How To: 50 Ways To Keep Your Child Safe On Facebook

400million people are using Facebook.com and spending more than avg. 50 mins per day(source), This made it world’s biggest and most successful social networking website. Now it’s not just a favorite social networking website for certain professional/educational group. Even teenagers are more enthralled with facebook than their once favorite role playing websites and avatar enabled forums. If you are also a parent of a teenage child who is having facebook fever than you must need some guidance and help to protect your child  from any wanted situation like phishing, spamming, profile hacking, cyber bullying, abuse etc.

Here are some of the points you may find helpful, though I believe that every parent knows how to care their children but sometimes they are unaware of what’s going around them, it won’t be a lie that your 13 yr old knows more than what you know about internet and facebook. So why not try to be step ahead from your child?

I focused on some major points including getting started with facebook, making network, posting on walls, sharing content on facebook groups, pages and sharing photos on facebook.

Getting Started With Facebook

1. First point; be always friendly with your child. That’s the best way to get his trust on you.
2. Teach him what social networking is before allowing him to join Facebook.  I consider social networking is a way to connect virtually with known and unknown people to share information, knowledge and fun.
3. Make some  rules between you and your child to be followed, by both of you strictly.
4. Help your child to create his own facebook profile
5. Don’t use real name on facebook profile, though fill other options truly.
6. Keep Relation Status and Looking For option “Empty”. (check 1st image)
7. Clarify, what to share online and what not to share and why? Children are always ready to throw questions so you be prepared to answer them.
8. Don’t let them share their personal information to anyone anywhere on facebook
9. Personal information includes location, addresses, phone numbers and even some photographs should not shared
10. Profile picture of your child should not expose his/her clear face; better take profile picture zoomed out wearing cap or sunglasses or use any graphic images.
11. Add your name in Family members while filling profile information of your child; this may keep stalkers away from your him/her.

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Making Network

1. Teach your child how to make good social network by connecting with good people and avoiding strange people. Introduce your relatives on facebook to your child and then ask some of your close friends to add your child too. Now your child will be surrounded by many known people.
2. Add your child’s friends in your facebook network too.
3. Observe the activities of user connected to your child if you get doubtful.
4. Remove the suspected user from your child’s connection immediately.
5. Report to facebook and save other children too from that suspected user.
6. Make your child join facebook groups relevant to his likes, hobbies and interests.
7. Teach him not to be too friendly with strangers online.
8. Teach him not to be racist online and even offline.
9. Teach him why not to disclose family secrets online.
10. Edit your child’s facebook privacy settings carefully.
11. Keep your child always offline on facebook chat. No No live chats.

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Posting On Walls/Groups/Fanpages/Inbox

1. Teach him not to post his/her current location
2. Not to disclose any family or personal secrets
3. Delete if someone one post offensive material on your child’s facebook wall, better don’t allow anyone to post on your child’s wall by editing privacy settings.
4. Don’t let him join hateful/offensive/abusive/porn or controversial facebook groups. Though facebook staff is fighting their best to clean all filth but managing 400 million users is not that easy.
5. Don’t let your child post anything racially anywhere on facebook.
6. Don’t let him/her disclose his/her sentiments or feelings publicly, better talk to him/her personally.
7. Read facebook terms with your child and teach him/her to follow.
8. Check his/her inbox messages every day. Report for abusive content if any.
9. Check sent messages too, you should know what your child talking to others.
10. Get the list of top 10 followers of your child’s profile (Who is following me) This application will show you who is more engaged with your child by frequently posting, liking or replying to his/her updates. However, you cannot find who is viewing his/her profile with this application.

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Sharing Photos & Videos on Facebook

1. Before uploading any images, edit privacy settings “Who can see this”. You will get this option while uploading photos from your personal computer.
2. Let him share family photos to only relatives and close friends whom you know and met personally.
3. Don’t let him share his/her own photos, your family photos, his/her room or photo of your house, nearby area or anything which can expose his location and personal details to anyone on facebook.
4. Do you know that if photos are uploaded without editing privacy settings it can be viewed by anyone on facebook. It can also be shared by any user to his network and can spread widely.
5. If you are uploading photos from your digital camera, better crop the size with photoshop if possible. Or use online photo editor websites like picnik.com, lunapic.com or fotoflexer.com all are free services. Google it for more.
6. You should know that all images posted on facebook album can be copied by anyone. Try yourself if you don’t know. Open any uploaded pic—Right Click- save image as. If this doesn’t work then you can even take direct screen shots of that image. So be cautious.
7. Report to facebook for any misuse of photos of your child. There is an option below that particular photo.
8. Don’t allow your child to put photos of someone who is unrelated person on his/her facebook album.
9. Don’t allow to upload any copyrighted /abusive/spam photos

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More Tips

1. Keep the account password of your child with you, keep changing it weekly or randomly.
2. Don’t let him use facebook in his room, keep your PC in public room or hall.
3. Allow only 15-30 mins to be on facebook every day.
4. Discuss with your child his facebook experience every day.
5. Ask him what he came to know from his facebook friends etc. Knowledge, information etc.
6. You should know that facebook is not for users under 13.
7. You should also know that still there are many who break this rule. Don’t let your child do this.
8. Subscribe to some good facebook related websites/blogs to get latest news and happenings. Like insidefacebook.com allfacebook.com however both are unofficial facebook blogs.
9. You should join some facebook groups of parents this will keep you connected and updated with other parents.
10. Read internet safety resources here on TheOnlineMom
11. Very useful safety resource is here too onlinefamily.norton.com
12. Read why social networking is good for your child. Here is another great article on Techcrunch
13. Now, when you are going to do or follow all these points? Make a time table for all this. Do it even if you trust your child, you very well know that this world is not so trust worthy.

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