what is the most important precaution to take when using social networking sites like facebook?

Lesson four: Using Social Networks Safely

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Using social networks safely

Social networking sites are more popular than ever, and they've inverse the mode people use the Net. Some of the virtually popular sites are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These sites allow people to keep in touch with their friends, share links, plan events, and more.

For many teens and even younger kids, online social networking is an important part of their lives because it lets them talk to their friends no matter where they are. Social networks aren't a bad thing, but in that location are a few risks your kids will need to exist aware of.

Age restrictions on social networks

Many social networking sites have an historic period requirement for creating an account. For example, Facebook does non let anyone younger than xiii to join. Even so, many kids lie about their age in order to join—and some parents let it or even assistance them do it.

Keep in mind that these age restrictions be to protect your child's privacy. If your child uses social networking sites, make sure you know what the minimum historic period is for each site.

For more information on Facebook condom, visit Facebook's Family Safety Heart.

To learn more on social networking, read our Facebook 101 and Twitter tutorials.

Didactics kids to apply social networks safely

Social networks involve a lot of sharing, including photos, videos, links, and personal information. Many kids and teens enjoy sharing these things with their friends, but they may actually be sharing information with more people than they realize. For instance, a recent study found that 68 percent of teens have accustomed friend requests from strangers, and eight percentage have accepted every friend request they've received. This means their "friends" may not be people they can trust.

As you talk to your kids virtually social networks, yous can give them the post-obit guidelines to help them stay condom.

• Continue your posts private. On about social networking sites, you can cull to only share things with your friends. It'south of import to use this setting whenever possible considering it makes information technology more difficult for people you don't know to proceeds admission to your information.
• Bank check your privacy settings frequently. Facebook sometimes reorganizes its privacy and business relationship settings, which can cause your information to exist shared with more than people than you want. With Facebook or any other social networking site, you should review your privacy settings to make sure they are gear up the way you want them to be.
• Be careful what you share. Even if you're keeping posts individual, information technology doesn't guarantee that other people won't be able to see it. For case, if you share a photo with your friends, they tin can easily relieve it to their computers and post it to another website. Yous shouldn't postal service something online unless you lot're comfortable with anybody in the globe seeing it.
• Don't add together strangers to your friends list. Although it may exist tempting to have thousands of "friends" online, this increases the chances that your photos and personal data will be shared with the world.
• Keep in listen that things you post online may stay there for years. Even if something doesn't seem embarrassing, it may damage your reputation years subsequently when you're looking for a task or applying to college. Employers and colleges often check social networking sites for data on candidates, so a photo or other mail could lower their impression of you.
• Employ good netiquette. Netiquette is a set of guidelines for communicating online. Using expert netiquette helps to ensure that the things you say aren't misinterpreted. For more than information, read our Social Media Privacy Basics lesson from our Net Prophylactic tutorial.

The Federal Trade Commission has created the following video to prove the importance of sharing with care. You may want to sentinel it forth with your kids or teens.

Setting up a social networking profile

Even though sites like Facebook give you some control over what information is shared, some parts of your contour are usually visible to anybody. If your children are setting up online profiles, they should take precautions to brand sure their profiles aren't revealing too much information. Let's take a look at how to prepare up a prophylactic and advisable profile.

Screen name

Should you utilise your total name, first proper noun simply, or a pseudonym (fictitious proper name)? Information technology may be okay to use your full name on sites similar Facebook and Linkedln where you can limit your sharing to the people you lot know. On a bulletin board or chat room, you should non use your total name, since you are interacting with people you don't know. Instead, you tin can only use your kickoff name or a pseudonym.

Contour pic

Many sites allow you to choose a profile motion picture. This tin either be a photograph or an avatar, which is a graphical image that represents y'all. On Facebook, most people use photos of themselves. However, on a more than public site (such as a give-and-take lath), you may desire to use an avatar, as it allows you to remain more than anonymous.

Keep in mind that many different people will be able to see your contour picture. Therefore, information technology'southward important to choose a picture that won't reflect negatively on you. Information technology'south possible for a photo to get you into trouble at school or damage your reputation.

Contour information

Y'all should exist careful most what personal information you lot share. If you have the pick of making your info private to only you and your friends, yous should choose this option. You should never make your altogether or dwelling house address publicly viewable.

Contact information

More often than not speaking, you do not want to include whatsoever contact information other than your email address. Practise not employ home phone numbers or addresses. If you must include a phone number, use a mobile phone number.

Information technology may besides be a adept thought to create a separate email address for social networking connections in order to protect your normal account from getting cluttered with spam and phishing emails.

Epitome and persona

Many sites allow you to customize your profile with wallpaper, personal interests, likes and other types of information like relationship condition. E'er keep in mind what type of public image you want to project as yous choose how to customize your profile and what types of information to include.

Your online image will become more of import when yous brainstorm applying for jobs or to college. Annihilation that is inappropriate may lower someone's impression of you. Even if you're non worried virtually it now, don't mail service annihilation that'south going to come dorsum to haunt you in a few years.

Kids and teens: To exercise setting up a profile, check out the Book Buffet Game interactive from the Federal Trade Commission.

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Source: https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/internetsafetyforkids/using-social-networks-safely/1/

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