What to look out for as a parent on Snapchat, Facebook, Musical.ly, Periscope & ASKfm

Snapchat says that users must 'opt in' to the location sharing update - but parents across Yorkshire have been checking their children's app settings.

The issue of app awareness was raised. Do you know how your child's apps work, and what they can be used for?

This advice, taken from https://www.net-aware.org.uk/, contains guides on the most popular social networks used by youngsters today.

What do I need to know about Facebook and Messenger?

Children’s views

What do children and young people say to look out for:

-48% of the children and young people who reviewed Facebook and Facebook Messenger thought that it can be risky. The key risks they told us about were:

-Talking to strangers, or having strangers view their profile

-Lack of privacy and a feeling that anyone can find and add them

-Adverts and pop-ups which aren’t appropriate for young people

-Coming across disturbing or upsetting videos

-Hackers

Why young people like it:

-Talking to their friends and sharing photos and videos

-You can keep up to date with what’s happening in the world

-The funny videos and memes

What do I need to know about Periscope?

Children’s views

What do children and young people say to look out for:

-32% of the children and young people who reviewed Periscope thought that it can be risky. Their main reasons were:

-You don’t know what you will see in a live stream and content can be inappropriate

-People can identify your location from your live stream

Why young people like it:

-The main things that young people told us they liked about this site were:

-Sharing content

-Keeping up with celebrities

What do I need to know about Musical.ly?

Children’s views

What do children and young people say to look out for:

-22% of the children and young people who reviewed Musical.ly thought that it can be risky. The main reasons they gave were:

-Hackers

-Strangers following them and adding them

-A lack of strong privacy settings

Why young people like it:

The main things that young people told us they liked about this site were:

-The choice of songs, although young people also pointed out that not all songs are on it

-Creativity and self expression

-Funny videos

Snapchat

What do children and young people say to look out for:

-32% of the children and young people who reviewed Snapchat thought that it can be risky. The main reasons they gave were:

-Strangers adding you

-You can’t control what you see when you open a Snapchat from someone else

-People can screenshot your Snapchats and then share them

Why young people like it:

-It’s a fun way to communicate with friends

-The filters you can put on your photos

-Having streaks with friends (Snapstreaks count the number of days in a row that you and your friend have Snapchatted each other)

ASKfm

Children’s views

What do children and young people say to look out for:

-68% of the children and young people who reviewed ASKfm thought that it can be risky. The key risks they noted were:

-It’s anonymous

-Bullying and trolling

-Exposure to inappropriate content

Why young people like it:

-It’s fun

-It’s interesting

-You can find things out about people