In this digital age, there are different social networking sites available for children and teenagers. One of them is Ask.fm, and a parent’s guide to ASK.fm will give you more information about this site. Basically, it is a Q&A app that is very popular among children and teenagers. When it is so popular, parents must know it. There are some reports showing the negative impact of the app on children. It is natural that it will be abused. Therefore, every parent of a child who remains online should know about it.
Simply, Ask.fm is a site which allows users to make a profile and ask questions of other users on it. These questions and answers on the site can be in the form of text, photos, and videos. There is no limit to the subjects that can be discussed. Moreover, all these question-answer sessions are without revealing the identity. That means there is no way of knowing the identities of the anonymous users with whom you are having the conversation. So, a parent’s guide to ASK.fm is essential as it enables the parents to know about it in detail. Here are some important facts about ASK.fm:
Most of the users of the site are under 18, and though the site specifies that users must be at least 13, there is no way by which they can verify the age. So, there are lots of children even under 13 who are attracted to the site and use it frequently.
The content on the site is theoretically moderated, but there are numerous instances of sexually explicit or derogatory content being asked or answered.
Thus, the conversations on Ask.fm ranges from harmless conversation to vicious gossip, which can sometimes lead to bullying. Conversations about sex, drugs, eating disorders, and self-harm or suicide are very common.
Cyberbullying is always a risk when users remain anonymous. The anonymous format of the website means that the bully can easily escape after displaying any behavior. This behavior is not possible on the websites where they are asked to post their real names. Several teenage suicides were related to bullying in Ask.fm. Therefore, parents must protect their children through a reasonable ASK.fm parent guide. Some of the risks associated with ASK.fm are:
There is a number of security risks when kid’s private information is shared in question-and-answer streams on Ask.fm.
Some children may share links to their contact information or other social media materials. The stranger contacts the child through the information shared by the child, and the child may be injured.
Before taking any other security measures, you must know what ASK.fm is and whether your child is using it. If your child uses a smartphone to access the Internet, they may install the Ask.fm app on their device. If your child is under 13 years of age, they should not be on the website. Therefore you must follow the parent’s guide to ASK.fm and tell your child. You must discuss with them to cause these security issues. These are some of the guiding steps parents should follow:
Check if your child is using ASK.fm. If they are under 13, please make sure they avoid using ASK.fm.
If you find that your child wants to have a profile on the site when they are over 13 years old, you can allow them to maintain their profile, but it is important to check your child’s comments and conversations.
Most importantly, you must install a spy app on their devices, such as iKeyMonitor, so you can access their profile and read all the questions and answers they post on this site.
When you install a spy app like iKeyMonitor, you get to know all about your child’s activities. If you find any inappropriate answers, you can monitor it remotely. Websites like ASK.fm are prone to cyberbullying. If you find something wrong during the monitoring process, talk to your child right away. Therefore, installing a spy application is an important step for parents to guide ASK.fm. Here are some of the features of iKeyMonitor:
Therefore, a parent’s guide to ASK.fm suggests that parents must track their children’s online activities. If your child is not on this site, then you can rest assured. But if they are also involved in the dialogue between questions and answers, then you must know all the questions your child has raised and all the responses you get. Only then can you provide appropriate care for your child. Every parent wants to provide complete security for their children, so you must install a monitoring app like iKeyMonitor on their device.