eliminating every privacy setting you’ve ever set on your phone. Your teenagers don’t know this!

    What Parents Should Know

    Teenager’s brains are developing in such a way that they’ll always fire before they aim. They’ll see the SnapMap option and opt-in just because they want to have everything set up like their friends do. You MUST talk to your kids about what SnapMap is and why it’s dangerous. You’ll want to advise (or demand) them to put their SnapMap on “GhostMode” which will hide their location on their friend’s map. If you’re allowing them to use Snapchat (which is on my uninstall list) you can’t expect them to see the SnapMap for the red flag that it is. You have to protect them by setting that boundary on their behalf.

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  • Facebook Creepers Beware!

    Facebook Creepers Beware!

    Anonymity on the internet is and has always been a myth. Facebook, however, has become a place where people can search for others and learn all about their lives without revealing their creepy behavior. Facebook’s new Stories feature is changing that a bit. In a move to keep and attract younger users Instagram and Facebook messenger added their own version of Snapchat’s stories. That feature has now been rolled out to the main Facebook app and it gives people an way to see who’s been watching. 

    Facebook’s stories are photos and videos that post in vertical-full screen format on your phone. They last only 24 hours and you can add text or drawings on the screen and the in-app camera has filters, masks, and overlays that you can add to your photos as well. There is also an option to see who looked at your photo or watched your video. This is a major difference for Facebook since the standard has been to go see what folks are up to with no threat of them finding out you’ve been watching. This may be good news for you because you don’t like the idea of people looking at your stuff without you knowing. Or, this may be disturbing because you, my friend, are the creeper. 

    What Parents Should Know

    Facebook is trying to become a real social media contender for young people again, so parents should be keeping tabs on the moves their making. The stories on Facebook add another way for people to show the reality of their life and world which is what your kid or teen likes to see and do on social media. You should encourage your son or daughter to keep an eye on who’s watching their story. Let them know that the feature is there and that if they’re using Stories they should go check out who’s been following their Story.

    Remind them, also, that anonymity online is a myth and that everything that is posted online can be there forever. Just because their Story disappears from Facebook after a day doesn’t mean it’s truly gone. Screenshots can capture an image and then it can be uploaded anywhere else on the internet. The rule should be that you never post anything on the internet that you don’t want the entire world to see and that you don’t want to be there forever. I say that these rules are good for us to teach our kids but some of us parents may need to remember these warnings as well.

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