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Facebook is above all a social network. It allows you to create a profile, add new friends… and thus serves, initially, to keep in touch with loved ones ou maintain a distance friendship. But the site can also be very useful for find people lost to follow-up ou reconnect with his childhood friends.
How to add a “friend”?
We search for the person by his name and his first name. Once found, we send him a request to add to his friends list, and voila!
Beyond the relational dimension, Facebook is also an incredible tool that allows young people to share their passions by joining, among other things, different groups. So, if your big one is passionate about sailing, he can join “Les voileux de Facebook”, to talk about his adventures and find himself, who knows, a teammate …
Facebook is fun!
For teens, creating a profile on Facebook is above all a very good way to have fun. Young people have want to chat with their friends. In addition, like Snapchat, Facebook allows teens to send ephemeral messages, that disappear from the conversation after a while. They can also have fun by searching the official profile of their favorite stars and thus count their idols among their friends.
But teenagers especially appreciate the “online chat” function (Messenger), which allows them to chat live and send images or smileys to each other.
More info on social networks, go to the website without fear …
Facebook, what dangers for your teenagers?
As in life, bad internet dating existsThis is also true. But there is no question, however, of immediately thinking of pedophiles or sexual predators, and giving in to paranoia. As a general rule, 95% of assaults carried out on a minor are carried out by a member of the family or entourage. The chances that this happens through the internet are therefore very low. Which does not prevent you, of course, from remaining vigilant.
Facebook: a risk of harassment or cyber-bullying?
Another possible phenomenon: the online harassment, also called “cyber-bullying”. It is one of the most frequent problems encountered among young people. On Facebook, it is characterized by insulting, racist, intimidating or even threatening private messages, which are usually sent by a young of the same age.
Hence the importance of properly informing your teenager of this risk. Also favor dialogue, so that it informs you of the slightest suspicious message.
Facebook: beware of shocking content
The very content of Facebook can pose a danger to your teenager. Certain photos, videos or comments can shock and offend the sensitivity of the fragile. Unfortunately, we cannot control everything. It is necessary there alsosi chat with your big one and him request, sometimes, to browse Facebook with him. The installation of a parental control system may be necessary to filter possible links to dangerous sites.
Facebook, securely
To avoid any unpleasant surprises, you must first think about sorting out your contacts. There is no question of adding anyone to his friend list, on the pretext that it will become longer than that of the boyfriend. We ban strangers or profiles without photos, and if in doubt, reject the invitation.
Parents of course have a role to play. Prevent, discuss, supervise your teenager … are all tasks to be taken seriously. To youestablish a ritual of control. Why not impose your agreement before any addition of a new person?
Facebook: a profile is private
Rule n ° 1:
Make your teen’s profile private is the best way to prevent everyone from having access to it. You will be able to let him “facebooker” in complete freedom, with more peace of mind.
Rule n ° 2:
Check the visibility of photos is essential. It is advisable to privatize albums et refuse to allow all the photos of your child to be visible by anyone. Regarding the profile picture, making it invisible to the public or replacing it with an avatar is a very good way to prevent malicious people from directly identifying it. All these small gestures will prevent pictures of your teenager from falling into the wrong hands and being used or diverted without his knowledge.
Rule n ° 3:
Contact details and all personal information must be protected. As a general rule, you do not give your address on the Internet, nor your phone number or email address, even if this is possible on the site. Friends and family are supposed to already own them! For even more security, you can also remove the option to send a message, which is displayed when searching for a person. This will prevent anyone outside of your teen’s friend list from contacting them.
Rule n ° 4:
There is no point in pushing safety to the extreme and add their own teenager in their personal contacts. He would risk taking it as an intrusion into his privacy. Why not create your own account? You will be able to control the information that appears when you search for your profile, and check what is accessible to everyone.