Social Networking

Social Media Policy for Families

by Michael Sheehan on April 10, 2013

in Family, General, Opinion, Parenting, Social Media, Social Networking

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Quite a few years ago, I came up with some Social Media Guidelines, primarily geared towards businesses. I realized I also seem to write a lot of tips and recommendations for parents on how they can help their kids with social media. That got me thinking. Perhaps, I should come up with a social media policy for families (kids and their parents).

Social Media Policy for Families

Social Media Policy for Families

Below are some ideas, rules and discussion points that you might want to implement with your children as they embark down the path of social media. Of course, you can and should pick the ones that are the most appropriate for you and craft some that are specific to your family values (e.g., “you will not do social media at all until you have your own job and even then, I will be watching”).

These “policies,” guidelines and promises are divided between parents and children. There is some overlap. And honestly, I feel sometimes the best way to approach this is with some humor!

Social Media Policy & Guidelines for Families

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5 Reasons Why Social Media Might Actually Be Good for your Child

by Michael Sheehan on March 25, 2013

in Family, General, Opinion, Parenting, Safety, Security, Social Media, Social Networking, Technology

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WARNING: The repeated use of Social Media can be dangerous to your child’s well-being. Should we have a Surgeon General’s warning label slapped onto each and every social media site out there? What about some sort of age rating system like we have for movies, music and video games? No, of course not. The Internet is all about freedom of speech and expression and is a wealth of knowledge. But we all continue to get the message that social media is dangerous for children. Even I have written a couple of articles to that effect.

Surgeon General's Warning: Social Media can be dangerous to child.

Surgeon General’s Warning: Social Media can be dangerous to child.

But as I reflect on it and watch how my children use social media, I wouldn’t be a balanced parent if I didn’t look at both sides of the argument. Sure, social media can be dangerous to children, but there are lots of caveats to that statement. In fact, the statement needs to be really qualified. “Unmonitored” social media makes that statement much more true than without the descriptor. But I won’t be dissecting that statement. Instead I will offer one that is potentially controversial: Social media might actually be good for your child.

I’d like to preface my reasoning however. I am not saying to just turn your child loose on social media. I am, however, saying that not all aspects are dangerous to them. In fact, I believe that some social media, in moderation, can have a positive influence on a child’s life.

5 Reasons Why Social Media can be Good for a Child

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Why It’s Important to Teach your Kids How to Cook and Use Social Media

by Michael Sheehan on September 19, 2012

in Family, General, Opinion, Parenting, Safety, Security, Social Media, Social Networking

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A recent post of mine which focused on an informal and potentially dangerous marriage between Instagram and Kik Messenger seems to have gotten quite a bit of attention lately. I’m always excited when I can share my ideas, opinions, insights and personal recommendations when it comes to educating kids about the evolution of social media of many legs. And what excited me even more was the response that came in from readers of all ages, kids and parents alike, each offering different takes on the idea of working with and teaching children about social media.

The point of the Instagram/Kik article was not to single out any particular social tool, but instead to use the example as a means to raise awareness and start a discussion. I love Instagram for what it is and the creativity it inspires in me and my family. I look at things just a bit differently – would that make an interesting photo? – and take photos in my mind’s eye before capturing a moment on digital film and sharing it. Kik Messenger, well, I could definitely live without it. And I’m worried about what this new application called “InstaMessage” is going to bring!

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Some of the comments from my original post ranged from “thanks for the tips,” to “you are invading your kids privacy” and a bunch of comments in between. I value all of these comments – agrees or disagrees – because they are encouraging discussion.

But there is one clear point that I wanted to make. As responsible, loving and engaged parents, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves AND our children on social media, what it is good for and where the dangers lie. It is a personal choice of the parent to be involved or not and the level of the involvement. It is also a bit of a tightrope walk; if you are overly protective, your children could sneak it behind your back and hate you in the process and if you aren’t engaged enough, they could get into all kinds of trouble that could affect them now and later on in their lives. Kids need boundaries and they need consistency. That is the role of the parent – to train, educate, discuss our children when they navigate the social waters.

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10 Tips on How to Avoid Losing your Digital Identity

by Michael Sheehan on August 30, 2012

in Application, Consumer Electronics, Family, Gadgets, General, How To, HTD Tech Tip, Mobile, Opinion, Safety, Security, Social Media, Social Networking, Tech News, Trend Micro

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Our society is made up of all types of information. And the amount of “stuff” that is known about us is growing as speeds never before seen. Think back 50 or 100 years. What identified a person? Their names, their ancestry, their address and their bank. Eventually phone numbers and a few other bits of personally identifiable information made it into the fold. Now look at what could possibly identify you – it’s almost unfathomable how much data is collected on is each and every second and not only that, how this data is connected to us.

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We have bank accounts, phone records, credit cards, subscriptions, just to name a few of the obvious ones. But if you use a computer or a cell phone, much more information is not only able to be linked to you, but also trackable. This is what online advertising does. Based on the sites you visit, the people you are friends with on social networks and even the type of hardware you are using, companies good and bad are compiling information and creating personas that represent who your are so as to better advertise to you. Some companies or even government agencies (gasp – conspiracy theory alert!) are probably compiling details on you, your family and those people you interact with.

And with all of the various accounts, services and sites that we frequent, we have to have accounts with those in order to get the services that we requested, and of course, to be sold to or upsold at every turn. Do you participate in those “short surveys” that sites often hit you with? That’s so that they can better sell you additional (and hopefully better) products or services.

Let’s think a few minutes about the accounts that you have and the type of information on there. If that information got into the hands of someone who’s job it is to drain your bank account, create fake credit cards in your name and steal your identity, would you know what to do? How would it make you feel? Violated? Exposed? Scared? If you have ever had your car broken into, you probably get a little bit of that feeling. I have had my identity stolen. My case was a small one, but it was way too large for even me.

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Parents Beware: Instagram & Kik Messenger Are A Dangerous Combination & What Social Dangers to Check For

July 2, 2012
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Over the past few years, I have written about security and safety for the family, especially when it comes to protecting your kids from online predators and social bullies. My wife and I really try to practice what we preach. But as social networks and sharing services evolve, sometimes it is hard to keep up [...]

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5 Reasons Why You Should Repurpose Old Content from your Blog

May 30, 2012
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I have often been asked: why the heck do you have those automated tweets of old content coming from your blog? What is the reasoning? They are outdated and might not be topical, could be viewed as out of context and, in my case, might be talking about technology, products or services that are over a [...]

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Have You Had “The Talk” with you Kids? The Online Security Talk, That Is!

April 3, 2012
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Go to you kids right now and ask them if they know what cyberbullying is. Go on, do it! I’m going to guess that they might be able to tell you at least something. If they did, that is encouraging. Now ask them if they know what sexting is. Heck that word shows up in [...]

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Consumer Clouds – A Comfortable and Easy On-ramp to More Complex Business Clouds

March 7, 2012
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I have multiple personalities. No, I’m not schizophrenic but I do have alter egos. During the day, I live and breathe cloud computing with my job as Technology Evangelist at GoGrid, a cloud infrastructure provider. And then the rest of my hours when I’m awake, I’m a dad, husband and technologist, trying to figure out [...]

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