What Parents Need to Know About Social Media Security

Social media security is a hot topic, and ‘security’ and ‘privacy’ have become increasingly important issues for education – both for parents and for kids. The use of online social networking sites has exploded in the past decade, and is today a natural part of most people’s lives. Social media is a great way to keep up with family and friends, notify them of your goings on, and share your treasured memories and moments. But is it at the risk of your children’s safety?

Malevolent people prowl social media looking for relevant information. This information can give them insight into who you are, where you are, and private information you wouldn’t willingly share with even your nearest and dearest. But when you have a super cute video of your little one’s first steps you’re just dying to share, should these people stop you from posting it online?

Hopefully, no. With the right measures and security practices in place, you should in theory be able to safely post your activities online with only your desired audience seeing it.

Security best practices include:

Control who sees your posts
Privacy and security settings are there for a reason, and should be taken seriously. They are also open to change by the provider, so should be monitored frequently. The default setting of many social media sites is to share all information publicly, so you’ll need to change the setting to “friends only” and regularly check that it hasn’t gone back to the default.
Use strong passwords
The trick to a good password is to use one that’s easy to remember but hard for others to guess. You can learn how to make a strong password here, but essentially they should be more than 10 characters long and a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and other symbols.
Assuming everything you post can never be taken back or deleted
For everything you post, be it a simple comment, a status or a photograph, you need to ask yourself, “am I okay with this being ‘out there’ for the world to see”. If you’re not, don’t post it.
Scrutinising your friend requests
If you get a random friend request or a request from someone you barely know or recognise, don’t click accept. Using social media safely is about connecting with only those you know. The wrong person could use your photos inappropriately, post malicious ware or use your new ‘friendship’ as a way to gather more information about you and your family.
Be informed on what to do if you notice something that makes you uncomfortable
Knowing the steps for protecting yourself can help prevent you becoming a victim. In short, take a picture of the threat, remove the person from your friends list, block them and report them to the site’s administrator. Take any threats of physical action and violence seriously.

As well as take certain security measurements, you should also be watchful about the content you load onto social media sites. Posts you shouldn’t make include:

Bath time
Any photo of your child partially or completely naked, be it in the bath, playing with the hose or running under the sprinkler, should not make it’s way onto sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You (and most other people) might think it’s darling, but it may cause unintended consequences or even put your family at risk if it was to placed in the public domain.
Shaming photos
Child shaming is a trend we’ve seen a lot of discussion about lately, and it has the potential to pose all kinds of problems. Firstly, it breaks the trust between parents and children, and can expose kids to depression and social anxiety.
Private details
Keep children safe by never revealing private information such as what hotel you are staying at, where you live, what school they attend or when they are being babysat. This information can easily be used for malicious purposes.
Group pictures
You might feel it’s okay to share pictures of your kids, but other parent’s might not. No matter how cute your kids might look in a group photo, it’s essential you get permission from all parents before posting.
Inappropriate images
If you know what you’re doing is even just slightly inappropriate or risky, don’t share it. You may think it’s cute to video your toddler getting a beer out of the fridge for dad, or you might think it’s funny that your son drank from the dog’s bowl, but sharing it online opens you up for many potential problems or unintended scrutiny.

Keeping yourself educated

With online safety an apparent problem, the number of education and awareness campaigns directly targeted at both children and parents is growing, and it will continue to do so as the world of social media changes. Constant updates means vigilant monitoring, so never presume you know what’s going on with social media. Just because you think you’re safe, doesn’t mean you really are.

To learn more about social media safety, consider reading some of the below campaigns. These interactive-based learning opportunities are great for helping you to understand the importance of keeping your kids safe when online. Social media doesn’t need to be feared, but it does need to be used wisely.

Kids Helpline

This is an Internet safety resource aimed at young people, parents and carers, including safety contacts, links and tips.

Australian Government – eSafety

General social media safety information, education resources, games, apps and legislations.

Common Sense Media

Answering parents’ concerns surrounding the new frontier of parenting – social media.