According to statistics, there are over five billion internet users globally, accounting for 63% of the world population. Over the years, the internet has been the bedrock for other modes of social communication, such as social media.
While social media is an excellent way of connecting people, not all people on social media have good motives. Therefore, if you have kids, it’s important to have some family rules about social media that can help ensure the safety of your kids and other members of your family while on social media.
Various Types of Harm Social Media Can Cause
Almost everything has its good and bad sides, and social media is no exemption. Social media’s most significant harm includes bullying, access to inappropriate content, addiction, anxiety, depression, and limited social skills.
Social media companies cannot take the blame for harmful content created by individual users. However, this does not mean they have no responsibility to their users. If social media has harmed you or your child, talk to a social media youth harm attorney to look at the possibility of recovering compensation for damages.
Meta (formally Facebook) and other social media companies are facing consolidated claims for the effect the companies have had on children and teens. In the joint lawsuit, social media harm lawyers are using product liability as their claim’s basis.
Under product liability law, creators of a product or service are responsible for ensuring the safety of the product or service they offer to their clients and customers.
Rules to Set for Social Media
1. Always be Nice
Often parents are worried that their children will be bullied or exploited on social media. Most parents don’t think about the role their children could play in making the social media space harmful to other kids.
Your child doesn’t have to be a bad person to act mean; they could learn it from other social media users. So it is important to have a rule on being nice irrespective of what they see as the norm among other users.
This way, you will help make the internet safer for other children and save your child from the consequences that could result from their actions on social media. For example, if they make comments of a criminal nature.
2. Time Spent on Social Media
While social media is an excellent way to stay connected with friends and the world, it can have devastating consequences if misused, such as social media addiction, stress, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and depression.
The more time an individual spends on social media, the more effective it will have on them. So it is important to set limits on your household’s time on social media, especially at home.
3. No Friending Strangers
The original intent of social media was to connect with peers. Today not many people know who most of their friends and followers are. While this may not be much of a problem for an adult, the same cannot be said of your children and teens.
So it would help to have a rule on who they can be friends with and who cannot. The best place to start is only accepting connections with people their age, such as classmates. You will also need their login credentials to check for an activity that could cause them trouble.
4. Never Share Sensitive Information or Content on Social Media
People with ill intentions will seek out a child through what they share on social media. So you may need rules on what information your children can not share, such as official names, the school they attend, birthdays, credit card information, etc.
You should also set rules on what content your child can share. The type of content to avoid includes any photo or video content requested by another user, especially if the nature of the content has sexual connotations.