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Do you talk to your parents/ family about your online life?

TheMixTheMix Posts: 3,113 Boards Guru
edited November 2019 in We Need You

Do you talk to parents or family about your online life? 

If so, who do you talk to and about what? 

If not, what is stopping you from talking to family/ parents? 

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Opportunity!

We have an opportunity for people aged 13-18 to be involved in helping shape a digital families tool kit. The Mix are working with Facebook, Instagram and Parent Zone to develop a programme which gives families the tools to have meaningful conversations about their online lives and how to stay safe online. 


We are looking for about 8 young people to come to a workshop in Islington, London (All travel expenses paid etc). If this sounds like something your interested in, drop us a PM and @Italia will be in touch with details. 


*We will need parental/ carer consent for those who are under 18. 

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In the meantime, tell us about the chats you have with your family below! 

Do you talk to your parents/ family about your online life? 14 votes

Yes I talk to my parents / family about stuff happening online all the time
0% 0 votes
I talk to my parents / family about some things
64% 9 votes
Nope, I never talk to my family / parents about what I do online.
35% 5 votes
Tagged:

Comments

  • ItaliaItalia Posts: 238 Trailblazer
    Hey Everyone, 

    Thanks for taking part in the poll above. I would love to hear more about why you do or don't talk to your family?

    Growing up on social isn't something that our parents had to manage, so for me I am really interested to hear about how those conversations are happening for families today. I know in my family I spend a lot of time teaching my parents social media etiquette - which is both frustrating and hilarious at the same time. 

    Would love to hear your stories of social media chats. 

    “People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
    -     Brene Brown

  • Former MemberFormer Member ☕🌻☕ Posts: 12,938 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    edited November 2019
    Growing up the rules in my house was,.you have a social media account, my parents had to have access, now days my parents only really have my Facebook as I don't use social media as much. 
    My parents dont show much Interest in our use of social media, and I think because of that, my siblings aren't as interested in having it. 
    There aren't conversations like "saw this video on Facebook today and I shared it" etc.  I think my parents just don't know how to approach conversation about what is done online..they tend to just check my siblings phone and the laptop and monitor Xbox useable.


    (I am 24 and don't live with my parents anymore so based my answer off my siblings experience of what I've seen at my parents house and the experience I had growing up..hope that's ok?)
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,287 Skive's The Limit
    The social side of the internet wasn't very popular when I was younger - I didn't even come here until 2001 when I was 19.
    I'm now looking at this from the other side, as a parent and it does worry me what my kids might get up to on the internet without my knowledge.
    Weekender Offender 
  • ItaliaItalia Posts: 238 Trailblazer
    edited November 2019
    Hey @GreenTea & @Skive

    Thanks for your thoughts, it's really interesting. @GreenTea , I've heard this from a few different young people and parents now, that parents have access to their social media accounts. At what age do parents hand it over without having access? Are there any chats that happen before they do? 

    @Skive I think what makes this such an important conversation is the way we use online changes so rapidly, and is probably one of the biggest generational gaps faced by parents and their young people today. Do you have any ideas on how you might manage it with your kids Skive?
    Post edited by Italia on

    “People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
    -     Brene Brown

  • Former MemberFormer Member ☕🌻☕ Posts: 12,938 Born on Earth, Raised by The Mix
    Do you mean me not bubbles?...
  • Millie2787Millie2787 Community Champion Posts: 5,194 Part of The Furniture
    I don't really have conversations with my mum about social media about the things i get up to .She has me on Facebook and on one of my Instagram but doesn't  have like my usernames and passwords. I think i would say i talk more to my sister and her fiance About whats going on in social media rather than my mum and i think it just naturally drifts into that conversation with them after one of us goes " ohh did you see what i tagged you in earlier " 
    Sometimes all you need is one person to believe in you , for you to begin to believe in yourself.
  • ItaliaItalia Posts: 238 Trailblazer
    @GreenTea

    I'm sorry - that was a bit of a fail wasn't it? I was reading multiple threads at one time. I'll edit it :)


    "Italia posting on the community like.."

    puppy fail GIF


    “People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
    -     Brene Brown

