A little bit of dampening in social media is acceptable for all. But as we all know, the mind of teens are always ready to go to extremes. Due to which, they sink themselves in the use of social media unless they get addicted or fall into other related pitfalls.
As in our previous articles where we shared with you some tricks to save the kids from the dangers of Instagram and the dangers of Snapchat, it’s your responsibility again to save them from the dangers of Facebook now.
We all use Facebook daily and let our loved ones use it as well, ignorant of the risks that Facebook carries along with itself.
So let’s see what are these dangers that your teen can come across while using the social media giant and how to tackle them.
Quick links for you if you want to read the specific section of the article:
- What Are The Dangers Of Facebook
- Some Dont’s Of Facebook
- Best Solutions To Avoid The Risks Of Facebook
- FAQs Related To Negatives Of Facebook
What Are The Dangers Of Facebook For Kids And Your Loved Ones
1. Exposure To Adult Photos And Videos
There are a plethora of reports that confirm the existence of billions of fake accounts on Facebook. And most of these accounts can be seen as having a fake display picture with half or full nudity.
And if the kid opens the account and checks the photos further, they are all stuffed with explicit content.
Your child’s exposure to adult media is not limited to profile photos. There are hundreds of groups on Facebook that are solely made to post such media on the daily basis.
Let’s assume that your teen searched for some adult page on Facebook by mistake. But this mistake can lead to the suggested videos in the future with similar content.
2. Using Facebook As Dating App
With social media, interacting with people has become easier than ever before.
Despite being an app that was originally made for connecting people with their existing friends, it’s more used by people for making new friends and trying to get into a relationship.
But as you know, it’s not appropriate for teens and tweens to indulge in such activities at an early age.
3. Bullying And Blackmailing
As we said in the above section, some unknown people might try to come close to your teen. But who knows if they really want to know them or they have some other intention in their mind.
We all know it’s easy to influence and manipulate the kids into doing something.
The person on the other hand might start by getting to know the teen first and establish a healthy friendship. But slowly they may try to convince them for sending their personal photos and videos.
This can further lead to bullying and blackmailing kids for money, getting into a physical relationship, or fulfilling their other gross demands.
Do you think it’s something that happens highly unlikely? Then let me tell you that about 37% of people from 12-17 years of age have suffered bullying online.
4. Asking Bank Details
Teens might not even have an idea that how confidential the bank details actually are. Leave the kids, even elders are found falling for the irresistible deals that fraudsters offer to them.
And just to grab these fake deals they give up their crucial bank details and end up emptying their bank accounts.
This happens a lot on social media, Facebook being one of the favorite platforms to carry out such activities.
5. Exposure To Unethical Groups
While using Facebook daily, the teen or your loved ones might search for groups related to terrorism and violence just out of curiosity. Or maybe they just encounter the page due to their recent videos or what their friends share.
And due to the influential mind, the teen might start taking interest in such terrorism or violence-related groups.
Joining or frequently encountering such groups will definitely leave a drastic negative impact on their mind. But this is not the end, there’s more to it.
Such unethical groups are constantly under the government’s surveillance. They keep a track of the people commenting or liking the posts, or even simply visiting the page.
And if by any chance your dear ones come into notice by such government agencies, this can put them in a serious problem.
6. Learning The Use Of False Language
Another negative effect of Facebook is related to the false and malicious language that your son/daughter can learn.
Social media and the internet is the biggest mentor of the kids in today’s time. The teens learn from whatever they see on the internet.
People post videos and photos on Facebook with a high amount of vulgarity. The videos can be seen with unethical spoken words and the photos in the form of text.
Not just the media but the comment section can also be seen with people abusing the content creator or two people simply fighting with each other with whatever disgust they are familiar with.
7. Addiction
Addiction is not a term that’s only limited to the use of tobacco and booze. Regular and high use of social media is a matter of great concern too.
Just as alcohol and tobacco deteriorate the physical health, addiction, and overuse of social media can lead to the decline of mental health.
Facebook has so many amazing features and options that it’s quite hard for your kids to resist its use for long hours. It takes a lot of guts to willingly exit the app.
Their overindulgence on Facebook can lead to anxiety, depression, stress, and other serious mental issues.
8. Less Exposure To The Outer World
As we discussed above, the use of Facebook for long hours can lead to addiction which further affects mental health. But this is not the only negative of Facebook addiction.
Using Facebook for long hours can surely help you make new online friends, but gradually cuts down your interaction with the real world.
The continuous detachment can build an antisocial influence on the mind, meaning that your kid won’t be comfortable talking to people or simply being unfriendly and anxious in front of strangers.
9. Feeling Of Enviousness
Celebrities, models, and sports personalities use social media platforms like Facebook to increase their reach and communicate with their fans.
