Children on Social Networking Sites

What exactly are social networking sites for children about? How are they different from their adult-focused counterparts?

Social networking sites for children, such as Club Penguin  and Webkinz , teach some basic computer skills, such as online gaming and communication tools of the Information Age. They provide games and interactive content for children, sometimes fun or educational, and sometimes a combination of both, and they allow a low level of interaction with other children who are also logged on. While some sites allow messaging between other users, most sites allow the children only to post messages using prewritten, generic phrases or words from a tightly restricted dictionary. This feature prevents children from using inappropriate language and keeps them from revealing personal information, such as a home address. Children's sites allow a high amount of parental control.

The objective of these children's sites is to bring about communal game playing and to sell online items, while in comparison the adult-focused social networking sites allow the users to network with friends. Parents should take note of a site's tactics to market to its young users. While some children's sites may offer a free entry-level registration, children will soon learn that other users who sign up for a paid subscription have more abilities or possessions on the site. Your child will perceive that these paid subscribers seem to have more fun and, soon after realizing this, will ask you to upgrade the subscription. Parents can expect to deal with their children's materialistic desires as they seek more fun and try to compete with their peers on the site.

Social networking sites for children offer pros and cons that parents should consider before allowing their children to log on.

Pros:

• Technology can encourage socializing and creativity, contrary to the popular notion that it may do the opposite. Children's sites can be a place for fun group activity.
• Children who use these sites may feel a sense of belonging with their peers and may feel successful at social integration.
• A child can build self-confidence and develop social skills through positive online experiences.
• Popular children's sites may attract a global audience, allowing children to interact with kids from other cultures.
• A child with a learning disability or who has trouble paying attention may actually find the online environment less intimidating and be able to communicate more easily without the fear of rejection. Some sites, such as SparkTop , are designed specifically for children who have different learning needs.
• With the prospect of technology being a large part of the future world, both in the home and workplace, children who to use new technologies will be better prepared in the future. Children with an ability to adapt will be better able to identify and maneuver the risks associated with new technologies.

Cons:

• Too much time on the computer may cause a child to act more introverted.
• Extra parental control and guidance is required to curb any tendencies toward Internet addiction.
• Despite precautions and controls, inappropriate social interactions and bullying can occur between children online.
• Because many of the sites encourage children to collect items and trinkets, sometimes at a monetary price, children may learn to base their level of fun on how many items are in their possession that they can show off to the other users. From an educational perspective, the idea that these online possessions provide happiness is a very materialistic outlook.

Recommendations for Parents

• Before registering your child at a social neworking site, visit it yourself and explore. Do search engine research on the site to look for reviews or posts by other parents about it. Send any questions you may have to the site's administrators and pay close attention to their response before deciding to associate with their online community. Talk to your child about the importance of keeping personal information about themselves private.
• Monitor the language that your child uses over the Internet. Children are apt to mimic the language of other children in the online environment, and parents will need to remind them that responses such as "shut up" and name-calling are not appropriate.
• For sites with chat systems, it is preferable to use tools that have a monitoring system and use only pre-selected words to prevent children from using inappropriate language. An example of this tool is Super B chat by Barbie Girls .
• Make sure children are aware of the risks of interacting with others in an online environment, and they should feel comfortable informing you if they have any suspicions or feel threatened. It is the parent's responsibility to check into suspicious activity and report any incidents.
• Limit the time kids can spend online. Parents will be more likely to watch over children during the allocated time, and it will encourage children to do other social activities offline.
• Revisit the social networking site once in a while to check for any strange activities.

Conclusion

Social networking sites are popular and fun, and they may also help the kids advance technologically. However, it is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their children's online habits. Importantly, parents should encourage kids to develop new relationships in person and build friendships outside the cyberspace. Social skills can fully develop only through personal real-life interactions with others.

References

• Parent's Guide to Social Networking for Kids  (eZine)
• A Survey of Kids' Social Networking Sites  (360Kid.com)

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