Holmes County Sheriff's Office issued the following announcement on August 6.
HOLMES COUNTY - In today's increasingly digital world, the opportunity for children to be exposed to things like mature content and cyber-bullying continues to expand. We have compiled the following information to address just some of the digital applications with which parents should familiarize themselves.
Each day, more and more apps are developed on the market, so it's important to stay vigilant about what apps your child is using and take a moment to research them.
Keep in mind that anytime an app has any kind of communication feature or chat feature, there’s going to be opportunity for exposure to inappropriate content or even for inappropriate relationships to develop. Some apps, called "Vault Apps" (such as Calculator Plus), have features that can mask their true purpose. In addition to knowing what apps your child is using, take the time to open them up and explore their features.
MESSAGING APPS
Messaging apps are a good way for kids to stay in contact with friends, families and peers. If there are not strong privacy settings enabled or content moderators, there is a possibility of kids being exposed to strangers and possibly mature content. GroupMe is a group messaging app where users can chat with large numbers of friends or strangers. The Chatous app randomly matches users to strangers across the world. Oovoo is a free messaging and video calling for one-on-one chats or group chats with up to 8 users.
LIVE-STREAMING APPS
Live streaming can be a fun way for kids to express themselves and see what their friends are doing. However, it can also be intrusive and unsafe for children and teens who may come into contact with online strangers or mature content. Live streaming apps are best used with parental supervision. Similar to the popular (and now defunct) Musical.ly and Live.ly apps, Tik Tok has rolled the most popular features from those apps into this new live streaming video app. The Live.Me app allows users to connect with people all over the world to live stream, watch videos and chat. Bigo is another popular live streaming app where users connect through live video.
“HOOK-UP” APPS
Dating and hookup apps are not recommended for teenagers or kids. In fact, most dating apps require their users to be 17 years of age or older in order to use their services, however most dating apps have little or no age verification and many rely on location tracking to pair up matches. For kids, this can be dangerous because strangers can easily be aware of your child's location and can have access to view/share photos and chat with them directly. Down is a new dating app where users can connect to find romantic matches or hookups. It is not intended to be used by people under the age of 17. Badoo is a chat and dating app where users are connected based on crossed geo-location paths. This app is also not intended for minors, but does not have strict age verification. Tinder is a very popular dating app for adults focused on geo-location and a swipe system to match users. This app is also relatively easy for teens to use even though it is rated for users over 17.
CONFESSION OR “FEEDBACK” APPS
Confession and "feedback" platforms such as AfterSchool, Tellonym, Ask.fm, Whisper, and Reddit's "RoastMe" are examples of platforms that allow users to post photos of themselves or confessional posts — and invite anonymous feedback from strangers or friends. The risk factor: The feedback given on these apps tends to be brutal and can involve sexual content, bullying, and even threats of violence. Some of these apps also allow anonymous chats with strangers — and on some platforms it's easy for anyone to sign up and pose as a teenager.
PHOTO SHARING APPS
Some of these platforms, such as Instagram, are for sharing selfies and other photos. Others have self-destructing messages, meaning there's a time limit on the pictures and videos. The risk factor: Snapchat's self-destructing photo feature might make teens more willing to share racy photos and it's far from "safe". Screenshots can still be taken and shared without permission. Snapchat and Instagram are also among some of the most common platforms for cyber-bullying.
Original source can be found here.
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