Kids & Blogs

What parents need to know

Blogs are new to many parents, but they're nothing new to kids. Fifty-two percent of all blogs belong to 13-to-19-year-olds, according to a study at Georgetown University, the number of blogs has been put between 10 million and 32 million, and a new blog is created about every 5.8 seconds. We recommend that you check In the News often for new information on teen blogs. The following basic information about blogs will help you understand what your kids may be experiencing online.

What's a Blog?

Blog is short for Web log, an online journal or diary with varying degrees of privacy, depending on the blogging service. Having a blog is a lot like having your own Web site, only it is easier to create and maintain, and in most cases it's free. If you can send an e-mail, you have the skill to create a blog. Anyone, regardless of age, can start a blog wherever there is a computer and an Internet connection - at home, at school, at a friend's house, in an Internet cafe, at the library.

How do people use blogs?

There are three types of blogs:

1. Professional blogs, where journalists, scientists, educators, researchers, or technical experts discuss what they're working on.
2. Amateur blogs, where people share information about their interests and hobbies, such as film, music, parenting, sports, pets, and so on.
3. Social blogs, where people write about their experiences, thoughts, relationships, and opinions.

Kids' blogs reflect their interests within the context of their social scene. A blog is an online place for kids to hang out with their friends. Peer pressure and social considerations often drive teenagers' decisions about which blog service to use. But there are other important factors to consider when choosing a blog service.

Private information goes public

Because it is such a social activity, blogging usually isn't meant to be private like a diary, even though many teenagers publish personal information in their blogs. Teenagers post their thoughts and feelings-about themselves, friends, music, parties, what's going on at school-and their friends post replies.

Typical blogs include different kinds of content:

• Blogs include a personal profile. Friends and strangers can find the blogger's description of herself, her favorite tunes, celebrities, Web sites, and so on.
• Many blogs enable users to post a representative photo to go with their profiles.
• Some blogs allow users to post other pictures. Many bloggers share photos, audio clips, and links to music playlists.

Young bloggers' privacy

Most teenage bloggers don't worry about privacy, except when their parents read their blogs. Young bloggers may post intimate details of their lives for anyone to find in a search engine, but if their parents see what they have posted, their privacy-invasion flag goes up.

It's a good idea to talk to your kids about basic privacy protection while blogging (click here to read how one father and 12-year-old blogger worked through the issues). Encourage your kids to follow the same basic online-safety rules when blogging as they do for other online activity (see the rules at SafeTeens.com and SafeKids.com).

For more information, see: How to Talk to Your Kids About Blogging

Basic blogging smarts

Ask your child directly if he or she has a blog.

If the answer is no, search for his or her full name in a Web search engine, just to be sure. Do another search on his or her e-mail address. Parents should have no qualms about ensuring that a child isn't putting any information online that identifies him or her personally; this is basic child protection.

If the answer is yes, good for your child for being honest about it and good for you for creating open discussion with your child. You only have two other basic questions to ask:

1. Are you publishing any personal ID information in your blog? For example, full name, school name, street address, phone number, an e-mail address that uses first initial and last name. Rule number one is never to use your full name online.
2. Are there privacy protections at your blogging service, and do you use them? The safest policy is to keep blogs limited to friends. Don't let strangers read your blog posts, or comment/reply to them. Don't allow strangers to add themselves to your group or Friends list. Don't post your e-mail address or IM alias unless you are willing to delete these accounts when you start getting too much spam or if someone starts harassing you.

That second question is really the start of a discussion, since teenagers and parents usually have different definitions of privacy and its importance. Also, blogging services have varying levels and types of privacy protection.

Beware the three P's

That would be posts (blog entries), profiles (bloggers' descriptions of themselves), and pictures. These are wonderful forms of self-expression and getting to know people, but they're also the areas where young bloggers' privacy is most vulnerable.

Kids can be risk-takers and often use the anonymous online environment to experiment with identity. Most online kids know that what you see isn't always what you get online. People can fudge their ages and sometimes post pictures of themselves that aren't recent or real. But kids don't always think about what other people-friends, former friends, strangers-might do with the information they post in their blogs. If a friend turns mean, the teenager who posts personal information or pictures can get hurt. When you talk with your kids about blogs, help them think about all the implications of forgoing privacy and revealing their innermost thoughts.

Blogging site privacy options

Most blogging sites do have good privacy features. In most cases, the protections are obvious when you sign up. Your kids can show you how they have configured the privacy features, which also gives you the opportunity to talk about their blogs in general. Here are suggestions for privacy options in most blogging services:

• At sign up, or when changing the account set-up, opt for friends-only or private instead of public blogging.
• When posting, make each entry private or friends-only.
• Don't allow your blog to be listed in the service' searchable directory.
• Allow only friends to post replies in your blog.
• Don't allow people you don't know to add you to their friends or buddy lists.

If your child is a preteen or young teen, it is good to review the overall blogging service privacy policy. Then go to the blog and click around to check a few key points:

• Make sure the profile doesn't reveal anything that someone with bad intentions could use to contact your kids.
• Check out your children's photos for identifying information, or have them use photos of a favorite pop artist, pet, flower, or cartoon.
• Read your child's friends' blogs. Talk about how comfortable he or she feels about revealing personal information to friends who might be fickle.
• Know your child's username and password. Let your kids know that your intention is not to embarrass or spy on them, but to protect them.