We know our kids are on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. But here are some other popular apps you might not know about
Trending apps amongst your kids change faster than you can say Pokemon Go. We’ve compiled what’s trending with young people now, so you know which apps to watch out for.
Family Zone’s experts make it their mission to review constantly changing apps and risks. Want to stay ahead of what apps your kids are using? Subscribe to our FREE monthly cyber safety newsletter (see the link, top right on desktop or bottom of article on mobile).
- Musical.ly
Users upload live videos of themselves lip-syncing and or dancing to music with the objective of gaining likes & followers. With 252k daily active users in Australia, this app is incredibly popular with young people. But there are underlying risks including grooming and cyberbullying, as well as inappropriate sexualised or self harm content. Children often upload videos in their school uniforms, providing an easy means for predators to locate them.
- Meetme
Users create an account to communicate with other random users anywhere in the world. The app currently has 129k daily active users. Young people are at risk of being contacted by predators, being bullied by other users and are also incentivised to make in app purchases in order to boost their popularity on the app.
- Yellow
Often dubbed “Tinder for teens”, users swipe left or right on profiles. Yellow has exacerbated the risks on Snapchat (where teens are sharing sexting images thinking they will disappear when they are actually being screenshotted and shared). Matches are automatically provided with a platform to chat and link to each other’s Snapchat accounts, to increase their Snapchat followers. With 84k daily active users in Australia, this app is rapdily gaining popularity.
- Live.ly
Users upload live videos of themselves doing anything and everything with the objective of gaining likes & followers. The freedom users have to upload anything they want results in a huge risk of young children viewing highly inappropriate content such as nudity and self harm. This app has 80k daily active users within Australia, so it’s not as popular as Musical.ly, however there is a greater risk of inappropriate content given the theme of posts is ‘anything goes’.
- Twitch
Users broadcast themselves playing video games for other users to watch. Users can also chat with each other. Twitch’s online community promotes a pack mentality among users who are predominantly young males. Users who don’t align with this attitude are ridiculed heavily. Currently the app has 69k daily active users.
The potential dangers posed by these apps are alarming. It can be easy as a parent to think that your child will exercise common sense when using apps, but the reality is that it is too easy for even sensible kids to stumble upon adult content or inadvertently place themselves at risk. The good news is that you don’t have to be in it alone – Family Zone and our team of Cyber Experts can help you sort out what apps are appropriate for your child, and provide you with the tools and resources to help you navigate this journey.
Information supplied by Family Zone Team