The majority of my friends with children have yet to dip a toe into a social network. At the same time, their children are adopting social networking at an astounding pace. You won’t see commercials for MySpace or FaceBook, but if you watch ten minutes of a kids’ network, you’ll see a stream of ads for competing toys that unlock virtual worlds with social networking components. Watching commercials for toys like Shining Stars, it’s obvious that these toys are targeted not at teens, but at kids as young as six. I’ve repeatedly told my four-year-old that he has to wait until he can read to get one of those toys.
But the majority of parents are not completely lost in this new frontier. A recent Pew Internet study shows a majority of parents are keeping up with their teens online — with more than 2/3 of parents setting rules for content and usage of the Internet. Three-fourths of parents could correctly identify whether their online teen had ever created a social networking profile.
This level of parent participation is especially important given the rapid adoption of social networking among tweens and teens. The Pew study reports that 55% of all online American youth ages 12-17 use online social networking sites. This usage is growing exponentially. Social networking is poised for even greater adoption now that services like Twitter and Jaiku allow users to participate via mobile devices. After all, how many teens and tweens do you know without a cell phone?
If you’re a parent who has yet to try social networking, I recommend that you find one that fits your interests. Remember, a social network isn’t really “social” until you participate. You are more likely to participate if you find a like-minded group. While everyone has heard of vast networks like FaceBook and MySpace, there are now thousands of social networks geared toward various demographics and interests. If you’re 35 and up, you may enjoy sharing family news and photos on Multiply. If your passion is the environment, go green with Care2. If you’re a mom, there’s an active bunch at CafeMom. If you’re a local maven and always know the best places to shop, eat and hang out, Yelp about it. A Google search for “your interest” + “social network” is likely to deliver plenty of choices.
Find your comfort spot and test the waters. Share the good and the bad lessons you learn with your children.
Tags: children, kids, parenting, shining stars, Social Networks
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