Thoughts and advice, young people on social media

[Irishmom2]

I have never had it, it seems like too much work.

 

[LoveMercyGrace]

I am near doing this also…becoming facebook free, yes its to much work

 

[LoveMercyGrace]

here is the end of my story…

I created a list for my young fb friend inc other family.
Then I saw she had 4…that is four fb pages!
none of them with recent posts. and I hadn’t heard from her.
The last post was one in question, not a nice one, and another family called it hacked.
Seems her account was cloned. I deleted her friendship request which probably was not her, and the new list.
oh … IS complicated

 

[LoveMercyGrace]

Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut

 

[Rozellelily]

If I’m understanding correctly what I’m hearing is that you are concerned that your young relatives self worth and/or body image will be affected by comparing herself to other people on social media who seem to have a better life-whether being more beautiful or travelling often,more attention from guys or just generally having the appearance of living more “blessed” lives?

These are genuine concerns and it can sometimes cause this effect.
I think what really would help to provide some balance is to also meet up to do some stuff in real life with her.
That way she develops full social skills and isn’t just viewing life solely through the lens of social media.

Social media is here to stay and someone mentioned social media is also how we use it and can be used for good tone example that comes to my mind is on Instagram there are women that post body acceptance quotes and images of their “not Instagram perfect body” Ie:with cellulite,post baby body changes etc to give encouragement and send girls/women the message that counter that it’s ok to not have the perfect body displayed by some other Instagram influencers.
Maybe you could do use your account in a positive way/positive message somehow too?

 

[JanetF]

As a relative, you might be able to help her deal with anything nasty that comes across her social media platform. If you aren’t there, you won’t even know that the nasty thing is happening.

I can’t re-emphasize this enough. It is really is the crux of the matter! It’s why I created my own facebook account when my kiddo was 13. So I could see what was being posted by my daughter and the responses she was getting. It has continued to be helpful through the college years. While I don’t rely on FB to get all my information about her life, it does give me an avenue into parts of her life that I no longer have daily access to, like the friends she has made in college.

This young relative is giving you an avenue into her life. TAKE IT!

 

[Peeps]

Good post!

I haven’t gotten onto FB, and one of the main reasons is that I don’t have (nor do I want) an I-phone, so posting pictures is not easy.

I’m completely clueless when it comes to computer stuff. Yesterday, I went to my gym and found new exercise bikes, and I had to go ask the manager to help me find the TV on my bike, and then how to change channels. All those little icons mean absolutely nothing to me. (It’s probably related to my problem with foreign languages–the words mean nothing to me!)

Finally, I don’t want to be like all those people who are living their lives with their heads down and their thumbs constantly moving! I really miss talking to my work associates at break times and lunch.

I probably should join FB and post in a very limited way through my laptop, although I don’t really know how to do that, either. I have enough problems figuring out CAF!

 

[LoveMercyGrace]

Re posting this information.

Their facebook page was hacked!! my orginial concern…!

when I accepted request, who was not even from them!! there were four fb pages on them.

the last post on one page was 2018, inappropiate, bad really.

Social media can be used for the good. It also can be used by people with bad intentions.

I just read on Dept of Justice website one of main ways young people are contacted by eventual abductions is through social media.

Beware

 

[TheLittleLady]

I just read on Dept of Justice website one of main ways young people are contacted by eventual abductions is through social media.

This is why one sets one’s privacy settings so they are not contacted by “random people”, never accept friend requests from people you not know, do not make your profile visible to search engines, etc.

You teach your teens these lessons, you don’t just turn them loose on the highway without learning how to drive safely, same goes for the information superhighway.

 

[Rozellelily]

That’s a bit of a worry.Who was trying to friend you then…

 

[jlc2k2]

In addition, if you are already friends with someone, don’t accept a new request from them. Every summer I get a new request from my “mother- in- law” who I am already friends with. In the most recent case, “they” had a grant they wanted me to apply for. It definitely wasn’t my mother-in-law and was a clone of her account.

I totally agree with using situations like these to teach teens about internet safety and being careful about what they share.

 

[Convert3]

Two and a half years ago I changed my settings to “inactive.” No regrets!