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Is Social Cooling Impacting Your Life Opportunities?

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Social cooling is rising, with many people not realizing what is happening when they use online platforms. There’s an increase in reports of individuals’ online activity being used against them for a dizzying array of reasons. These situations have led to devastating repercussions for individuals that ultimately affect their families, life goals, and employment. To help ensure you and your family are practicing safe online practices, check out our Screen Safety Essentials Course. Learn what you need to know about social cooling in today’s GKIS article to determine, whether it is impacting you.

Social Cooling & How It Works

Social cooling refers to the idea that if you feel you are being watched, you change your behavior.[1] It describes the long-term adverse side effects of living in a reputation economy.[3] The immense amount of your collected data, specifically online data, inflates this effect.[1] This can limit our desire to think or speak freely, causing chilling effects on society called social cooling.[1] This works by using your data and turning it into thousands of different scores.[2] Data brokers compare your data patterns against other data to guess the likelihood of characteristics you probably have not shared.[2]

Real examples include

  • Device preference
  • Planning to have a baby
  • Communication
  • Number of real friends
  • Real sexual orientation
  • Easily adjustable
  • Gullibility
  • Projected sexual orientation
  • Rape victim
  • Had abortion
  • Date of birth
  • Gun owner
  • Parental divorce before the age of 21
  • Agreeableness
  • Economic stability
  • IQ[2]

How are you affected?

According to SocialCooling.com, people are starting to realize that their ‘digital reputation’ can limit their opportunities.[2] There has been a rise in reported activity and data that is being used to hinder you in some way. For example, Cambridge Analytica created psychological profiles on all Americans to try and dissuade people from voting.[2]

Other examples of how your digital reputation could negatively impact you include:

  • You don’t get that dream job if your data, such as your social media presence, suggests that you are not a positive person
  • If you are observed to have “bad friends” on social media you may pay more for your loans
  • If you are a woman, you may see fewer ads for higher-paying employment positions
  • The popular dating app Tinder may not show you attractive people if your data suggests you’re undesirable
  • Your health insurer may collect personal data about your lifestyle choices, race, habits, and more
  • What you post on social media may influence your odds of getting a tax audit
  • If you return goods to the store, you may not be offered product ads[2]

What effect is this having?

SocialCooling.com has found that the backlash resulting from online habits is causing some people to make other online choices to get better data scores. In a culture of conformity, people can feel more pressure and practice self-censorship.[2] An example of this would be hesitation to click on links in fear of that login reflecting poorly on you. Another result is an increase in risk aversion, which refers to people avoiding risky behaviors in fear of how they may be perceived. Increased social rigidity has also been observed as an effect.[2]

When digital reputation systems limit people’s will and ability to protest injustice, this system may serve to be a powerful and subtle form of behavioral control.[2] An excellent example is China’s mandated social credit score. This score represents a data set on each Chinese citizen that includes information about their criminal records, purchases, scores of their friends, and how well-behaved they are.”[2] When they have a low score, the person can’t get a visa, a lovely online date, a cheap loan, or a government job.[2] To read more on artificial intelligence (AI) facial recognition and the potential dangers associated with such technology, check out our Is Artificial Intelligence Facial Recognition Threatening Our Privacy article.

With social cooling, an individual’s weaknesses are being mapped, making people too transparent.[2] People argue that this is causing a society where risk aversion and self-censorship are the new standards.[2] This also raises the question of whether we are becoming more well-behaved but less human.[3] Unlike the standard credit scores that we are used to, these methods are new, with impressive levels of integration, accessibility, and automation.[2] Other questions raised are whether this will impact our ability to evolve as a society and if we are undermining our creative economy.[3]

How To Protect You & Your Family

The world we live in is dominated by always-evolving technology, and it’s important that you know the potential dangers that are out there to prevent yourself and your loved ones from being victimized. Our psychologist Dr. Bennett has dealt with online injuries over the course of her career and created Safety Courses, Private and personalized Coaching, and also offers Workshops. We recommend you check out our GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit for smart tech tools for monitoring, filtering, and management, plus tips to find the workarounds. The GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit is a family-tested, outcome-based resource guide with our best recommendations, how-to information, and links to our favorite easy-to-onboard parental control systems. You’ll be set to create the custom screen safety toolkit for your unique child.

Thanks to CSUCI intern Janette Jimenez for researching the risks of exploitation and scams when using online platforms to showcase kids’ talent and authoring this article.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Works Cited

[1] What is Social Cooling? https://reasonandmeaning.com/2017/10/31/what-is-social-cooling/

[2] Like oil leads to global warming… data leads to social cooling https://www.socialcooling.com/

[3] SOCIAL COOLING https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/social-cooling.html

Photo Credits

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

https://unsplash.com/photos/B0–kMa8BgU?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

https://unsplash.com/photos/yyp_HpXrUfw?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash

https://unsplash.com/photos/yjHh4JpZQT8?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash

https://unsplash.com/photos/_U_M_S-G5zE?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink

How is Surveillance Capitalism Affecting You? 

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Most of us love to have free online platforms available to us for information and entertainment. But have you ever noticed that each person’s online “feed” differs? Learn how your online behaviors are tracked, monitored, studied, and sold in today’s GKIS article. If you worry your family hasn’t covered all the bases in regard to online safety, check out our Screen Safety Essentials Course to learn how to be internet safe for you and your family.

Your Digital Footprint 

Let’s cover some basic tech vocabulary to start.  

A digital footprint is a data map that is left behind anytime you use the internet. You may be notified that your data is being tracked or it may be happening without your explicit consent.  

When you aren’t aware of the data that is being collected, you have a passive digital footprint.[2] This information usually includes your IP address and where and when it came from.   

An active digital footprint is created when you upload information about yourself on a website, usually under a profile.[3]  

The term cookies refers to a third-party system that collects statistics about your current browsing to tailor your future browsing experience. Cookies remain even after you leave a website.[4] There is usually a pop-up service announcement informing you about the use of cookies when entering a website because of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This legislation was passed in Europe in 2018 to protect personal data and privacy for companies that intend to sell consumer data information to a third party.[6] This legislation requires any website to have a “cookie pop-up” for websites based in Europe or for those that target European citizens. Legislation similar to this is California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). CCPA is the first legislation in the United States to also protect users from having their data stored by a third party without their consent.[7] To learn more about protective legislation for online content, check out our GKIS article California’s Newest Online Privacy Protections for Kids.

What is surveillance capitalism? 

Surveillance capitalism refers to the process of online data collection from cookies that can then be used to create an algorithm for personalized advertising. An algorithm is a specific sequence of content tailored for you that is automatically offered when you use a browser, app, social media, or shopping platform. Creating algorithms is profitable because it allows online businesses to tailor ads for you and offer products they think you’re most likely to buy.  

Surveillance capitalism is practiced by companies that profit from knowing your interests and habitual online behaviors. Some corporations don’t sell to you directly. Instead, they collect your data and then sell it to third parties.[4] In this situation, YOU are the product. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are required to release statements about their direct data collection. Many of them have also admitted to using third-party data companies.[5]   

Dr. Bennett writes about this very phenomenon in her book Screen Time in the Mean Time.[8] She writes:  

Websites often have many of these ad trackers surveilling your online activity. The data generated from online tracking has been referred to as digital exhaust because clusters of trackers can follow you from site to site. In addition to information collected from tracking, Facebook buys personal information about its users from one of many services like Experian and Equifax … Not only are adults targeted for ads, but the digital age has ushered in an increasing commercialization of childhood as well. Because of a dramatic increase in personal screen privatization (child Internet use without supervision) and unregulated corporate marketing, an enormous growth in advertising targets children.  

Companies are so good at anticipating your interests, many speculate if they are recording your conversations. Find out if this is legal in our GKIS article, “Is Facebook Spying by Hijacking Your Smartphone Mic?”  

What can you do to protect your privacy?  

  • Review terms of service for every website. 
  • Check privacy settings on browsers.[1] 
  • Clear your data and search history frequently.  
  • Filter and block for safe browsing. 
  • Opt out of cookies for specific websites. 