As we all know, their lifestyle is completely different from what common people like us have or what we can afford.
They post photos of their luxury lifestyle, expensive cars, parties, which is quite alluring to the eyes.
It should develop a sense of motivation to work harder towards the goal, but instead, the teens might grow a feeling of jealousness.
They start to get depressed and have self pettiness about the kind of lifestyle they live as compared to theirs.
This can also lead to their increasing demand for the stuff that is quite expensive and can hardly be afforded by you.
10. Attempt Of Being Viral
Unlike the good old days when the people used to have patience, this is one thing that teens today highly miss on.
And this impatience drive them to take the steps that evade the process of hard work for getting fame and money. Instead, they make an attempt of being viral and end up worsening their life sometimes.
We all know how easy it has become for videos and photos to get viral on Facebook. And the teens try to take advantage of the same situation and might end up posting a video or photo of themselves that can surely make them famous but not in a way they wanted to.
Some Facebook Activities That You Should Never Do
1. Dangers Of Copy And Paste On Facebook
You must have certainly seen messages on Facebook where people ask you to spread a cause but not by sharing but by copy and pasting their content.
Do you ever wonder, why not sharing with the sharing options, and use the copy-paste instead? Well, the reason is twofold.
Firstly, if you see a post on your Facebook friend’s profile, and you share it, there’s a possibility that your friend’s privacy settings won’t allow the post to spread further.
But if you copy and paste the post and then share it, their privacy settings cannot interfere with the post to reach further.
And the second reason is related to the tracking down of your Facebook profile. The thing is that sharing content by copy and pasting makes it easy for the original creators of the post to track down your profile. Curious to know how?
Well, the thing is, if you notice the post, most of the time you’ll find some spelling mistakes in it. These mistakes are done intentionally.
When the original creators make a search on the internet for the same post, these mistakes help them easily track the post along with the list of people who further copy and paste the post.
Now as they know that you’re likely to show interest in what they share, they’ll be sharing more of their content on your profile.
They might even try to come in contact with you personally by means of messages and friend requests. And even try to convince you to join them in their cause, and who knows what these causes are!
2. Dangers Of Posting Baby/Child’s Pictures On Facebook
We all have experienced the feeling when we look at our older photos and wonder, “really! this is how I used to look?”
When you post the photos of your kid on Facebook, it’s completely your decision. Your child is either too small to take the permission from or you don’t feel the need to do so.
But later when your kids grow, they might feel awkward seeing those photos.
The very same photos that you post of them might be the reason why their friends tease or bully them. You know how these school friends and teenagers are! They just make an issue about small things and exaggerate it beyond measure.
Your intention while posting these photos and videos of your baby or teen was surely an act of love. But your child might hate you for doing so.
Another reason why it’s not suggested to post the baby pictures on Facebook is related to the kid’s safety.
While posting a photo with your kid, you might reveal their school, or where they live. It’s not common but who knows what kind of lunatic is following you on Facebook and might plan to kidnap or harm your child.
Best Solutions To Avoid Risks Of Facebook For Kids And Your Loved Ones
For averting most of the Facebook risks, you might try to guide your child on how to use Facebook properly.
Making the kids aware of the perils of Facebook will surely help them understand the do’s and don’ts of Facebook. But still, you’ll always be concerned about their safety. And the reason is that you’re unaware of their Facebook activities.
So it’s time to catch up with the modern solution and spy on the Facebook activities of your kid/partner with spy apps.
Good tracking apps like Spyic are designed in a way that they extract all the information from the target phone. This information can be seen anytime on their online portal remotely.
The most impressive thing about spy apps is that you don’t even need to root the target Android phone. But if the child uses an iPhone, it needs to be jailbroken.
FAQs About Negatives Of Facebook
Is Facebook Safe?
Even with built-in security features, Facebook cannot be termed as a completely safe and secure platform to use.
What Are The Dangers Of Facebook For Kids?
Facebook can be dangerous for kids in many ways. They might come in contact with an unknown person with wrong intentions, or simply get addicted to Facebook. Similarly, there are many other dangers of Facebook.
How Can You Stay Safe On Facebook?
The best way to stay safe on Facebook is by monitoring the activities of your loved ones with a spy app.
What Should You Not Put On Facebook?
You should never post personal information about yourself or your family on Facebook. This information includes kid's school, your travel plans, passwords, etc.
What Are The Dangers Of Posting Pictures On Facebook?
The photos that you post on Facebook can be used by someone unknown for some wrong purpose. There are many reported cases that proves the statement.
Is Facebook Safe From Hackers?
Although Facebook constantly monitors the activity of its users and maintains safety by deleting fake accounts, it's still hard to believe that Facebook is safe from hackers.
