The best way to educate your kids about what might ruin their future,without totally ruining their fun,is to educate yourself by being on the platforms they’re on.
Before you sign up for TikTok,here’s what parents need to know about social trends in 2024.
Here are five trends parents should be aware of.iStock
Mean Girls 2.0
Just in time for the (frankly unnecessary) remake of 90s classic Mean Girls,it would seem that girls are indeed getting meaner in real life with a cutting new social process.
A parent recently shared with me that some girls are using Snapchat to ostracise girls from the ‘cool group’ and formally advertise that they’re taking applications for a new member.
Girls keen to join are invited to apply through Snapchat and highlight what they can bring to the group – a parent’s boat,pool,holiday house,or a cute older brother.
This creates a public shame display for the ditched member and an embarrassing entry process for the incoming newbie.
The girls managing this social recruitment drive have no understanding that social media is forever,even if you delete it.
I predict this behaviour is likely to pop up when they least expect it,like a blind pimple on your wedding day.
Catfishing
Another questionable practice occurring in teen land is creating fake accounts in other people’s names.
The dangerous thing about this is that people believe it’s another person or friend who’s saying those things,posting those images and commenting inappropriately on other teens and parents’ accounts.
This is a cowardly form of bullying. It happened recently in my group of parents,and it took me all of five minutes to figure out who was responsible.
Don’t forget someone might have screenshots sitting safely in their phone (even with the account deleted),and your wrongdoings are captured for perpetuity.
The comment pile-on
In my business I create videos to help inform parents about the most concerning parts of social media. Want to know who the biggest trolls of my accounts are? It’s the kids.
You can tell which age group is posting because comments include insightful things such as ‘STFU’ or ‘I bet your kids hate you’. The pile-on is common.
TikTok has also made it easy for creators to pull out a comment and make a video response,which can bring a truckload of hate right back to the commenter.
It’s basically a he said,she said argument taking place across screens all over the world. Many people have deleted their accounts after an off-the-cuff comment has been pulled out and focused on by a creator.
In general,our kids don’t have the resilience to deal with that level of abuse yet,and it only takes one silly comment to create an online combustion.
Send nudes (please don’t)
Your child could be in serious trouble for passing on inappropriate images or videos. It’s illegal to create,send,possess or intend to possess images of someone aged under 18,including yourself.
Anyone over the age of 10 can be charged with a criminal offence for possessing child exploitation materials,including sending the message or passing it on,and it can result in serious criminal charges.
Talk to your kids about hypothetical situations and have a family plan,so they know what to do if they’re in a challenging situation.
The best advice is simple – delete the image immediately,talk to a trusted parent,and never,ever pass it on.
Social media receipts
Last year,popular TikTok influencers Lunden and Olivia faced a social media PR disaster due to screenshots of old tweets featuring racist language resurfacing.
Someone had screenshot several tweets written by Lunden as a teenager (she’s now 26) and they were unearthed just days after her viral wedding. How very strategic.
The lesson here is twofold – audit your social media history regularly and remember,everything you post is forever because people can take screenshots,or screen record.
As parents,I believe it’s our job to have regular conversations with our kids,so they know the risks and potential consequences of social media misuse.
Educate yourself as much as you can with the social media apps they’re using and new trends. Because just as we used to think we knew everything as a teenager and that all adults were stupid,so do they.
Nicole Jameson is a digital strategist,the director of Dark Horse Agency and chief-executive of The Social Kit.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights..