SOCIAL MEDIAINTERNET SAFETY DEPUTY DUSTIN DEMUTH LYON COUNTY

SOCIAL MEDIA/INTERNET SAFETY DEPUTY DUSTIN DEMUTH LYON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA? • Official definition: “websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. ” • Any site that you use to exchange and/or share information and content with other users. • Includes: Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok

USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY TEENS • 88% of teens have a Smartphone • 92% of teens state they check social media at least once a day • 24% of teens say they are “constantly” on social media

“RULES OF SOCIAL MEDIA” • Have lots of followers. • Have more followers than people you follow. • Don’t serial post. (“You only want to post one Instagram a day. ”) • If you do post multiple things per day, they’d better be amazing. (“You can post multiple tweets a day, but they can’t be stupid or not interesting. ”) • If you game the system, don’t get caught. (“She [my friend] probably has 20 fake accounts where she goes and likes her own pictures. ”) • Remove photos that don’t get enough likes. • Be witty. (“Cute and clever captions are important. People judge you if they’re weird. ”) • Time your posts for optimal like-getting. (“There’s a lot of social pressure to get likes, so you have to post it at the right time of day. You don’t want to post it during school when people don’t have their phone. ”)

TOP ISSUES WITH TEENS AND SOCIAL MEDIA • Content, privacy, and control • Cyberbullying • Effects on mood, self esteem, behaviors, and friendships • “Catfishing”

MAJOR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES • Tik. Tok –Sharing videos with “the world” –Possible inappropriate videos/images –Easy to share personal information –People can save videos without your permission https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=v 0 usz. FByj. JU

MAJOR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES (CONT’D) • Snapchat – Information disappears quickly – “Screenshotting” – Gives false sense of security • Instagram – Images may not be private – Sharing of inappropriate images – A lot of the same issues as seen above

SEXTING • Usually refers to the “sharing of nude or partially nude photographs through any means of electronic communications” • Often sent through sites such as Snapchat –“I promise I won’t “screenshot” • It’s the “cool” thing to do

SEXTING (CONT’D) • Images can be used as “blackmail” • Ways of saving photographs w/o sender knowing • Can lead to “cyberbullying”

LEGAL ISSUES • You WILL face legal charges in Lyon County • Very serious charges (Felony) • Will be placed into juvenile programs • May even be placed into Juvenile detention • Life long consequences –Registered predatory offender

WHAT CAN YOU DO • If you or someone you know becomes a “victim”, talk to a trusted adult • Encourage your friends to be safe on social media and the internet • Don’t engage in dangerous behavior • Remember sometimes small issues become big issues • BLOCK PEOPLE who engage in dangerous or inappropriate behavior

SCENARIO 1 • You begin to receive Snapchats from a user you don’t recognize. This person claims to go to your school and seems to know a lot of information about your school and your classes that makes you believe him. After a bit, he begins to ask you questions about you and your friends. However, when you ask for the person’s name, he avoids the question.

SCENARIO 2 • A friend tags you in a picture on Facebook. The picture was taken last summer while you and others were at the beach. You don’t feel comfortable with the way you or your friends look in the picture. Other Facebook users have begun to post comments on the picture making fun of you and your friends.

SCENARIO 3 • A good friend of yours comes to talk to you one day to tell you that one of the older students has recorded a video of her practicing for the school play. The older student edited the video to make your friend look immature and unintelligent and has been showing it to all of his friends. Your friend tells you that she is embarrassed and upset, but has not told anyone about this.

SCENARIO 4 • You and a friend like to joke on Facebook by insulting each other. Sometimes these insults include references to inappropriate behavior, mocking of classmates, and use of swearing. Even though you have set up your Facebook to keep the conversations private, your friend makes a copy of your chats for her parents see. Her parents call your school and your parents to tell them what has been happening. By the time you get to school the next day, everyone in your class knows what you have said.

SCENARIO 5 • While you were in Middle School, you wrote a blog post where you criticized one of your teachers for being mean to you in class. You claim the teacher was not fair in her grading and she insulted you in front of your classmates. Further in the post, you ridicule the teacher’s age, race, and physical appearance. Now, you are in university and you are applying for a highly competitive internship. During the interview, the interviewer brings out a copy of the blog post and questions you about it.