To learn more about cyber safety, Dr. B created the Cybersecurity & Red Flags Supplement to help parents learn about exposure to online risks and how to protect their privacy. Also, if you are a parent concerned about your child accessing the internet, check out the Screen Safety Toolkit. This toolkit guides you to learn how to filter your family’s browsing and offers information about our own favorite third-party party safety system.  

Thanks to CSUCI intern Sarah Hernandez for researching Surveillance Capitalism. 

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe. 

Onward to More Awesome Parenting, 

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com 

Work Cited 

[1] How to search and find your digital footprint: TDS Home. TDS Home | Home, Internet, Phone, TV & DVR Services. (2019, September 12). Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://blog.tdstelecom.com/security/how-to-search-and-find-your-digital-footprint/ 

[2] Digital footprints. Family Lives. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/online-safety/digital-footprints#:~:text=A%20passive%20footprint%20is%20made,sites%20or%20by%20using%20websites. 

[3] Kaspersky. (2022, March 9). What is a digital footprint? and how to protect it from hackers. www.kaspersky.com. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-digital-footprint 

[4] Guide to third-party-data: Third-party-data services. Mobilewalla. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.mobilewalla.com/third-party-data#what-is-third-party-data 

[5] Lee, R. (2022, August 10). Can your phone hear your conversations? (yes, but here’s how). Spiralytics. Retrieved October 26, 2022, from https://www.spiralytics.com/blog/mobile-ads-can-phone-hear-conversations-infographic/ 

[6] What is GDPR, the EU’s new Data Protection Law? GDPR.eu. (2022, May 26). Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/ 

[7] Daniela. (n.d.). CCPA compliance with Cookiebot CMP. Cookiebot. Retrieved November 11, 2022, from https://www.cookiebot.com/en/ccpa/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=usa-generic&utm_device=c&utm_term=do%2Bi%2Bneed%2Ba%2Bcookie%2Bpolicy%2Bon%2Bmy%2Bwebsite%2Busa&utm_content=usa-eng-cookie-policy&gclid=Cj0KCQiA37KbBhDgARIsAIzce15QgUuLTccBBOR_gea1lFedi3w7Id85Ubz06ejheiLsMeEFvnrZgVoaAsUMEALw_wcB 

[8] Bennett, T. (2019). Screen time in the meantime: A parenting guide to get kids and teens internet safe. GetKidsInternetSafe Books. https://getkidsinternetsafe.com/parenting-guide/ 

Photo Credits  

Chris Yang: https://unsplash.com/photos/1tnS_BVy9Jk 

Maxim Hopman https://unsplash.com/photos/IayKLkmz6g0 

Gerd Altmann https://pixabay.com/images/id-1054708/ 

Social Media Helps Young People Spark Social Movements

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It’s hard to ignore the huge influence social media has on our society. There’s reasonable concern with how much our kids are engaged on their screens, that use of social media is ego-inflating and of little value. But this concern may be overgeneralizing. Younger generations have found ways to use social media for good, some gathering followers by the thousands. One of these beneficial ways is gathering support for social change.

Twitter is shaping up to be a platform worth something beyond memes and humorous one-liners. It’s proving capable of being a reliable source that many young people look to for news about current events. “74% of Twitter users say they use the network to get their news.”[1] Twitter offers the unique ability for protestors to organize together with a speed, efficiency, and reach that has previously been unheard of. Localized protest becomes national overnight; global protest is accessible to all.

Parkland Florida Students Viralize Their Cause

The students who survived the Parkland, Florida school shooting were left grieving, confused, and angry. Their hearts were broken, wanting justice for their friends and other kids like them. As a result, they organized the “March for our Lives” protest in Washington that attracted 108,000 protesters to their cause.[2] Not only did a genius use of social media attract live protestors, but by March 2018, two of the Parkland survivors had a total of over 1.5 million social media followers.[3]

They made their opinions known to a vast like-minded audience who wanted to see gun laws reformed. Not only did they draw thousands to their cause, they also had impact on legislation. A bill was passed in Florida which limits the sale or ownership of guns for a year to anyone determined to be a threat.[4]

