British Expats - Internet Forums & Stalking....

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Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teaandtoday5 (Post 11557864)

As a parent of teenagers, I am only too aware that they are way ahead of me when it comes to social media (I've never heard of Yik Yak Schnooks?) and am constantly warning them about putting too much of themselves out there, but I don't think even if you are being bullied it's as simple as staying away from the sites. In my day it may have been toilet walls rather than Internet sites, but not reading it didn't mean it wasn't there, with everyone else reading it.

Yik Yak is reasonably new. I only know about it because my local news radio was doing a spotlight on it on the morning show that I listen to when I drive into work.

Here's an article CTV did on it back in December: Thousands want gossip app Yik Yak shut down | CTV News

And here's another from CBC two weeks ago: Yik Yak app: Why schools are concerned - Technology & Science - CBC News

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakvillian (Post 11557943)

I was going to put a :goodpost: thingy on this, but it's a curate's egg for me.

As you may have picked up from the tone of my responses, this discussion has touched a nerve. I, too, have experience of a child close to me (not my own) victimised online. It is a very difficult situation to manage. Of course they should be encouraged (and guided as necessary) to tighten security settings, and limit their friends/contacts/buddies to only people they know well and trust. But, as Teaandtoday pointed out a handful of posts back, that does not stop the comments being made, it merely prevents direct exposure to them. It is (or was, in the case I'm familiar with) less than half the battle, as the "real world" gossip is driven by online posts, regardless of whether the victims themselves read the online content.

This note, and what Teaandtoday said about the sentiments still being out there, really are the issue. And the thing is that even if the person being bullied isn't on those sites, what's said on those sites doesn't STAY on those sites. Kids read them and bring them into school, into sports, into clubs, etc. They don't post it and then forget about it, they post it, talk about it, taunt with it, repeat it, share it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakvillian

I don't know what advice I would give to my own children. Only one of them is old enough to have a significant online presence, and we have tried as much as we can to balance trust with oversight. That child doesn't do "general" social media such as facebook or instagram, and has agreed that we have a mirror of two email accounts on devices managed by parents. But there's a lot of peer pressure to allow collaborative online gaming, for example, which I am very wary of. Sharing a gaming session with one or two chosen friends on a console is one thing; something as public as joining a group on Clash of Clans, with its public and private messageboards, is something else entirely.

I think this approach is all you can do - educate them, inform them, watch as much as possible while still trusting, and hope for the best, I suppose. To a point, kids will find a way to get online, regardless of whether or not the parents 'allow' it. I remember in the days of MSN Messenger... my parents didn't like me on it because they couldn't monitor it that closely. I discovered a program (MSN Plus, for those that remember) that had a keyboard shortcut to hide MSN. It hid all the windows and changed the taskbar icon. I could press it pretty stealthy if my parents came into the computer room, and even if they started clicking around, they wouldn't find it unless they knew to look for it. That said, they did also teach me to be careful online... I more hid MSN from my parents because I was often on it when I wasn't supposed to be (like doing homework), as opposed to doing things on it that I wasn't supposed to be doing. I think I turned out all right in the end. Mostly. :)

This thread has touched a nerve for me also. It was never cyber for me - luckily my bullying was before that - but it was still bullying over a 6-year period.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Back to the OP, is it only me that doesn't have an account on any of the social media sites ... such as Facebook, linkden, Twitter, myspace, netlog, blogs or whatever else selfies like to do?

Is there a need for it, can folks live without it, then again BE is another social forum I suppose

I had to google to find what they are

http://webtrends.about.com/od/social...king-Sites.htm

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

I don't have a facebook account.
I have a twitter account so that I can see what my brother is up to. I've never posted.

Obviously I have a blog , but it was set up for a specific reason/topic

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by not2old (Post 11558699)

Twitter is good. You don't need to post, but can opt in to 'tweets' from people or businesses that interest you.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 11558724)

Twitter is good. You don't need to post, but can opt in to 'tweets' from people or businesses that interest you.

For my OH's business Twitter is a must but I don't think I could get into it for personal tweeting.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmyDavid (Post 11558821)

For my OH's business Twitter is a must but I don't think I could get into it for personal tweeting.

Yes seems to be mainly celebrities and wannabes that self tweet, but for organisations, clubs, iniatives etc it works well.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

I still have not figured out the interest in Twitter. Not sure I see what use it provides.

I had an account there but seemed to hacked into a fee times, pain really.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Twitter is great for breaking local news and emergencies, weather alerts, traffic, specials at stores where you shop, and if you follow the right correspondents you can get news from around the world before it gets on the air anywhere else. It also (as Zoe mentioned) helps keep in touch with some distant friends and family.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by caretaker (Post 11558907)

Twitter is great for breaking local news and emergencies, weather alerts, traffic, specials at stores where you shop

Maybe it's just me but I can wait for the updates on the news sites that are pretty quick anyway, I routinely check weather sites when something in the weather is relevant...
Specials at stores? The mind boggles. :huh:

Quote:

It also helps keep in touch with some distant friends and family.

Isn't that what the phone or email is for? Or even snail mail? It seems a bit insulting to be just part of a list for some circular thing. Before the days of the internet we would never have approved of a general letter, photocopied and mailed out to friends. I don't know why it's acceptable now. :unsure:

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Obviously you aren't familiar with the generic " annual family letter" of yore.

How was that any different. It was in fact pretty much exactly the photocopied letter you describe

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jsmth321 (Post 11558878)

I still have not figured out the interest in Twitter. Not sure I see what use it provides.

I had an account there but seemed to hacked into a fee times, pain really.

You could follow some aircraft clubs or train clubs for instance. Whistler must tweet conditions, events etc. as Caretaker said, great for getting instant news and alerts.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoe Bell (Post 11558930)

Obviously you aren't familiar with the generic " annual family letter" of yore.

How was that any different. It was in fact pretty much exactly the photocopied letter you describe

That's what I mean though. I'd rather have something personal to me. Anybody I ever heard that got such a thing was pretty much insulted by it. That's why I'd get to hear of it. ;)

I can understand, for example, that the birth of a child could be announced this way but other stuff not so much.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

I follow Ukrainian Co-op!

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

Quote:

Originally Posted by caretaker (Post 11558907)

Twitter is great for breaking local news and emergencies, weather alerts, traffic, specials at stores where you shop, and if you follow the right correspondents you can get news from around the world before it gets on the air anywhere else. It also (as Zoe mentioned) helps keep in touch with some distant friends and family.

I use FB for that since none of my family is on twitter, so might explain why I don't see the use for it.

Makes sense though if you want news and such.

I suppose technology and me don't mix well, aside from old fashioned forums like this one,:rofl:

I guess if I had unlimited data on the phone or a high limit, twitter might make sense. I keep my data off, but maybe one day, I'll become more in tune with twitter. It took me years to accept FB.

Re: Internet Forums & Stalking....

I imagine with about 5 minutes work people could probably get my real name and stuff but I'm not particularly fussed. Come round and say hello.