  • SienaSiena Posts: 15,681 Skive's The Limit
    edited November 2019
    I dont post on my social media like ever. Im 21 now. But has always been like that and have used social media for ages. Maybe change my profil pic about every two years but thats about it. And hardly text anyone so nothing really to tell them. I just scroll other peoples lives. This site is most of my online life which i obviously dont tell my family but they know i seek online support

    i think i would post more if i didnt have my family on my facebook at any age. I don’t know why. Can imagine Would just be like "why did you share that" and tell all my family and stuff al the time. 
    “And when they look at you, they won't see everything you've been through. They won't see the **** that turned to scars that began to fade with time. They won't see the heartbreaking things that shook up and changed your entire world. They won't know how many tears you cried or even what it was you were crying about. They won't see how strong you had to be because you had no other choice. What they will see though is how compassionate you are because you experienced pain. What they will see is how kind you are because you experienced how cruel the world is. What they will see is how good you are because you've seen how bad things or people can be. The difference between you and your experiences are who you choose to be, despite everything that could have turned you cold and unkind.You are the good the world needs and the best of us.” ~ Kirsten Corley
  • SienaSiena Posts: 15,681 Skive's The Limit
    Sorry my view is probably not worth anything lol im 21
    “And when they look at you, they won't see everything you've been through. They won't see the **** that turned to scars that began to fade with time. They won't see the heartbreaking things that shook up and changed your entire world. They won't know how many tears you cried or even what it was you were crying about. They won't see how strong you had to be because you had no other choice. What they will see though is how compassionate you are because you experienced pain. What they will see is how kind you are because you experienced how cruel the world is. What they will see is how good you are because you've seen how bad things or people can be. The difference between you and your experiences are who you choose to be, despite everything that could have turned you cold and unkind.You are the good the world needs and the best of us.” ~ Kirsten Corley
  • ItaliaItalia Posts: 238 Trailblazer
    All views are welcome @Shaunie - whilst yes the outcome of this work will be aimed at a younger audience your views and opinions are still valid here, and really interesting to hear :)

    “People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
    -     Brene Brown

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 82 Budding Regular
    I'm 23 and my parents have never had access to my social media. I only use fb and snapchat but they dont really use them that much themselves so it's never been something they understand to monitor so much.

    I remember my mum wouldn't let me make a fb account until I was 13 but after that it was me sitting her down to have a conversation about online safety after she started making friends abroad and going to see them, ha! 

    Even when I was a teenager and looking up mental health I never shared that with them and have always been conscious about using incognito mode, even now with The Mix. I think it's the anonymity of it that makes me feel safer and not having to have the difficult conversations. But equally I dont think they actually want/ know how to talk about mental health so even when there were obvious clues they turned a  blind eye. 

    Saying that, my eldest niece now has a laptop and a phone and my sister is very on top of restricting to child mode, automatic turn off at a certain time etc. I'm not sure how much they discuss her online life but my niece is a little chatter box anyway so I'm pretty sure she gives her parents a run down of everything she does on and offline. 
  • Former MemberFormer Member Fruit loop Deactivated Posts: 2,762 Boards Guru
    Social media quite interestingly is the most private part of my life.

    My family hears all about my college life and stories from the day, but they don't hear a lot about online and i think thats merely because my online presence is more volunteer and work based, i edit photos and do blogs and HTML for fun, aside from that i volunteer across various platforms which they know about but i don't share anything else on it. 

    Aside from my facebook presence and my long distance relationship they don't know very much.

    They defo know more about my in person life.

    Mum is not a social media gal haha i'm friends with all my siblings, and my mum on messenger but she does not do facebook or any of that, she just lets us get on and trusts us :)
  • ItaliaItalia Posts: 238 Trailblazer
    Hey Everyone,

    Thank you for sharing your experiences. It sound's like there are quite a few different approaches to talking about it, and how everyone uses social media. What I am hearing is that its easier to talk to people closer to your age/ generation about online lives because it is more relevant. Is that fair to say. 

    If your keen to continue this conversation we are looking for some young people to come along to a workshop in London on 2nd of December to help create the digital families guide. You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/FBdigitalfamilies 

    Thanks
    Italia 

    “People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses.”
    -     Brene Brown

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