Twitter Becomes a Platform for Social Movements

Traditionally, people have assumed that social media platforms like Twitter only talk of trivial topics. Current and critical social issues are taking form, turning Twitter into a powerful platform for social justice. And it’s not a mistake that this is happening. A 2015 study published in the InternationalJournal of Consumer Studies looked at the link between social media and its ability to make people feel connected. This study compared desire to be involved in a particular social movement formed through social media with how often the desire resulted in social movement participation. They concluded that social media users are more inclined to follow through with social movement aspirations if they are both avid users and feel socially involved within a group.[5]

Climate as the Next Frontier

An annual survey by the World Economic Forum shows millennials ranked climate change as the number one world issue for the third year in a row.[6] Gen Z kids are equally as likely to see climate change as the most pressing global issue currently.[7] Like the gun reform protests of this last year, students are again staging mass protests to fight against leaders of government –this time on a global scale. For instance, the rapidly-building March 15 2019 “School Strike 4 Climate” movement resulted in a massive protest, with 1.4 million young young people from twelve countries banding together to skip school.[8] These kids were seeking global government attention to reduce carbon emissions.

There is an urgency to climate change protests inspiring kids all over the world to act. Hitting headlines globally is a young girl from Sweden, Greta Thunberg. She has a Twitter account with 540,600 followers, which she uses to mobilize her cause.[9] Greta reported that she became impassioned with the global threat of climate change at only 8 years old. On April 23, 2019, she spoke in front of parliament in the UK at only 16 years old.[10] Greta is the face of generation Z’s climate change protest representing an entire generation demanding change, and they’re using social media to do it.

Interested in how to get your kids mobilized to do good? Check out these organizations:

  • People’s Climate Movement
  • NextGen America
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • World Wildlife Federation

Teaching your kids about how their digital footprint can make a difference is a valuable first step in ensuring they maintain positive online identities. Thank you to GKIS intern, Chelsea Letham for helping research social media’s movements for change. Want to encourage your kids to cultivate a positive digital footprint? Check out our GKIS article, The Social Media Teen Résumé. How to Expertly Stylize Your Cyber Footprint to Attract College and Employment Opportunities.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Works Cited

[1] https://www.omnicoreagency.com/twitter-statistics/

[2] Shear, M.D. (2018, March 24). Students lead huge rallies for gun control across the U.S. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/24/us/politics/students-lead-huge-rallies-for-gun-control-across-the-us.html?module=inline

[3] Bromwich, J.E. (2018, March 7). How the Parkland students got so good at social media. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/us/parkland-students-social-media.html?module=inline

[4] Kramer, M. & Harlan, J. (2019, February 13). Parkland shooting: where gun control and school safety stand today. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/us/parkland-shooting.html

[5] Hwang, H., & Kim, K. (2015). Social media as a tool for social movements: The effect of social media use and social capital on intention to participate in social movements. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 39(5), 478-488. doi: 10.1111/ijcs.12221

[6] Loudenback, T. & Jackson, A. (2018, February 26). The 10 most critical problems in the world, according to millennials. Business Insider. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-world-biggest-problems-concerning-millennials-2016-8

[7] Parker, K., Graf, N., & Igielnik, R. (2019, January 17). Generation Z looks a lot like millennials on key social and political issues. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/01/17/generation-z-looks-a-lot-like-millennials-on-key-social-and-political-issues/

[8] Kaplan, S. (2019, February 16). How a 7thgrader’s strike against climate change exploded into a movement. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/how-a-7th-graders-strike-against-climate-change-exploded-into-a-movement/2019/02/15/e20868e2-2fb4-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html?utm_term=.a97cad4efa4d

[9] https://mobile.twitter.com/GretaThunberg

[10] (2019, April 23). Greta Thunberg: Teen activist says UK is ‘irresponsible’ on climate. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48017083

Photo Credits

Photo by Donn Strain on Unsplash

Photo by Natalie Chaney on Unsplash

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

The Social Media Teen Résumé. How to Expertly Stylize Your Cyber Footprint to Attract College and Employment Opportunities

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Does your teen know how to safeguard their future by cleaning up their social media? I was recently invited to present at a local National Charity League meeting with high school seniors on the topic, “The Cyber Footprint.” Typically, I speak to parents rather than teens about screen safety. But for this group, I went the extra mile. Today’s GetKidsInternetSafe article is a blueprint for how teens can turn a social media footprint from devastating to standout for college and summer or internship employment opportunities.

