Teens Using Social Networks
I read the book, Teens Using Social Networks. It was about how people use social networking sites everyday. Some of the examples that they used were, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Four-Square. Four-Square is a place where you can check out neighborhood hotspots. I was unfamiliar with the website when it was first mentioned, but then i read on and figured out what it was. All of these websites are very popular all over the world. The proper definition for a social network is an online community where people keep in touch with friends. Social networks is the place where you can keep in touch with friends from another school or even your old school. If you moved schools you would want to keep in touch with old friends. It is also a place where you can keep in touch with family that you don’t get to see all the time.
Facebook is an online community where you can share pictures, statuses, chat, and see other people’s statuses and pictures. Some other features of Facebook are liking and commenting on friends statuses and pictures, The age that you have to be to access Facebook is 14. It is ok to have a Facebook under that age if you have permission from a parent or guardian. It would also be best to share your password with that trusted adult so that they can check up every once-and-a-while to see what you are up to. You also might want to add them as friends so that if they see something wrong with something that you have done, they can bring it to your attention and you can remove it. But, not everything that says it deleted actually permanently deletes. It is called a Cyber Footprint. It means that everything that you do can come back and bite you when you are trying to do something good, like getting into a good college.
Many social networks that are supposed to be for adults are open for teens too. For example, the things that contain explicit content. There are also dating websites. For example, Zoosk, Christian Mingle, and some other ones. They are supposed to only be open to users who are eighteen or older but some teens don’t respect that. They want to be able to get the real deal before they meet the standard age. There is a reason for these age requirements because they protect them from the content that is not appropriate and things that maybe that age group should not be exposed to. It is the best choice to not use a faux age online. It is only a couple of years until you are actually old enough, so enjoy the wait! There are a lot of social networks available to teens. To choose the right site, consider what you see appealing about that website and some things that are not so appealing. Choose the one that you think you will get the best quality out of. Do you like the feature that this website has, or do you like this websites more? Some blogging websites that you can update your followers about your life are Tumblr or Twitter. On YouTube and Flickr you can post videos and pictures to keep people updated that way too.
After you have decided which social network you want to join, make sure to read the privacy policy. Most websites have this. When you join a social network you you start a membership. As a member you can access that sites features that you wouldn’t get if you weren’t a member. Some sites have the option of apps or games. Facebook for example have Farmville, Restaurant City, Superpoke, Pieces of Flair, Yoville, Pet Society, Farm Town, Hatchlings, FarmLand, Farm Pals, Sunshine Ranch, Friend FAQ, Friend Quiz, Compare Friends, Farkle, Sorority Life, Bowling Buddies, and MANY, MANY, more!
Every social networking site has a set of required rules that need to be followed. It is important to make these rules on the first of your priority list. An easy way to go through the rules is to sit down with an adult and go over the rules. If someone disobeys these rules you can report them to the website and they could get kicked off, or you can just block that person so that if they are bugging you, you can get it taken care of. To start a membership you might need to use an email account. Some sites may ask you to choose a password and username. To keep your identity safe, don’t use your real name as your username. You should also remember not to tell anyone your password. Not even your friends. The only person that it would be ok to tell are your parents. If someone were to figure out your private password, they could mess things up on your network’s account. If you notice something that is not normal about your account, ask an adult to help you change your password.