Are your parents or carers using social media? Whether you are on the same sites or not, it’s important to chat about ground rules when it comes to what they post so that everyone is happy!
To Add or Not to Add? 🤔
Deciding whether or not to accept your parents friend request can be a tricky thing – it seems like there are a lot of pros and cons!
Cons 👎
- Your parents could be super embarrassing on social media – what if they tag you in cringey pictures, make gushy posts about you or comment on your statuses? You don’t know if you could ever live it down in front of your friends or at school.
- You might feel that social media is just a place for you and your mates. There’s stuff on there you just wouldn’t feel comfortable with your parents seeing. Or maybe there are things you just don’t want your parents to know about – we all deserve some privacy!
Pros 👍
- Having your parents on social media can be good practice for how to filter yourself online. Think about it: if you don’t want your parents to see something you are posting, then it’s probably true that you wouldn’t want your future employers seeing it either. It can be a good way to keep yourself in check.
- Social media can be a good way to stay in touch and keep memories. Photos from family holidays, birthday or weddings that are posted on social media can be stuff that you will love looking back on in the future! So by having your parents as friends, you can extend this invite to any other family members you can have on social media.
Friends Already? 🤗
Talk about what is acceptable or not. Social media forms part of your identity so it’s important to let them know how you should interact with each other online. This can change over time and that’s okay – just make sure you chat about it!
Things to think about:
- What are they allowed to post and where? Can they post on your wall? Or would you rather they just message you?
- Can they comment on your posts or chat to your mates?
- Who are they allowed to add that you know?
Not on Social Media Yet? 🤳
If you aren’t on social media but your parents are, it’s still important to talk to them about what they are posting and establishing boundaries.
You might want to talk to them about whether you are comfortable with them sharing certain information about you online.
You could ask them what kind of things they have already posted online about you. And you could ask them to talk to you first before posting things about you – after all, you should have control over what information about you goes online!
Things to consider:
- Do you want them to post embarrassing stories about you? Would they feel comfortable with you doing something similar? What would be okay to post?
- Do you want them to post about your grades online? Would you rather put out that information? Or would you rather not have them up there at all?
- What photographs are already on social media? Do you like them/are comfortable with them being on there? Would you be fine with them posting any pictures they take in the future, or would you rather they ask you before posting?
Visit our DigiKnow page for more information about being safe online, keeping your personal data secure, opportunities to learn more and how to kick-start a career in the digital world!