A digital footprint can make you look good!

Most of us are aware that social media content can have long-lasting negative effects on reputation. That’s why parents monitor child posts. But what many people don’t realize is that having no digital footprint or a dull virtual self can also be a liability (work against you).

In the professional and college worlds, it is widely assumed that having no cyber footprint reflects a lack of productivity and know-how. Not only is it important to have a positive online presence to avoid being screened out of opportunity, but you must also stand out to be selected.

Do employers and colleges care what you post online?

Yes, they do! Not only do employers recruit via social media, but they also screen out potential hires based on your posts and comments.

A 2016 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed:

  • Recruiting via social media is growing, with 84% of corporations using it currently and 9% planning to use it.
  • 44% of HR professionals agreed that a job candidate’s public social media profile can provide information about work-related performance.
  • 36% of organizations have disqualified a job candidate in the past year because of concerning information (e.g., an illegal activity or a discrepancy with an application) found on a public social media profile or through an online search.

When should you start stylizing your cyber footprint?

…as soon as you’re old enough to care about post-high school education and employment – if not sooner! It’s never too early to consider who you don’t and do want to be online and offline. Using social media to showcase special talents, like art, dancing, modeling, and acting can work for you.

Before using social media for publicity, here are some critical points to consider for safety.

STEP ONE: Cleanse your social media profiles and cyber footprint of content that doesn’t make you look good.

Google yourself and track down and delete unwanted content.

If you’re lucky, you don’t have years of unflattering comments or images to track down, but you won’t know what employers may find until you Google your name first.

Back up your old profile data before you delete your account.

Expect that it may take a few weeks for your chosen social media platform to delete your old profile and allow you to create a new one.

Cleanse all social media profiles, even those set to private.

In some states, it’s legal for employers and college application counselors to ask for social media usernames and passwords. Refusing to do so may cost you. That means it’s necessary to delete inappropriate images, comments, and shares such as those involving drugs, alcohol, sexuality, profanity, cyberbullying, poor spelling/grammar, political affiliations, and off-color jokes.

Social media platforms purposely make it difficult to have more than one personal account or delete your old accounts and start over. Not only does Facebook require you to use a new email address and phone number to create a new profile, but you will lose all of your friends, favorites, photos, messages, comments, and games.

They don’t want you to delete your old profile because they lose ownership over your content. The more metadata they collect about your online activities such as likes and dislikes, the more profit they can make saturating your online time with targeted ads. Since we now select what we want to view rather than being captive television and commercial watchers, advertisers are hungry to capture every opportunity to get our attention. That means we are blitzed with 5,000 ads a day in contrast to 500 ads in the 1970s.

Are you ready to reveal an impressive school or job candidate who is searchable for the right people? Recreating your best virtual self isn’t easy!

STEP TWO: Create an irresistible virtual you!

Choose two or three popular social media platforms.

Quality is more important than quantity. Rather than do a poor job on several platforms, focus on doing a great job with a few.

LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter are currently the most popular social media platforms. Get familiar with them to take advantage of useful features. For example, set appropriate privacy settings and avoid default responses in favor of your own words.

Visualize your perfect virtual self and plan before you tackle the project.

Search out those who are doing it right and create a swipe file (think Pinterest). A swipe file is a digital folder where you store your favorite examples of content and style. Keep your eyes open for catchy headlines and titles, image ideas, and potential networking connections. Incorporating multimedia, like colorful and unique images and videos, attracts attention and effectively communicates concepts.

Be strategic, concise, and innovative.

Your online profile is not as formal as a résumé. Be fun and creative while displaying your ideas, research, products, and activities. Proofread. Delete any extra words and avoid big blocks of text by using bullet points and breaking up content into titled sections. Include keywords for search engine optimization.

Blogs can be highly effective, as storytelling is an awesome way to stand out and show rather than tell. Become an author and illustrator. Be the clever, positive, well-rounded person you’d want to work with.

Friend and join influential others.

Every opportunity I’ve ever gotten was the result of good relationships. Not only are your productivity skills critical to success, but so is networking.

