Social Media

Wow, I sound like a TV law firm ad saying, "you may qualify for a payout from the multi-million dollar Facebook settlement!" But honestly, that's the fact. I've popped my name into a couple of class action settlements recently -- general…

Thinking about leaving Twitter ? (Are we calling it Twexit yet?) With the big changeover in management this week, some Twitter users are leaving , some users are staying , and your choice is up to you. Either way, it's good idea to downl…

You may have seen this hilarious sketch on SNL that has a bunch of adults using the app BeReal during a rather tense situation. (if you haven't seen it yet, go watch now! I'll wait.) This sketch does a great job explaining what BeReal is…

Recently, Meta announced it would be launching new parental safety controls for teens in the form of tools and resources for both the Instagram social media app and their Meta Quest VR gaming headsets. The goal is to help parents better …

We love when parents ask us "how do I know if my kid is ready for a cell phone?" It means you're conscientious, caring, and involved -- and of course, want to make sure that you're raising a kid to make good choices, and not who isn't th…

We're all talking about "that" Wall Street Journal article about Instagram: Facebook Knows It's Toxic for Teen Girls . You're probably talking about it. Or your kids are. I know it's all we've been seeing in our social feeds this week ar…

This week, a wonderfully human, poignant video from husband-wife team Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody went viral. Perhaps you've seen it? They used the platform to respond to a Princess Bride fan named Amanda Webb (@Alaska_Webb), a youn…

We've always said that all screen time is not created equal! And on this week's Out-Tech Your Kids podcast , we're talking about the benefits of social media for kids. Social media tends to get a bad rap -- let alone specific channels li…

"Don't read the comments" isn't going to fly when your kids are old enough to watch YouTube videos without you around, let alone managing their own TikTok accounts. But learning how to be a responsible commenter is a skill that comes in …

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who pronounce GIF with a hard "G" as in GRAPHIC...and those who are wrong. (And yes, I know that GIF creator Steve Wilhite pronounces it with a soft J, but unless the acronym now stands f…

Over the years, we've shared our concerns with kids on Snapchat , which aren't really that surprising. We all know that it's terribly difficult to monitor. And we've seen our kids deal with the difficult issues that arise with Snap Maps …

If you're like me, you've had a few instances where you know you didn't search for a particular product or service on your phone or your computer, but suddenly you're getting ads for it in your Facebook feed. Is Facebook listening into y…

We used to say "photos or it didn't happen," but it feels like 2020 is all about "filters or it isn't Instagram." You may have noticed folks you follow using wacky filters -- or oddly flattering filters that bathe them in a beautifully h…

Over the last few weeks in particularly, we've seen our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook community filled with parents who seem panicked — or at least very concerned — about kids and texting and social media. And if you follow us (or are a me…

I often like adding Boomerangs to an Instagram Story to help change things up from still photos. But then, I either have to go shoot a Boomerang in Instagram (and figure out what to shoot) or open the Boomerang app itself. Not one of lif…

This weekend, inspired by the Cool Mom Picks book club video chat about How to Break Up with Your Phone , I decided to try one of author Catherine Price's tips to help me be more mindful about my screen time, and more aware of how much I…

Since Messenger Kids launched back in 2017, we were pretty skeptical about the messaging app that purported to offer kids a safer way to chat with friends, all without having to actually be a Facebook user. Not surprisingly, the Messenge…

It's not just tweens and teens who might be using Finstas (Fake-Instagram accounts) to throw off their parents. We parents whose kids and their friends follow us on Instagram have probably considered using them in case we want to freely …

Every so often, you probably see an Instagram name that pops up in wedding script, some gothic type, or even upside down, and if you've wondered how you change the font on your Instagram bio, it's so simple! There are apps you can downlo…

We know lots of folks have been cleaning up their social media feeds, which is why we had to share Tokimeki Unfollow , a twitter plug-in that allows you to Konmari your Twitter feed. Related: Spring cleaning your tech - the best tips and…

We couldn't create an Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting without including tips about how to keep your kids safe on social media. After all, for our tweens and teens, the Internet is social media, and they could sooner give up the games…

It's been a rough couple of weeks for YouTube, first with the news about their growing pedophile problem . And now, YouTube Kids is under fire. We know lots of parents, including us, have found a little sigh of relief letting kids watch …

Over the years, we've written about many issues that parents need to be aware of when it comes to the content on YouTube . But this recent report from Wired should really throw the huge red flag of caution up for parents, particularly if…

If you're still using Facebook and Facebook Messenger, then you might have missed some big news that makes life a little bit better: you can now unsend messages on Facebook Messenger. Hey, it only took 10 months, and wasn't even a thing …