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A couple of years ago, I wrote an app guide that went viral on BonBon Break and For Every Mom. So I’m back with another app guide for 2017! Bad news: there are more apps to be concerned about. Good news: the kids are alright. Most kids use their apps responsibly to connect with friends whom they already know in a friendly and respectful manner. However, that doesn’t mean that parents should check-out. The following apps have the potential for harm, especially for kids and pre-teens. There are 5 categories of apps that I think all parents should be aware of: the (1) major players-these apps are used by people of all ages, but might have potential for danger when used by minors; (2) vault apps-these apps hide images, videos, and messages and are often used to hide nude images; (3) live casting apps-these apps allow your kid to broadcast whatever they are doing to wide audiences in real-time; (4) anonymous apps-these apps allow users to make posts or comments anonymously, so they are often used for bullying; and (5) messaging apps-these apps allow the exchange of text, pics, videos-but some have features that instantly delete content. It’s important for parents to know the kinds of apps that are out there in order to have impactful conversations with kids about safe social media use.
Major Players
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Twitter-In general, Twitter is just fine. Users “microblog” their thoughts in 140 characters or less. This platform can be a great way for teens to get connected to positive programs for youth. However, there is a ton of porn on Twitter. Talk to your kids about using Twitter to express themselves, but remind them to be thoughtful, as anyone can view what you do on a Twitter account.
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Instagram-An app for users to make beautiful photo-centered profiles. You can create a private account, but the default is public, which can inadvertently invite attention from weirdos. Also, many teen girls are measuring their self-worth by how many likes their sexy selfies get. Teens often get a ‘Finstagram’ account, or second (fake) Instagram account to fool parents into believing that they can see everything their kid is doing on instagram.
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Tinder-A photo and messaging dating app used to find potential matches within a certain-mile radius of you. Swipe right to “like” a photo or left to “pass”, if two people both like each other, then the app allows the two to message one another. However, with all geolocation apps, pervs use them to find potential victims. Make sure your kid knows several different ways to decline offers to meet up with someone they don’t already know or refuse communication entirely.
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Tumblr-If a blog and Twitter had a baby, it would be Tumblr. Teens often have “tumblogs” for sharing photos, videos, and things they find funny with their friends. However, porn and images of violence, drug use, and self-harm are easy to find on Tumblr and not censored.
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Live Casting Apps
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Periscope-The live casting app for Twitter which allows anyone to broadcast whatever they’d like over the internet. Teens sometimes do stupid things to get followers and may inadvertently share identifying information not knowing who is watching.
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You Now-A service which allows users to broadcast live footage to the world. The point is to get as many followers as you can to create a solid YouNow fan-base. There are genres like watching people eat, smoke, and sleep. Sounds like the world’s most boring TV station to me, but each month 4 million viewers watch more than 100 million webcasts.
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Vault Apps
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Audio manager-This app has nothing to do with managing music and everything to do with sneaking around. Behind the lock screen, users can hide messages, photos, videos, and other apps.
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Calculator%-Same deal as audio manager, except hidden within a fake calculator. When you push a button within the app, it can hide any sketchy pictures instantly.
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Vaulty-This app will not only secretly store photos, it also will snap a photo of anyone who tries to access the “vault” with the wrong password. The major problem with vault apps is that they provide a sense of security for sexting, which is why they are often the most common way to facilitate a sexting ring.
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Anonymous Apps
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BurnBook-An anonymous app for posting text, photos and messages about rumors as evidence of rumors. The messages are organized by school-as determined by geolocation. The whole point of the app is to document rumors, so you can imagine how this app facilitates bullying.
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Whisper-Users create anonymous memes on the app, which pair text with an image. This outlet can be great for expressing fears and joys, but a lot of the content is sexual in nature (nearly nudes) or dark (depression, self-harm, substance use). And again, anonymity creates a hot-bed for cyber-bullying.
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YikYak-This app is like an anonymous Twitter. It allows users to post “Yaks” of up to 200 characters that can be viewed by other Yakkers within a 1.5 mile radius-as determined by geolocation. The issue is that the anonymity of the app is often used to make threats, like bomb threats, for example
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Omegle-Similar to chat roulette, Omegle sets up strangers to chat to one another via text or video. However, many users ask for location, age, and gender upfront, so kids might comply without realizing they don’t need to and put themselves in danger. Also, Omegle is filled with people searching to chat about sex and some offer links to porn sites.
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Slingshot-Marketed to boys, this is a comparison app that allows users to create polls for other users to vote on. As you can imagine, the polls are often crude and about rating girls’ sex appeal. The comments are fraught with bullying.
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Wishbone-Similar to Slingshot, but marketed to girls. Interestingly, there are less polls about boys and more about girls voting on how lame other girls are.
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Messaging Apps
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Jott-An app that allows you to ‘air chat’ or chat without wifi. Jott breaks up users by school. Kids can chat on the bus, at school, or on an airplane as long as the other user is within 100-2,000 feet. There are similar features to other apps, like “disappearing photos” and fun stickers. The issue is many parents and schools turn off wifi capabilities to monitor online activity. This is a way to bypass that kind of monitoring.
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Snapchat-By far the most popular app among teens. Texting pics with fun effects! Users think their snaps will disappear and they are wrong. It’s actually pretty easy to recover a Snap, take a screenshot of it and share it. The issue is that ‘snap porn’ is super popular and normalizes the posting and sharing of nude or nearly nude images. Make sure your kid knows there is no such thing as “gone” when it comes to technology.
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Burn note-Like Snapchat, Burn Note is a messaging app that erases messages after a set period of time. Unlike Snapchat, this one is for text messages only, not photos or videos. Teens feel more comfortable revealing more with this app because of the “impermanence” of the texts.
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Line-An all-in-one mobile hub for chatting as well as sharing photos and videos for free. Users can decide how long their messages can last (two seconds or a week). There is also a hidden chat feature. The other issue: your kid can rack up the charges with in-app purchases.
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Kik-A free instant messaging app that lets users exchange videos, photos and sketches. However, you can find strangers to chat with on the app, so it is often used by pervs to find potential victims. KiK does not offer any parental controls and there is no way of authenticating users, thus making it easy for sexual predators to use the app to interact with minors.
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Find out if these apps are on your kid’s phone. Ask them what they like about the apps and why they use them. Then, add your kid to your iCloud account. That way, whenever a new app is downloaded, it will automatically download to your phone as well. Alternatively, you can password-protect any app purchasing account to require a password for downloading apps. But above all, remember that apps themselves are not the problem. Your goal is to keep open lines of communication with your kid, as you maintain awareness of the technology they use. For more information on safe social media use, check out iKeepSafe and Above the Fray.
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