Use social media as it’s intended, to connect with like-minded others who fuel and enrich your creativity and protect your confidence. That includes clubs, organizations, special interest groups, and corporations as well as impressive individuals. Don’t friend people you don’t know or haven’t reached out to personally.

Stimulate online engagement and stay active.

Attracting interesting others is one thing but keeping them warmly engaged with valuable content is key to longevity. Just as you do with your friends, be available and share interesting articles you know your online contacts will like. Creating reciprocity will keep others interested in you and generous with potentially valuable invitations and introductions.

6 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR ONLINE PROFILE A COLLEGE/EMPLOYER MAGNET

Switch from teen personal to adult professional with a first-person tone that is warm and welcoming. Make certain any content that a future employer may see as inappropriate or silly has been deleted.

Write a mission statement detailing what opportunities you are looking for. Avoid buzzwords and lingo. Stick to what’s relevant.

Keep your connections education- and employment-focused. Don’t get frivolous and network with everybody. Be selective and seek out those who may lead to mutual opportunity.

Include an attractive headshot.

Include contact information, an email link, and custom URLs for your website or other social media profiles.

Highlight impressive activities/achievements related to education, employment, & community service. Testimonials and endorsements are powerful. Make sure your online profiles are consistent with the content on your résumé.

My best friend’s mother always said, “It’s just as easy to fall in love with a successful man as a loser.” The same can be said about landing your dream job rather than settling for what’s convenient. On the other hand, you’ve got to start somewhere!

As a teen, I worked for a drug store and learned how to be a responsible employee, cashier, organize and stock, and deal with difficult customers. I also learned this position was not for me long-term. From there I landed jobs in accounting, research, and administration, each providing me with business skills that are still paying off today.

Don’t pressure yourself into thinking today’s profile will immediately lead to your dream job. This is scaffolding. One job will lead to another and so on, ultimately building the very best you. Enjoy the creativity of the journey. Take time to daydream about design elements and all of the ways you can blossom.

Have good ideas of your own to improve a digital footprint? Please share with us in the comment section below.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Works Cited

Society for Human Resource Management

http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/employer-access-to-social-media-passwords-2013.aspx

Photo Credits

Woman and Young Girl In Kitchen With Laptop Smiling by GSCSNJ, CC BY-NC 2.0

Passed Out Sean by Tim Williams, CC by 2.0

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

San Francisco State by Lui2014-SFSU-435, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Did Your Baby Take His First Digital Footprint Before He Started Crawling? 9 GKIS Social Media Tips For Young Parents

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blog39instagramprofile

I just shared a post about face recognition technology that might have freaked you out a little. Maybe it got you wondering about your child’s digital footprint and if you want to be the one to start it?

Although some parents are concerned enough to not post ANY child pictures online, it is an unrealistic expectation for most families. The benefits of sharing your little one’s firsts with friends and family is just too awesome to pass up. Perhaps some thoughtful consideration prior to making social media decisions is a good starting point. Ultimately each family must determine online privacy rules of their own, and then communicate it to friends and family.

Here are some sensible GKIS tips on how to protect your child’s privacy online:

  1. Set your privacy settings to friends-only or tighter on any social media site where you’re posting child images.

     

  2. Don’t use your child’s image for social media profile pictures or cover photos. These are public regardless of your privacy settings.

     

  3. Only post your child’s online pictures with a nickname (e.g., “the boy” or “Teeny Tiny”).

     

  4. Never post nude shots or embarrassing activities. Consider how your child will feel about the image if it were shown at a middle school assembly when she is twelve years old.

     

  5. Be aware that face recognition technology can be used with even side profile pictures.

     

  6. Always ask permission from other parents before posting pictures of their children, like from parties or play-dates.

     

  7. Don’t use your child’s pictures for professional marketing purposes.

     

  8. Don’t give permission for schools and camps to use your child’s images for marketing purposes.

     

  9. Create a Google Alert with your child’s name so you’ll be alerted of an online mention.

     

For a vast majority of parents this ship has already sailed. However, online decisions should not be flip and uniformed. Finally don’t forget that friends and family can also tag or forward your posted images, so once posted the image will no longer be under your control. Please comment below and let me know what you think about the risk of digital footprints.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetYourKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

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