What's up with WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is huge. Billions of people use it to chat, call, and share stuff. It's super handy. But, like anything online, it's good to know how to keep things safe.
This article on the NSPCC website does a brilliant job of breaking down the pros and cons of using WhatsApp as a young person:
Here's our summary of the key takeaways...
What is WhatsApp Anyway?
Think of WhatsApp as a supercharged texting app. You can message, call (voice and video), and join group chats. It works on phones and just needs a phone number to get started. It's 'officially' for ages 13 and up.
How Does it Work?
WhatsApp is clever. It looks at your phone's contacts and suggests people you might know on WhatsApp. It also shares some info, like when you were last online ("last seen"), if you're online right now, and if you've read messages (those little blue ticks). You can control some of this in the settings, which is really important.
New Feature Alert: Communities!
WhatsApp now has "Communities". Imagine a big group with lots of smaller groups inside. That's a Community! It's a way to organise lots of chats about similar topics.
Privacy and Safety Stuff:
WhatsApp has some cool privacy features:
- End-to-end encryption: This means only you and the person you're talking to can read your messages. Not even WhatsApp can see them! This is great for privacy, but it also means that messages can't be monitored for illegal activity.
- Disappearing messages: You can make messages vanish after 24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days. But remember, people can still screenshot them!
- View once: This is for photos and videos that disappear after you've seen them. They can't be saved or forwarded.
- Live location: You can share your location with people for a while. You can stop it anytime, but they'll still see your last location.
Top Tips for Keeping Kids Safe:
- Privacy Settings are Your Friend: Go to WhatsApp settings and then "Privacy". You can control who sees your profile photo, "about" info, status, last seen, and online status. You can set it so only your contacts can see this stuff, or even block specific people. The default is "everyone" so this is the first thing you should change. It is also a good idea to change the group settings to “My contacts except” and select all contacts. This means that nobody can add your child to a group chat without first sending them an invitation.
- Turn off Read Receipts: This stops people from seeing if you've read their messages. It can take the pressure off kids to reply instantly.
- Block and Report: Show your child how to block people and report inappropriate stuff.
- Talk, Talk, Talk: Chat regularly with your child about what's okay to share online. Remind them that even if they think something is private, it could be shared.
- Location Sharing Rules: Decide together if and when it's okay to share location. You can even turn off location services for WhatsApp in your phone's settings.
WhatsApp can be a great way to stay connected, but it's important to be aware of the safety features and talk openly with your kids about online safety. By taking a few simple steps, you can help keep them safe and make their WhatsApp experience positive.
At the end of the NSPCC article (linked above), there are some more great tips for avoiding WhatApp's potential pitfalls such as unwanted contact, pressure to respond, location sharing, inappropriate content, cyberbullying and oversharing.