Friended by a 7 Year Old
It isn’t often that I get surprised by social media. Yesterday, it happened. As I was diligently playing Fun Run (research, right?) on my iPad, a friend request came through Apple’s Game Center. The sweet little faced attached to the profile request was a friend of my daughter. She was really friend requesting my daughter, but it gave me pause. By the way, her parents knew about her actions. Trust me, I inquired about it before accepting the request because I did not want them to worry when they saw we were connected.
We made a choice to only have one iTunes account for our family. It is convenient that I can put downloaded music and apps on all of our devices. I also have a setting that downloads any new apps to my iPad regardless of what other device it is originally downloaded from. Last week, I discovered I had a new app for math flash cards. I was pretty pleased to be able to answer them. There are work arounds to sharing one iTunes account across devices with different iCloud and Apple ID adjustments. This article from Gigaom will help you choose the best solution for your family.
The connectivity available through our digital devices is astounding, and it will only continue to expand. That’s why I recommend a few tips for keeping up:
- Have regular check-ins with your kids and their devices.
- Ask with whom they are connecting and what social sharing platforms they are using.
- Get familiar with what they are using, so that you can be informed about the good, bad and ugly of each.
- Discuss, and amend when necessary, your family’s social media rules.
- Obviously, I will shamelessly suggest you check back here regularly for tips and trends.
Ignorance may seem like bliss when it comes to what your children are doing on their computers and online, but if a crisis ever occurs, that bliss fades quickly to an ugly reality. Be an informed social media parent.
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Friended by a 7 Year Old http://t.co/ZxlzqOTl #SMP
Surprised by a friend request…she’s 7 http://t.co/ZxlzqOTl #SMP
Tips for Keeping up with expanding world of social media that your kids are using http://t.co/ZxlzqOTl