Understanding Social Media Safety: Risks and Practical Tips for Safe Usage
Safety Risks of Social Media & How to Stay Protected Online
Let’s face it, we’ve never been more connected to the people we care about using social media, often in real time. This has enriched our lives and kept our loved ones closer than ever. However, many are realizing that social media comes with dangers. Every family needs to decide for themselves if the benefits outweigh the risks of social media.
What is the impact of spending too much time on social media, and what are the safety risks, especially for adolescents during those critical formative years when learning how to create healthy relationships will shape them into happy adults? And how are our seniors also susceptible to the dangers of social media?
Time Wasted Scrolling Through Reels
All too often, 5 minutes relaxing on social media, turns into hours. Algorithms and influencer content are designed to keep us engaged and wanting more. This mindless activity is addictive because it releases dopamine, which in turn gives us a feeling of satisfaction and joy.
Then there is also doom scrolling, which refers to the excessive amount of time spent taking in news, which is often negative in nature. This can lead to:
- increased anxiety and stress
- depression and low emotional instability
- Negative thought patterns
- poor quality of sleep & health issues from inactivity.
When excessive social media use replaces authentic conversations with shallow interactions, it affects our ability to form real-life relationships. Creating a deep bond with others through human interaction is an important life skill that we acquire through practice. Without face-to-face communication, we risk learning how to develop empathy, trust, and the ability to read the subtle body language of others.
This can be a very hard habit to break. Some tips to decrease time wasted on social media are:
- Schedule a time for social media. Set a timer for when you want to put it away
- Keep your phone out of your bedroom.
- Turn off notifications to decrease temptation to go on social media
- Replace time spent scrolling with healthy hobbies or quality time with family and friends
- Be mindful of what type of content you are consuming and how it makes you feel
Learning to respond rather than react is an acquired skill that even many adults have never mastered. Insert an easily swayed and idealistic young mind and it can spell disaster. Public social media profiles are often mined by landlords, colleges, employers, and especially romantic interests. Something posted thoughtlessly, in anger, or while improperly informed, may return to them decades in the future. Worse, sexually explicit images shared with someone in confidence may cause lasting harm. Parents must educate their children about safe social media practices to ensure their safety. As it’s been wisely said, ‘Never post anything that you wouldn’t want to see on the evening news.’
Risks of Cyber-Bullying
Cyberbullying is a plague that primarily targets our teenagers. This form of bullying takes place online and can be hard to detect. It can also be done anonymously. Statistics on cyberbullying show that some 42% of youth have been a victims of cyberbullying.
What can you do if you suspect that your child is being bullied online? First, it is important to recognize the signs. If you notice that your child has withdrawn or isn’t interested in activities with their peers, you will want to investigate the cause more. Perhaps they are upset after spending time on their phone or are suddenly excessively guarded with their digital life. If your child is being bullied online, you can:
- have open conversations with our children, reassuring them that we are there to help them
- encourage our children not to engage with bullies, but rather to block them
- collect evidence and screenshots of harassment
- help the child to talk to the school and law authorities
In addition, we can educate our children on how they can help to prevent cyberbullying, such as not forwarding content aimed to embarrass others
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Unhealthy Self-Image from Social Media
All of us are in one way or another influenced by what we see in the media. For as long as it has been around, it has helped to define standards of beauty and success. Unfortunately, this can often lead to:
- Unrealistic beauty standards that lead to excessive dieting
- Low self-esteem
- A skewed perception of success
- Depression based on one’s personal circumstances in comparison to what they see online.
It’s often said that people who post on social media are posting their own ‘highlights reel’, meaning that they are posting the best parts of their lives. While this is a natural thing to do, many people compare their everyday life to these ‘highlight reels’ and find themselves discontent with their own lives.
In addition, many photos posted use heavy filters, making beauty standards impossibly high. Comparing ourselves and our appearance with carefully curated and edited images of others can cause feelings of inadequacy and poor self-esteem. We all need to develop a strong sense of identity and self-love to be emotionally healthy.
The Harm of Fake News
Social media algorithms care more about engagement than they do about accuracy. This algorithm is often unconcerned about the effects this could have when curating the content to feed its subscribers. An innocent search into a potentially harmful subject can train the algorithm to serve up more similar content, eventually reinforcing dangerous and incorrect ideas.
At best, this has led to deeply polarized views in society; however, in some cases, it has led to violence or extreme acts. Consuming information from known, reliable sources has never been more important to protect ourselves and ensure the safety of our loved ones.
Rise of Online Scams
Has the Prince of Saudi Arabia ever reached out to see if you could lend him a little bit of money, promising a huge return on investment? Thankfully, most of us realized that sounded too good to be true, but scams today have become much more sophisticated. Types of online scams include:
- Dating Scams
- Invesment Scams
- Online Shopping Scams
- Disaster Relief Scams
These scammers are very talented at preying on vulnerable people and exploiting them. Whether they are impersonating people you know to get sensitive information or acting like the next love of your life, scams have affected many.
Sadly, in many cases, our senior population is the most vulnerable. Often more trusting and less tech savvy, they can make an easy target for a scammer. In some cases, seniors have lost their entire retirement savings to these scams. Grown children need to be aware of current scams so that they can educate seniors in their families on how to stay safe. As an alternative, many are turning to closed social network platforms designed for families to avoid this danger, such as Petalz Mosaic. This platform has been specifically designed as a safe space for seniors to connect with their families.
What is Social Media Safety?
Social media safety means being aware of the dangers on the content-sharing platforms and then taking necessary precautions to protect yourself and your family. How can we protect our family from the dangers of social media?
- Have open conversations with your children and family members, educating them about the potential dangers of social media.
- Set timers to limit the amount of time spent on social media.
- Encourage family members to use social media in open areas of the home.
- Educate vulnerable family members about how to spot a scam.
- Encourage time spent as a family without devices as distractions.
How Private Social Media Platforms Can Provide Safe Social Media Usage
The emergence of private social media platforms such as Petalz Mosaic, provides families with a place where they can connect, without having to fear dangers from outside of their closed network. By providing a space that is free from influencers, ads, and scammers, families can find comfort in knowing that their kids have a safe space to share content with their grandparents. It’s no surprise that many are returning to platforms that include just the best aspects of social media!
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Petalz Mosaic focuses on user safety be providing a closed network. This means that no one from outside your network can add you, your children, or other vulnerable family members.
Petalz also doesn’t have any ads or influencer content. This application is meant to increase engagement amongst family and close friends.
There is no monitoring data collection, and we are not sending content based on an algorithm. You simply see what your family and friends are sending you.
By creating a safe place for children, grandparents — and everyone in between to connect, we provide a platform that entire families can be on, without fear of predators, bullying, or outside forces.
We also have intentionally designed notifications, reminding us to engage with the older adults in our lives. These nudges can be customized to the users preferences, but the default mode will send 3 reminders/week to each pod member.
Our platform delivers benefits that flow both ways. Not only can Grandma and Grandpa see fresh content each day on an easy-to-use interface, but the entire family sees this content on a private family network. This platform is designed not only to face the loneliness faced by our senior generation, but to draw the entire family closer together.
Douglas Greff
L