Currently, more than 95% of youth have access to a number of social media applications and websites, so it’s easy for them to engage with other people on the internet. Teens today are often anonymous in how they interact, and they can engage with a community while in character or hide who they are when talking to others. While online platforms can have enormous social advantages for teenagers, teens are negatively affected by the privacy, safety, and overall well-being breaches of social media platforms, which is enough to make any parent scared. To make parents more informed, we need to raise awareness of the applications and platforms children to utilize.
While 73% of those ages 9-16 with Internet access (most of them) have an online profile, and 79% use social networking sites often, which accounts for more than half of that age group’s Internet users (Childwise Monitor Special Report). As your children become older, it would be great if you were there to show them the ropes on social media, and their lives will be easier afterward. By letting teenage kids know which social networking apps are good, you can stay in control and keep an eye on their connections. Here in this post, we have listed some of the best social networking apps for teenagers.
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Anyone can create a profile on Facebook and instantly connect with family, friends, and any person on Facebook. It is currently one of the best most popular and best free social networking websites that teenagers can use. Teens can use this social networking app to connect with their friends and teachers. Also, there are many educational and knowledge-sharing pages available on Facebook that can help a teen in growing his knowledge. Although, a watch from parents is necessary while using Facebook as kids can get distracted pretty often on Facebook.
It is just another popular social networking app right now. Instagram allows users to share pictures and videos with others online. While Facebook, Twitter, and the rest all offer many options for people to engage with their fans, Instagram is specifically designed to share photographs and videos with followers. Sharing improper images or videos that might harm a teen’s character or draw unwanted interest, and obviously, privacy are all reasons why parents must keep an eye on their children while they are using Instagram.
Snapchat
To send images, video, text, and pictures, people use Snapchat, an app for smartphones. The app is completely free to download and completely free to use. It has suddenly become very popular with the younger generation because pictures sent to the recipient vanish after being seen. While it is a very popular app, we will recommend teens to use it only for enjoying a different sets of filters and lenses provided by Snapchat and not for anything else. If used wisely, Snapchat is definitely a fun-to-use app for clicking and sharing funny/creative photos.
YouTube
A video-sharing website where users may view, like, share, comment, and post their own videos, YouTube has become a popular Internet destination. YouTube has every possible video someone can post, which includes all of the many topics and ideas. The effect that YouTubers have on teenagers can help them in doing many things in life. Teenagers will often imitate the things they observe in videos they love, including language, clothes, and gestures. If a teen is keen on learning something, there is no other social networking app better than YouTube right now. There are tons of good videos available on YouTube that a teenager can watch and develop/improve his skills.
Nearly 1.6 billion people in the world rely on WhatsApp for communications. Using the app, people may connect quickly, easily, and in a manner that provides them with the freedom to exchange images, videos, documents, location, etc. in real-time. A lot of teenagers have started using WhatsApp to connect with their friends and know-ones. Not only this but despite regular calling, WhatsApp video and voice calls have become a regular part of teenagers. Since every contact can see the WhatsApp stories and status, a teen can be kept on a watch and that’s what makes WhatsApp the best social networking app for teenagers. There are many third-party mods available like GBWhatsApp which you can use.
TikTok
TikTok is a video-sharing website where anyone can create, share, and watch bite-sized clips. The app provides a platform for young people to express themself via clips that can be shared on the platform. A major reason why TikTok has popular trends is because of its audio system. When users submit a video, they may use it to lipsync the audio or provide it to other users. Though a lot of users use it for sharing entertaining stuff, a lot of good and knowledge-sharing channels are also available on TikTok. Teens must be encouraged to join and promote such channels.
Pinterest is an image search engine that provides cooking, home, design ideas, and almost anything. Pinterest has billions of pins, all of which provide access to methods to discover ideas. If you find an image you like, add it to a board to collect all your ideas in one place. Pinterest’s main benefit is that it is like other social networking sites in that profiles can be password protected. Additionally, no private or bank details are needed, and thus it doesn’t pose a risk to you by joining up.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a social networking and microblogging service where users can build a virtual journal. You’ll be able to connect with others who have similar interests and content. Additionally, you may connect with others, as well as discover other interesting bloggers and brands to follow. If you find a picture, video, or story that you like, you may “reblog” it on your blog for your followers to enjoy. Thousands of blog posts are shared on Tumblr every day, so teenagers can use it either to read or share their own posts.
Google Duo
Google Duo is one of the best video calling apps available right now and you can use this app to make video calls to anyone around the world. This app is good for teenagers because it requires contact list permission before you can make calls to anyone. So anytime you can check your teen’s phone to know who is calling by looking at the contact list. Also, all of the calls and chat messages made with Google Duo are end-to-end encrypted so you don’t have to worry about your child’s privacy. If you are a teenager yourself, then we will recommend you to use this app to make high-quality phones with others.
GroupMe
GroupMe allows private communication between individuals as well as a group conversation. This allows a big group of users to break off into smaller groups that can easily communicate with one another thereafter. It includes unique emoticons you may use when talking, as well as the ability to make memes. GroupMe is not a secure option for private conversation, since it doesn’t support end-to-end encryption. This may come in handy as teenagers will be more cautious while sharing anything on this social networking app as they know everything is monitored by GroupMe itself.
A lot of people know that Twitter is where you can catch up on news and socialize at the same time. How do they do it? In short, messages are known as tweets. Many users use Twitter to follow individuals and organizations they find fascinating. To unite people and provide a medium for spreading information to a wide audience, its goal is clear. Teens may easily keep up with news relevant to them by joining Twitter, and it is a breeze to keep up with individuals through their lists. Twitter is definitely one of the best social networking apps for teenagers right now unless they start indulging themselves in online fights and so.
Ask.FM
Ask.FM is basically a question-and-answer service that allows users to post both questions and answers. It is currently one of the best websites to get answers to all your questions. Ask.FM has the problem of unmonitored anonymous material. As unidentified and unwatched content is allowed on the platform, online bullying, graphic nudity, and perhaps other abuses are on the rise. Although you can ask your teenage kids to use this website for getting answers to their questions and we are sure they will love it too.
Final Words
Teens who are taken off of social media may appear as social outcasts. Unfortunately, in the modern-day, teenagers have a multitude of unpleasant experiences with social media. Even those with malicious purposes or those inclined to act in an inappropriate manner will be drawn to social media sites, where they can harm others, cyberbully, and be a danger to themselves. Teens can use them in an acceptable manner if they are utilizing them with some direction from parents. As a good rule of thumb, check your children’s app histories and habits for safe browsing and downloads. We will keep adding more social networking apps for teenagers in this post, so consider checking it often.
