Popular social media apps, and the dangers for kids
2 On Your Side helps parents navigate some of the most popular apps for teens and tweens right now. We also have expert advice on the dangers hidden within.
The latest research shows about 70-percent of teens either own, or have regular access to, smartphones. 45-percent of teens own a laptop. More than half of tweens own a tablet.
A third of those young people admittedly use multiple social media messaging apps. They're designed to be fun, giving kids and adults new ways to express themselves. But the way they're being used by child predators, cyberbullies, and identity thieves is far from fun. It can be downright scary.
And with the mobile app industry raking in billions of dollars annually, developers are working furiously to come out with the newest, hottest app.
It's becoming increasingly difficult for parents to keep track of apps that could be potentially dangerous.
This is why 2 On Your Side collaborated with non-profit tech education agency Common Sense Media to come up with a list of the most popular apps for teens and tweens right now and explain what parents need to know about each of them.
We asked Christine Elgersma, CSM Senior Apps Editor, Parent Education, to explain how they determine age ratings, "I'm looking at all the features and using the criteria that we've come up with based around child development and that's how we determine our ages."
Musical.ly
App Store Description:
musical.ly is a global video community. We make it easy for you to make awesome short videos that you can share with the world. Capture and create your own videos with our special effects filters, fun stickers and much more.
Developers: 12+
Common Sense Media: 16+
Musical.ly is a social media app allows you to record and share videos. It allows users (aka Musers) to lip-sync to music, comedy clips, and other sound bytes.
Even if privacy settings prevent other people from seeing your kids' videos, they still have access to all the other public content.
Common Sense Media warns some of that content can be pretty mature. There are explicit lyrics, suggestive dancing, pornography, video of people harming themselves (ie. cutting), and images that promote anorexia (aka pro-anna).
If users download the companion app, live.ly, the concern for parents is that kids can live broadcast to strangers. This can expose them to live feedback, harassment and cyberbullying.
Elgersma explains that even positive feedback can problematic, "If they start to gain a following, they do feel a sort of pressure to post often. They feel a strong desire to get attention which may push them into doing things to get attention that they wouldn't normally do."
Elgersma says there are important questions you can ask you kids to determine if musical.ly is a problem for them, "Talking about how they're interacting with people on musical.ly. What their goal is...are they just on it to have fun and post videos with their friends? Or do they have a larger goal? They want to be like whoever their favorite muser is? That's something to be aware of, too."
Monkey
App Store Description:
Add us on snap @monkeyapp to see bts at our office in LA and feature sneak peaks
How to meet new people on Monkey:
Accept a call
Talk for 15 seconds
Developers: 17+
Common Sense Media: (not rated)
Common Sense Media says the biggest concern about this social media messaging app is that it allows your kids to connect with strangers.
Developers recommend it for those 17 and older, but 2 On Your Side found the vast majority of users claimed to be much younger.
When you log onto this app, it cycles through a random list of people you can talk to. The only information you have to make your decision is the person's name, their age, and their location.
Monkey asks to access your location when you first log on. Common Sense Media says geo-locaters should always be a red flag for parents.
Yubo
App Store Description:
Yubo is the social video app to create group video chats and make new friends all around the world and have fun.
Developers: 12+
Common Sense Media: 18+
Previously called "Yellow," Common Sense Media explains that Yubo was initially advertised as "Tinder for Teens." You swipe through pictures to find new Snapchat friends. Like Tinder, you swipe right to approve of someone, swipe left to skip.
Like Monkey, Yubo connects your kids with strangers, and allows them to browse public profiles on Snapchat and Instagram. (See Snapchat & Instagram)
Snapchat
App Store Description:
Life's more fun when you live in the moment :) Happy Snapping!
Developers: 12+
Common Sense Media: 16+
Snapchat is very popular with young people, partly because of it's filters and augmented reality features. Also, the short "snaps" disappear after being viewed.
