Safe Social Networking Sites for Young Children
Do you have a little brother, sister, niece, nephew, or know someone that is between the ages 7-13 (tweens)? If so, are they already getting familar with the Internet and browsing through random websites? Today’s social media has made a big impact on society. Children between the ages 7-13 are already learning how to surf the web, however they may not know the danger of cyber-bullying or online invaders. With the teenagers using social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, the younger generation is starting to create a profile on these sites at a very young age. I would say it is not safe for them to be on those sites because there are some unpleasant people on those social networking sites.
The website MSNBC came up with a list of social networking site for young children. These sites are safe for young kids to visit under the supervision of their parents. With the chaos happening online with child pornography, sex offenders, etc. I think this is great for the young children to visit these sites. It is also to keep them out of harms way and with their parents by their side, it said they are safe. The way most of these sites work is that the parents must complete a parental agreement and to verify themselves by using their credit card. They have to pay $1 to open an account for their kids. These sites offer the kids to play games, to learn and to talk with their friends on the social network.
Most of these sites are similar to Facebook, such as having a profile and a way to connect with their friends. Some of the sites are teamed with Twitter, so the kids can follow their favorite movie star, singer, or athlete only, but the people on Twitter cannot contact them. They can also stream TV show from Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. There is one site where the kids can upload their videos on the website to share their reviews on toys, music and movies. So these sites are similar to other social networks, but safer.
In class, we have been talking about profiles on social networking where we provide our personal information, photo, interest, and the websites has to have a news feed or timeline. With these websites that are provided on the MSNBC they have all of those requirements. Even though some critics say these websites are safe for kids, I still would not want my young nieces and nephews to be on these websites. You don’t know who is all online. These are just kids, and these websites are invading their privacy at a very young age, which why I think they are better off playing on their iPads, iPods, or other portable devices.