Teens and Facebook’s safety features

Parents, here’s what you should be teaching your kids about some of Facebook’s safety features.

Facebook is great. It’s a place to have fun, share memes and watch videos of people falling over. And while we may deny how often we use it, odds are you’re sitting at the dinner table or in front of the TV scrolling through your feed absent-mindfully, unaware exactly how long you’ve been doing it for. Don’t deny it, we’re all guilty of it.

So, are we really that surprised that children are drawn to the app a lot younger than they used to? For the most part, Facebook is fairly harmless, you can set your profile to private, you can block unwelcome users and report any shady behaviour, however, even with these precautions the odd creepers and scams can leak through to your inbox.

To combat this, Facebook has rolled out an exciting new AI-safety feature specifically designed to notify kids when suspect accounts or scams are in their inbox, all without having to read the shady message itself.  The notification sent to the user will include tips on how to recognise scam accounts and gently remind kids under 18 (or people over 70) not to send money to strangers. The AI will then take these behavioural signals and use reported content as a training tool to further improve its performance. What a wonderful, futuristic world we live in.

So, what can we do at home to help protect our family on Facebook?

Teenagers are itching to get stuck into the crazy world of social media, but to make sure it’s all sunshine and rainbows for them, there are a few things to teach your kids before letting them dive in. We suggest starting with the following:

• Help your child create strong passwords for each social media account they have.

Obviously, stay away from things like password123 or your name and refrain from using the same password for all your social media accounts. Generally, a strong password is a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols and at least 10 characters long.

• Teach them how to set their accounts to private

On Facebook simply click on Facebook settings, then click on profile settings and find the view privacy shortcuts, from there you can manage how people contact you, you can check on your important settings and turn off your location settings.

• Show them how to properly and securely block or remove followers

To block or remove someone from your Facebook, simply go their profile and click on the block button.

• And lastly how to report inappropriate content

Australia has a really nifty safety guide designed by The Office of the eSafety Commissioner, that has heaps of information on various social media and reporting links for each one. Alternatively, you can report inappropriate images, content, and cyberbullying directly to https://www.esafety.gov.au/report.

Once you’ve shown them how to implement these safety guidelines, your kid is free to enjoy social media (in moderation).

What to do about those odd trolls

Facebook is all about the LOLs for millions of people. But if your child is getting some unwanted attention or is feeling unsafe online you can report the behaviour. If you suspect there’s a troll cyberbullying your kid, call 1800 55 1800 or go to kidshelpline.com.au for advice. Kids can also call the private and confidential hotline or use the online counselling service which caters to ages five and up.

For more information on social media and the internet explore our Family Hub. Looking for a way to keep your family connected? Peruse some of our great value Family plans.

<sub>About Optus Digital Thumbprint Optus Digital Thumbprint is a free and award-winning educational program that supports young people and families to be safe, responsible and positive online.

Since 2013, we’ve delivered workshops and developed digital tools that have educated more than 320,000 primary and secondary school students across Australia.</sub>