This can be frustrating for parents hoping to monitor their child's activity on this app, "The tricky thing for parents is that it does feel mysterious because there's no feed you can check."
Since images can be captured and saved by those receiving messages on Snapchat, experts say parents need to warn young users to be careful about what they share on this app.
Common Sense Media also warns about "snap-streaks". These are continuous volleys of snaps between users, and for some teens and tweens there can be overwhelming pressure to keep them going.
"If it ever starts to feel like a compulsion, like a 'have-to,'" explains Elgersma, "then that's a red-flag...for kids and adults. And maybe it's time to take a break."
App Store Description:
Instagram is a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments.
Developers: 12+
Common Sense Media: 15+
Instagram is a social media app that allows users to share photos and videos, which others can like and comment on.
Common Sense Media recommends young users make sure their account is private because comments from strangers can get pretty nasty.
Like Musical.y, a private account doesn't protect against the mature public content available by searching the app.
Common Sense Media also warns that there is a lot of branding. "There's a lot of insidious kind of marketing," explains Elgersma, "where celebrities will be promoting products. Their own products or other people's products."
If you're monitoring your kid's account, know it's pretty common for them to have more than one.
The one you see, which they may call "rinsta," is their real instagram account. "Finsta" is their fake instagram account that only their friends can see.
Kik
App Store Description:
Get connected.
Kik is way more than just messaging. It’s the easiest way to connect with your friends, stay in the loop, and explore – all through chat. No phone numbers, just pick a username.
Developers: 17+
Common Sense Media: 17+
Common Sense Media says Kik is similar to Snapchat but even harder for parents to monitor. All the conversations happen in chatrooms.
The app can expose your kids to mature content and strangers.
There have been reports, from news stations all over the country, of child predators using the app.
In Western New York, 25 year-old Joseph Lombardo of Lancaster was convicted in 2017 for sextortion; getting young girls to send him explicit photos and threatening to post them online unless they met him for sex. He used a number of social media sites, one of them being Kik.
More questions answered by Common Sense Media's, Christine Elgersma:
Why don't app stores don't just take down problematic sites?
The short answer is that they do, but it can take time.
Elgersma: "It takes long enough that damage is definitely done before they're removed."
Example: Sarahah. It was an app that was initially created as a vehicle for businesses to provide anonymous 360-degree feedback in the workplace. It spread outside of the workplace setting because it could link to Snapchat.
"It became incredibly popular very quickly which also means a lot of people are using it and posting," explains Elgersma. "Which means there's a large number of people who are giving feedback."
Common Sense Media says any app that offers anonymity and is public by default should be a huge concern for parents. We're told this is a recipe for harassment and cyberbullying.
"It's more likely than not that kids are going to use it to be mean because there's something called the 'disinhibition effect,'" said Elgersma. "That if you're behind a keyboard and you feel like I'm anonymous...we see it all over...grown ups are susceptible to it too...you'll post things that you wouldn't normally say to someone's face."
If your kids have one of these apps on their phone, should you just delete it?
Common Sense Media says try talking to your kids first.
"That way there's this open dialogue kids have with their parents. It's not a separate part of their lives. It's just something you're all doing together. You're using your phone and talking about what you do on your phone. Kids are using their phone. You can share experiences and have fun and make videos and chat together. So it's not this us...them...we're against each other. It's a shared experience and you're helping them. Instead of monitoring everything your kid is doing, in particular apps that you've already approved, (try) spot checks that are very open."
How do you get your kids to open up about their online activity?
"For kids, it's all about where your friends are," explains Elgersma. "If you ask them directly, 'What apps are you using?' And you don't have their phone in your hand at that time, they might clam up and say, 'I don't know, I'm just using whatever you say is fine to use.' But if you ask, you know 'what are all your friends using? What's the new hot app?' They might be more likely to tell you."
What's the main takeaway for parents?
"It's okay to say no. It's not their device. It's your device. They're using it on loan. So, that's number one."