Internet safety and social media responsibility are very important to me since I spend the majority of my work week in high schools. I am lucky to work in a district that has a BYLD policy and most of the students have smartphones or tablets that they can use in class when permitted by the teacher. But having this freedom also comes with some drawbacks- bullying, sexting, and all other sins of social media.
Coaching a girls' sport at one of my schools, I get to hear and see more than my share of drama before, during, and after the season. Last season the drama revolved around the team's group chat in Groupme. I heard things like, "Someone said I was not a good player." "Some of the girls don't invite me to things in our Groupme." And countless other petty girl drama issues. However, there are some apps out there that create more drama than Groupme.
Yahoo Parenting and Common Sense Media published an article today titled, "3 Social Networking Apps that Create Drama in Schools". The article highlights 3 apps, as well as mentions other apps to be on the lookout for. One of the apps was news to me and the other two were pretty easy to see why they cause drama. I want to take the time to describe these apps and add some commentary to their descriptions.
Some teachers may have the attitude that this is "not my problem". I can see how that can be said, but would you want someone to look the other way if this involved your own child? There is a limit to what we, as teachers, can do when it comes to cell phones and the usage of apps like this. However, it never hurts to know what they are and why they cause drama just in case you end up knee deep in it.
So let's talk about the nominees for "Most Dramatic App":
1. Snapchat- For those of you not familiar with Snapchat, it is pretty much like Instagram except that you send pictures directly to your friends and the pictures only show for up to 10 seconds. You can add text or emojis or draw on the pictures before sending it.
I have a Snapchat account. I use it to share gym selfies and to look at pictures of my friends' pets and children that they share 24/7/365. However, I have come across several instances of teenage girls and guys using it to share everything they got and not realizing that a screenshot can keep that picture from disappearing after 10 seconds. When addressing Snapchat Do's and Don'ts with teens, stress the no sexting and heavily stress the screenshot feature.
BurnNote is similar to Snapchat, but claims to have more privacy features built in. BurnNote has the same message timer feature and deletion after reading feature. It claims that the "spotlight" feature helps you read the message in private even if you're surrounded by people. This feature also makes capturing the message in a screenshot more difficult. However, the writer can enable the reader to copy the text in the message.
2. Ask.fm- This is a social media site built on Q & A. You ask a question and your "friends" can answer it. It has been named as a factor in bullying-related teen suicides and has recently undergone a Safety face-lift with a new Safety Advisory Board and improved Safety Center. But the purpose of the app is still the same. Ask a question. Get an answer. Seriously? This screams "bullying" to me. I still don't want to know what most of the people I went to high school with think about me.
Whisper is similar to Ask.fm, but you can post more than just questions. Whisper also assigns you a display name, so posts can be made or messages can be sent anonymously. Whisper does have another site, Your Voice, with inspirational messages from teens and adults. This site still raises a red flag for me with the potential for harmful or hurtful messages to be sent to people with the level of anonymity that the site provides.
3. Yik Yak- This app was new to me. You can post a comment or opinion of whatever and it is distributed to like 500 people closest in geographical location to you that are using Yik Yak. The comment and photo feed is very Twitteresque in appearance. So can you imagine how this could go wrong in a high school? Oh, did I mention that users can post anonymously on this site too?
Street Chat has the same idea as Yik Yak, but it uses the GPS to locate other schools and neighborhoods around you.
Burnbook has the same idea, but specifically targets high schools. If you're familiar with the movie Mean Girls, then you get the concept of the app. If not, I'll give you a quick run down. A Burn Book is a book that you write terrible, horrible things about people in with the intention that it will never be seen. But with this app, everyone sees it and nobody knows who wrote it.
After School has the same idea, but markets itself as a place to, "
Give teens a safe but anonymous place to talk to high school classmates
Coaching a girls' sport at one of my schools, I get to hear and see more than my share of drama before, during, and after the season. Last season the drama revolved around the team's group chat in Groupme. I heard things like, "Someone said I was not a good player." "Some of the girls don't invite me to things in our Groupme." And countless other petty girl drama issues. However, there are some apps out there that create more drama than Groupme.
Yahoo Parenting and Common Sense Media published an article today titled, "3 Social Networking Apps that Create Drama in Schools". The article highlights 3 apps, as well as mentions other apps to be on the lookout for. One of the apps was news to me and the other two were pretty easy to see why they cause drama. I want to take the time to describe these apps and add some commentary to their descriptions.
Some teachers may have the attitude that this is "not my problem". I can see how that can be said, but would you want someone to look the other way if this involved your own child? There is a limit to what we, as teachers, can do when it comes to cell phones and the usage of apps like this. However, it never hurts to know what they are and why they cause drama just in case you end up knee deep in it.
So let's talk about the nominees for "Most Dramatic App":
1. Snapchat- For those of you not familiar with Snapchat, it is pretty much like Instagram except that you send pictures directly to your friends and the pictures only show for up to 10 seconds. You can add text or emojis or draw on the pictures before sending it.
I have a Snapchat account. I use it to share gym selfies and to look at pictures of my friends' pets and children that they share 24/7/365. However, I have come across several instances of teenage girls and guys using it to share everything they got and not realizing that a screenshot can keep that picture from disappearing after 10 seconds. When addressing Snapchat Do's and Don'ts with teens, stress the no sexting and heavily stress the screenshot feature.
BurnNote is similar to Snapchat, but claims to have more privacy features built in. BurnNote has the same message timer feature and deletion after reading feature. It claims that the "spotlight" feature helps you read the message in private even if you're surrounded by people. This feature also makes capturing the message in a screenshot more difficult. However, the writer can enable the reader to copy the text in the message.
2. Ask.fm- This is a social media site built on Q & A. You ask a question and your "friends" can answer it. It has been named as a factor in bullying-related teen suicides and has recently undergone a Safety face-lift with a new Safety Advisory Board and improved Safety Center. But the purpose of the app is still the same. Ask a question. Get an answer. Seriously? This screams "bullying" to me. I still don't want to know what most of the people I went to high school with think about me.
Whisper is similar to Ask.fm, but you can post more than just questions. Whisper also assigns you a display name, so posts can be made or messages can be sent anonymously. Whisper does have another site, Your Voice, with inspirational messages from teens and adults. This site still raises a red flag for me with the potential for harmful or hurtful messages to be sent to people with the level of anonymity that the site provides.
3. Yik Yak- This app was new to me. You can post a comment or opinion of whatever and it is distributed to like 500 people closest in geographical location to you that are using Yik Yak. The comment and photo feed is very Twitteresque in appearance. So can you imagine how this could go wrong in a high school? Oh, did I mention that users can post anonymously on this site too?
Street Chat has the same idea as Yik Yak, but it uses the GPS to locate other schools and neighborhoods around you.
Burnbook has the same idea, but specifically targets high schools. If you're familiar with the movie Mean Girls, then you get the concept of the app. If not, I'll give you a quick run down. A Burn Book is a book that you write terrible, horrible things about people in with the intention that it will never be seen. But with this app, everyone sees it and nobody knows who wrote it.
After School has the same idea, but markets itself as a place to, "
Give teens a safe but anonymous place to talk to high school classmates