Millions of people around the world now use social networking sites to communicate with their friends and family, sharing memories, photos and following what others do.
To make sure you continue to have SOL and stay safe online when using social media please have a look at the following:
TOP TIPS
- Make sure you ALWAYS check your privacy settings on any social networking sites. You may be unaware that you are sharing something personal to the rest of the world!
Ask your family and friends to have a look at your social networking sites in case you have mistakingly posted something that isn’t private.- Only tell your parents/carers your passwords for these sites.
- Be respectful to others online as well as yourself.
- REPORT any harmful activity on your sites to the service provider and tell your parent/carers or a trusted adult at school.
- Cyberbullying, revenge porn, trolling and virtual mobbing are NEVER acceptable and you will be committing a criminal offence by doing any of these things! If you or someone you know is targeted by any of these things online tell them:
- 1)To report this to the website/service operator.
- 2)Keep evidence of the type of wrongdoing.
- 3)Never respond to any comments.
- 4) To tell their parents/carers/or a trusted adult.
IMAGES ONLINE
Look back on this site at the page about leaving a digital footprint. We all like to share photos and film as they are an important part of many of our social media sites. It is VITAL that you always think before you post. Images stay online forever and can be copied, changed and used elsewhere. It is so easy to do!
Would your parents/carers/family/future employer be comfortable with what you have posted? If not, edit your post or delete it. Think SMART! When you post something online, you are posting it on the biggest screen in the world to billions of people!
TO POST OR NOT TO POST – THAT IS THE QUESTION!
PERSONAL PROFILES
We all love to post on our social media sites. Make sure you never reveal your address, school, date of birth, when you are going on your family holidays etc. It is very easy to find out information about people and this information can find it’s way into the wrong people’s hands sometimes so you need to be VERY CAREFUL!
KIDSMART HAVE PRODUCED A REALLY USEFUL SOCIAL NETWORKING LEAFLET. HELP YOUR PARENTS OUT BY DOWNLOADING THE IT SO THEY CAN SUPPORT YOU TO HAVE SOL AND YOU CAN ALL BE SMART!
http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/downloads/social_networking_leaflet.pdf