When I was prepping my article on how your content on Social Media today can haunt your tomorrows, I talked to my son, who is almost 20, about it. I wanted his take, especially about the 21 year old federal candidate who had to step down.
Her story hits me a little more than the other two. They were older, and at the time she was a teen, and it was during a time when social media was really growing and people did not truly get the full ramifications of posting online. Especially teens.
Here she was at 21 a candidate in a Federal election – that in itself is quite the achievement – getting people to vote at 21 is hard enough, let alone run for a seat in an election.
One cannot help but admire such a young person ready to serve in office. And then the twitterverse kicks her in the butt and changes her life forever.
My son and I had quite a conversation about it and he had a very interesting point of view. With Twitter for instance, he uses Twitter for fun, he likes to post things that he thinks are funny and that will amuse others. He absolutely feels that anyone looking at his profile and judging him by the tweets is wrong and they should not.
It was very clear from our talk that he does not feel his profiles should be viewed as an extension of him in real life because that is not how he uses them. Very interesting concept for me – I am the total opposite.
The conversation has made me realize once again how important it is to be talking to our kids about their online content. I have three teens and they all use social media very differently. One not at all, one for fun as a different person and the other is all over the place and probably has more accounts and profiles than me – I cannot keep up with him!
But the important thing is we talk about it. It is almost impossible to keep our kids off the Internet. I try to get as much as possible from them on what they are doing – including the typical parental obligation to snoop a little. Check out their content and postings… and I do tell them to delete something if it is not appropriate. Explaining why as we do it.
If you are unsure what your kids are doing online or even what some of the more current social media trends for teens and kids are – take a look at this presentation I did for a workshop. It will help you educate yourself a little more so you can open up the lines of communication and talk to your kids about the real life repercussions of the internet and social media. Good Luck and Stay strong and involved.
That is the important thing – keep the lines of communication open so your kids are okay talking about the online world and trust you in case they need help.
Learn to do more with your marketing by understanding the Foundations of Content Marketing with this free guide.
Stop Struggling and Start Thriving! My passion is helping to guide people just like you, private practice and service-based business owners, who are often frustrated with all their wasted time spent on marketing that gets you nowhere. You can learn strategies to attract a steady flow of clients and build a thriving and profitable practice. Get started with some of the free resources on my Pepper It Marketing website, especially this Guide to Streamline your Marketing. I also offer several self-study training programs to help you attract more clients so you can Build a rewarding and profitable private practice and still have time to LIVE your LIFE!