Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp are used by many young people. All of these services offer a particularly popular function: the creation of so-called Stories. Snapchat had them first, but since Instagram, every teenager knows them.
The “Story” is for sharing current experiences with others. You don’t post a single photo in the chat or in your channel, but upload photos or videos in a story, which are displayed in an automatically running sequence. Subscribers or contacts can usually see them only for 24 hours.
You can decorate your story with all kinds of means – depending on your talent and taste. The apps mentioned above offer similar options here, such as captions, emojis, location markers, linking people, filters, funny stickers, or even polls.
Stories often seem very realistic or close to the lives of others. It can be especially exciting to see what’s going on with your favorite influencer and girlfriends. When you just experience something exciting or beautiful that you would like to share with your friends or followers, the story is a popular tool. Because with pictures and videos a little story can be told.
Since Stories deletes itself after 24 hours, the inhibition threshold is lower to publish rather unflattering, embarrassing and private pictures or videos of oneself. The rule here is: Think first, then post! Only pictures and clips that could easily be seen in the newspaper or on television should be published.
But the possibilities of the Story function can also endanger privacy: The location marker can be used to track where you are at any given time. Unpleasant or dangerous situations can quickly arise, for example, if someone comes to the linked location and seeks out your daughter or son.
Here it helps to agree on rules. Clear rules about what is posted and when create orientation. It doesn’t always have to be at the same moment that a photo is taken! Consider establishing cell phone-free zones with the family where family life can be spent undisturbed and private.
To protect privacy, make sure your (minor) child’s account is set to private. This way, his stories can only be seen by his own followers. It is best to create the user account together with your child, set up the privacy settings and check the security settings.
Talk openly about the potential dangers of careless posting so your child can understand rules of behavior. Your child will then know that you, as parents, are the first point of contact in the event of cyberbullying, harassment or disturbing content.
The content from the stories of your child’s favorite influencers and friends should also be critiqued. Talk to him about it and consider together how calculated a snapshot is likely to be among stars and influencers.
Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube – the Internet is not a lawless space. Anyone who uses social media should be aware of some legal terms to consider when uploading photos, sharing articles, and protecting their own data. As parents, you should familiarize your children with the rules on the Internet at an early stage and set a good example.
If you accompany your child during their first steps on the Internet, you can introduce them to the correct handling of personal data in an age-appropriate manner. Vivid comparisons help with understanding: Your child does not want his secret to be divulged to the class. Then it should tell as few people as possible – not even on WhatsApp. Advise your child to reveal as little as possible about themselves on the web and to ask themselves each time beforehand if it is really necessary to share this information. This applies to the full name, phone number, address or date of birth, but also to pictures, videos, messenger IDs, location-based data or passwords. Personal data of other persons may also not simply be passed on.
Explain to your child which permissions they should give to certain apps and which ones they’d rather not. For example, not every app necessarily needs the location information or access to the microphone. So be sure to look together at the preferences in any app you or your child is using for the first time and disable them.
Especially on YouTube and TikTok there is a lot of content that people have uploaded but not created themselves. They often do not own the rights to the content. Such protected works in the copyright sense are, for example, pieces of music, films, texts, television programs, computer programs or graphics. It can be problematic to post such content publicly on the web and bring lawsuits. Private use is often permitted without consent. However, the basic rule is: if you want to put someone else’s work online, you have to ask the rights holder. This applies to the favorite song that your daughter wants to put on YouTube in her dance video as well as to a picture of your favorite soccer player that your son wants to use for his Instagram-account.
However, this does not mean that your children and you can no longer put anything online that they did not create themselves. There is a lot of content on the web that has a free license and can thus be used and distributed by anyone. You can often recognize them by the CC logo. You can read more about this in our article.
The right to one’s own image is part of the personal right to which everyone is entitled – including underage children. It states that a mapping, e.g. a photograph, may only be disseminated or published if the person shown on it has given his or her consent. This also applies to photos of your child. This applies to publishing a photo on a social network as well as sending it via a messenger app.
Agree on rules with family and friends about sharing photos. Also, go through the settings options of the apps through which you send or even publish photos. Check who can see your photos, for example in stories or your profile picture, and use the privacy settings.
