In a world where technology is becoming more common and a greater medium for communication and information, it is important for parents to monitor their children’s access and be sure that all is well in their cyber worlds. With social media playing a large role in keeping your kids connected to their friends and the rest of the outside world, it is becoming easier for them to be exposed to things that are potentially harmful.

Facebook and other social media

As a social media site, Facebook and others, such as Twitter and Instagram to name a couple, make it very easy to share information with others. On the other hand, it is very easy to put false information forward and share it as well. Some of the personal information that can be shared via social media can include:

  • email address(es)
  • phone number(s)
  • physical addresses and locations
  • family members
  • relationship status
  • schools attending or attended
  • pictures

While it is okay for some people to have access to this information, when it is open to the public and anyone can see it there may be problems that arise.

Facebook Monitoring: Why monitor their use

It is crucial that your child’s use of social media is monitored at least to some small extent for their physical, mental and emotional safety. If your child is talking to the wrong people or making plans to do something he should not be doing, you need to know in order to keep them from harm.

Some of the things that you need to be monitoring include:

  • privacy settings
  • who they are talking to
  • what they are talking about
  • what other people are saying to and about them
  • what tags are they included in

When you know what is being said and done via social media, you can better tackle the more important issues dealing with their safety.

Privacy settings

When a person creates a social media account, one of the first things you can set up is the privacy settings. They can be changed or adjusted later on as well. As a parent, the privacy settings should be one of the first things you check and make a rule about.

The privacy settings within a social media network allow you to control who sees what you write and post. If it is set to be private, then only your child and their friends can view what is on their Facebook page. However, if it is set to be public, then anyone and everyone can see what is on the page.

Facebook Monitoring: Who are they talking to

When your child is talking to people on Facebook, do you know who they are talking to? Just as you would get to know the kids your child hangs out with at school, you should know something about their Facebook friends. If your child is talking to suspicious characters, you should be aware of what is being said and set some ground rules to keep your child safe.

One way to keep an eye on who your child is talking to will be to monitor Facebook messages between him and others. Diligent Facebook monitoring (though not going overboard with it) can help you determine the characters of the people your child is interacting with. If needed, you can then take the necessary steps to help him determine which people are the better choices for friends and which are not.

Facebook Monitoring: What are they saying to others

Children will talk in different ways to their friends than they will to their parents; however, it is important to note that it should not be an overly dramatic difference that you do not recognize your child’s voice or attitude. If it is a very extreme change, there may be underlying issues that need to be dealt with outside of their social media access.

Especially when you are dealing with an online medium, sometimes things are said in ways that come across as insulting or inappropriate, even when it was not intentionally meant in such a way. It is important for you to know what your child is saying so that you can help make things right if and when this happens. You can correct the language used in such situations and help your child know what sorts of things to say in future scenarios.

When you monitor Facebook chat you can be sure that your child is saying appropriate things and treating others well. With a personal Facebook chat monitor system in place or the use of monitoring software, you can stop the bad behaviours and language before it gets out of hand or leads to something worse.

Facebook Monitoring: What is being said about them

With the use of Facebook monitoring tools, it is easier than ever to keep track of not only what your child is saying to others, but also what is being said to them. As mentioned in the previous section, the way a person speaks can come across as insulting or demeaning when it was in fact unintentional. When you know what has been said, you can help determine what was really meant, or you can determine if it is a sign that something is not so right between your child and their Facebook friends.

Unfortunately, cyberbullying has become a very real threat to children of all ages, races, and backgrounds. With Facebook monitoring, however, you can be sure that your child is not suffering from any form of bullying. And if he is, you can take the necessary steps to put it to an end.

With the assistance of specially designed Facebook monitor apps, you can put tracks on select words used within all involved Facebook chats. You will receive notifications if and when those words are used. This can give you the opportunity to stop any bullying before it is taken too far.

Facebook Monitoring: What tags are they included in

When your child is an active part of Facebook, they are more likely to be tagged in multiple posts or pictures that are shared by their friends. While many times it can be a simple photo of a group of friends or an activity that had taken place, there may be times that the tagged image or post is somewhat inappropriate.

By using a Facebook spy monitor and other social media monitoring tools, you can keep tabs on the types of things your child is tagging and being tagged in. When you know that the content is inappropriate, you can then take action toward setting it right; armed with facts, you can go to your child with the information you have and teach them why it is inappropriate, how they could behave or speak differently, and then make better choices in the future.

How to start Facebook Monitoring

Many parents today simply do not know what to do when it comes to dealing with Facebook for kids, especially when it comes to monitoring their children’s social media access. There are many mediums that allow your child to have a constant presence on the web, and there is only so much a parent can do.

Because there are so many different ways for a child to be present using social media, several software and programs have been created that allow a parent to monitor all of their child’s internet activity from their own device. Several of these programs can do the monitoring for you, simply giving you the information that you need to know when you need to know it.

In a USA Today article talking about monitoring your child’s social media, Barbara Greenburg is quoted about her views on the use of spying programs. Greenburg believes that it is better to have open communication with your child about their use of social media. She says that if you are monitoring everything your child does you are sending your child the message that you do not trust him.

It is important to find a balance between full out spying on your child and giving him the trust he needs and deserves from you. You should be mindful of what is going on in your child’s internet and social media worlds so that you can step in when necessary. But you should also give your child the chance to prove that he can do the right thing and take care of himself to an extent. It is good to monitor Facebook, but do not do so at the expense of your child’s trust.

Programs and software for Facebook Monitoring

As mentioned in the previous section, there are programs and software that have been designed specifically for social media and Facebook monitoring. With the aid of Facebook monitoring software, you can keep track of your child’s activities and be sure that they are saying age appropriate things, interacting with the correct people, not being bullied, being an example of good character, etc.