Okay moms, I am pretty strick about internet and my kids. My 13 year old has a facebook account. We are friends of hers and we go into her account on occasion to make sure discussions are appropriate. Last night she asked for a twitter account. I googles it to learn more about it. I am worried about safety. Do any of you have twitter accounts? Would you let your teen get one? How can you check up on your teen to make sure they are safe? I appreciate your help. She is hoping for an answer today.
Thank you everyone for your comments. You all just confirmed how I was feeling. She won't be happy but I have decided that she will not be getting a Twitter account.
Nope. I would not allow it. On Facebook you at least can exercise some parental control and adjust privacy settings - on Twitter, as far as I know, everything is posted publicly. Anybody can "follow" you and anybody everything is totally open.
When he is older and has proven responsible internet habits, I think he can do it. For now he can use Facebook in almost the same way (through status updates).
Good luck!
Hey T.,
Me personally I wouldnt allow my child to have a twitter account all that I know about it is that you post basically every little thing that you do threw out the day like status message updates and try and have people follow you. But its mainly your call. Now a days the internet isnt that safe. And there are ways to delete info that you never know about. Like history and cookies ect. One way to make sure your kids are doing the right thing on the internet is to educate them and also you can add a program to your computer thatthey dont know about and it tells you every thing they do any emails sent that they can delete ect. They have these soft wares out there because you cant watch your kids 24 hours a day. So it helps you have a better peice of mind knowing what hey are doing and that they are being safe. Hope this helps. good luck.
I manage 4 Twitter accounts - 1 personal, and 3 professional for my company as a Social Media Specialist.
I see NO harm in getting a Twitter account. Personally, I believe it's less invasive than other forms of Social Media because it's primarily used by business people and marketers.
Yes, there are people out there carrying on personal business. But, the great thing about Twitter is that you can log-on anytime to see anyone's profile except for Direct Messages. For instance, Chris Brogan is a thought leader in the world of Social Media. here's his twitter address: http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan
You can see all of his followers, all the people he follows as it's all public knowledge.
I'd not have a problem if I had a 13 year old. But, I'd want to find out why they want one. FB is MUCH more social, Twitter is MUCH more business-related.
I have one and no, I wouldn't allow a teenager to have one. They just don't have the maturity and "social filter" needed that would allow you to decipher between what is appropriate and not appropriate to post. And , once you post, it is instantaneously up. I think that twitter for social networking is crossing the line for kiddos.
hello I know this is a late response, but without an opinion about yes or no for a 13 year old. My 16 year old has a twitter and facebook. Anytime she posts on twitter it goes straight to her facebook so I still see it. There isn't much that I don't see.
She is too young for a Twitter and Facebook account. There are plenty of cussing and pornographic pictures on these sites. I am totally against it.
No. No Twitter. No Facebook. No MySpace. None of it. People lose their jobs over these accounts. Even with privacy setting set to the maximum, it makes no difference. HR departments regularly check up on applicants and personnel. It wouldn't surprise me if collage applicants are also checked out. It's just not worth it.
Additional Comment:
Great Article: 'Why Is It So Hard to Delete You Facebook Account?'
http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/05/14/why-is-it-so-hard-to-...
Deactivate is NOT the same as Delete and Deactivate is temporary (and does NOT remove your content).
Delete procedure:
To delete, log in, go all the way down to the very bottom of the page and find the link to Help Center. Once there, click on Privacy Settings. Next, scroll halfway down the page to “Deactiviating, Deleting and Memorializing Accounts.” Next, click on “How do I permanently delete my account?” Read the explanation, and then click again on the word “here” which is hyperlinked in the text. It’ll generate a request for Facebook, who can take your information off the grid for good. I can't find any info on how long they take about acting on the request but it could take awhile.
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Here's an article from our local paper that discusses how a teacher embraces the current technology (incl. Twitter) and spins it to benefit his class discussions: http://www.newspressnow.com/news/2010/may/09/embracing-te....
You should set up your own Twitter account so you can see exactly what Twitter is all about.
Twitter isn't all that much different than FB, and as long as you're keeping tabs on what's being discussed, there shouldn't be any problem. Go for it!
I wouldn't-my oldest will be 13 in august and she is not allowed to have accounts on any of those types of websites- makes it easier for predators, cyber bullying ect- In fact she saw this first hands a few weeks ago when another student at her school COMMITTED SUICIDE after bullying on one of those type sites and pressure from her boyfriend about having sex! Now she sees why I tell her why she dosen't need these sites or boyfriends.
Plus colleges, future employers ect look at these- I personally wouldn't want them to put something on there that they think is harmless and have these results for my own children
no... it is just not safe... many times kids can post "harmless" things such as "just went to see "such and such movie" ... and it was rad!" or whatever... and stalkers or people looking in could google and find out where the movie is and track them down... there are SO many kids who get hurt and abducted over this kind of social networking. lots and lots of articles about it... it is really sad... i definitely would not do it. my kids are also not allowed on FB or myspace either though. There is no reason for them to be on it. i grew up without all of that and was just fine :)
I have 1 but I use it to promote things going on with my blog. If you keep a close eye on it I don't see why she can't have an account.
I'm not sure why she would need both. I'd say FB is enough. How much time does she spend on the Internet (not doing h/w)? Would this increase the amount of time?
I wouldn't. Teens are glued to their phones and computers too much as it is. Twitter is chatter about nothing. She can just call her friends if she needs to share she just ate and apple and she's about to watch "gossip girls". It's very addictive.
