Are you a parent - this will be of interest to you and your children

Are you a parent - this will be of interest to you and your children
Spencer Wade's latest will help with online safety.

Originally shared by Spencer Wade


Highlights of the G+ Help File Settings Tab: How Google+ Works for Teens

There’s no arguing the fact that social media is a hazardous place for young people – especially teens. There are dangers and pitfalls aplenty and young people, much of the time, are not prepared for what they find when they venture out into the digital beyond for the first time. That’s just one of the reasons Google has put so much thought and energy into designing a system that protects young people at the same time it gives them experience in the wider digital world – speaking from a social media standpoint.

Google+ for teens is very much like Google+ for adults. The main differences are found in the default settings. In adult profiles, these settings are defaulted to their public options while teens have much more conservative default settings across the board. Many of these settings can be changed by the teen if they so choose, but it’s a good idea as a parent to keep a close eye on whatever changes are made.

A teen or their parent can learn about how their posts are shared and who will, or will not, be able to see them by checking the default settings in their profile when it’s first opened. While Google+ tries hard to set things up for safety, you’ll probably want to work out the precise settings you feel best for your teen as a family.

Here’s a list of what’s kept private by default:
• Gender
• Introduction
• Links
• Home & Work Contact Info
• Occupation & Employment
• Education
• Places Lived

Teens and parents may also control the notifications generated by Google+. By default, teens only receive notifications from people in their circles, but you can even disable that if you so choose. Google’s entire effort is geared toward protecting your teen and their privacy from anything and everything found online that may do them harm. That’s why, by default, your teen’s Google+ profile isn’t even discoverable by Search. They really do their best to keep it away from prying eyes.

The last few sections of the page deal with how to keep teens from viewing a +Page, how to block users from your teen’s profile, and how to go about reporting offensive content to Google’s administrators. There’s also a link to Teens & Google+ a bit further down the Settings Tab. This page gives some excellent resources, including all we’ve just discussed, for parents and teens who’re struggling with issues either related to or unrelated to their Google+ profile. Everyone, especially Google, wants teens to use social media responsibly for fun and interaction with friends and family. That’s the whole purpose of these settings and resources – to make sure they have that chance.

Parents may want to visit Google’s Safety Center to learn more about protecting their kids, and themselves, from the possible dangers found across the internet. You can find useful information on a variety of topics related to online safety sourced from Google’s Partners within the child safety community. It’s a good place to start if online security is new to you and your family.

Source: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/2403359
Google’s Safety Center https://www.google.com/safetycenter/