Smart Facebook Parenting

Today Facebook is rolling out a great security feature to help keep your username and password away from cyber thieves.  There's no reason to get all technical about it: it's a new button that you can click to help keep your information safe online.

Go to Account > Account Settings > Account Security and check the box next to "Secure Browsing (https)"

Original Article
via Gawker

Facebook made its new profile style mandatory for all users today.  Whether you like it or not, you and your teens will now have a row of most recently tagged photos along the top of your/their profile page.

If you haven't tweaked your privacy settings in a while, you probably want to make sure that you know who is allowed to "tag" you in photographs -- if you don't, a picture that you're not too fond of may appear at the top of your page.

Gawker published an article today that walks you through the process of "locking down" your photo privacy settings.  Check it out:

How to Keep Facebook From Humiliating You Today
Via Gawker

Yesterday, Facebook released a new version of its mobile phone application that makes its recently added Facebook Places service easier to use.

Places is a new Facebook feature that lets users "check in" to a real-world location using cell phones or other mobile devices.  Here's a video from The LA Times the explains it well. Many other services (Yelp, Foursquare, Gowalla) have had this feature for a while, but the ability to do it on Facebook is going to make you want to double-check your/your child's Facebook Privacy settings.

The main reason for this is the fact that your Facebook Friends can now "tag" you at a specific location -- like they do in photos -- whether you were actually at that location or not.  Facebook friends who happen to be close to your real-world location -- like at the same restaurant or park -- may also be able to see that you're there.  This brings up a couple new opportunities for cyberbullying that didn't exist before, and it's worth talking to your child about them.

For some examples of possible misuses of Facebook Places, and a walkthrough of how to change your Places privacy settings, check out this great article on the All Facebook blog.

Creepin’: (verb)

Almost every time I have dorm parent duty I ask the high school sophomores in my dorm about the latest Facebook trends. According to these girls, the hottest slang word right now is “creepin’,” which they define as a harmless version of online stalking. There is even a Facebook group called “Creeping” with over 180,000 fans as well as a recent entry in the Urban Dictionary.

Apparently there is now a need to distinguish harmless obsessive perusal (creepin') of someone else's online information with malicious obsessive perusal (stalking). Is this a good thing? Are we realizing and accepting that it's okay to be heavily interested in our Facebook friends and to go through all their stuff online, or are we trying to justify being a little bit too curious?

Either way, the next time you find yourself meandering through the profile pictures on a friend of a friend of a friend’s page, you know what to call it--

You’re creepin’.

One of the best ways to prevent cyberbullying is to teach empathy skills.  It can often be hard for children to take the mental steps necessary to understand that what they are saying is hurtful.

This recent news artical from Time Magazine mentions several great ways to teach empathy skills to your children.  One of these is to "start by teaching children to understand their own behavior and feelings - it provides the basic tools for understanding the behavior and feelings of others."

It can be unproductive to simply say, "How would you feel if someone said that to you?" because kids many times aren't even aware of how they themselves are feeling.  You need to start by recognizing and validating your child's feelings when you find out that they have sent a mean comment, text, or wall post.  Help them realize that they were angry, sad, or hurt -- and that that's why they sent the message.  Once they recognize their own feelings, it will be easier for them to have empathy and imagine what others are going through as well.

Article at Time.com