What Is Houseparty? & Is It Safe for Kids? 2024
Houseparty is a social networking platform dedicated to bringing people together to create social reactions. With real-time video, up to eight friends can create responses together. It also allows users to add people they already know through Facebook. If you find that your children have created accounts on Houseparty, you need to be vigilant and take appropriate measures to protect them.
What Is Houseparty?
Houseparty is a social media platform focused on video. Creating an account on Houseparty is very simple. All you need to do is create a username and add your phone number. This requires you to provide access to your phone contact list. After creating an account, you can automatically access anyone in your contacts. Whenever you want to chat with someone, you can manually enter the user’s Houseparty username and chat with them directly. Here are some facts about Houseparty:
- It is a group video chat platform that allows friends to chat via real-time video and text. With split-screen video feeds, up to 8 friends can join the conversation.
- But there are no administrators in Houseparty to monitor any activity, which means that inappropriate content is likely to appear, depending on the people involved in the chat.
- Users can send a link to their profile to anyone. Users can also take screenshots (even in private groups) and share them on other social media sites.
Is Houseparty Safe for Kids?
Although Houseparty mentions that the age limit for using it is over 12 years old, there is no verification step to ensure this. Even kids can easily create an account in Houseparty and use it. In fact, it is more popular among young children. Certain languages and images used in the app may have a bad influence on kids. Therefore, if your children are using Houseparty, you need to learn about the negative effects. Here are some reasons why Houseparty is not safe for your children:
Online Predators
By default, all video chats on Houseparty are public. Unless the person who initiates the chat “locks” the room, any friend’s friend can show up. Houseparty provides an invitation code for each user, which can be sent to anyone to invite them to a video chat “party”. It is an app with predatory risks.
Privacy Concerns
During the setup process, your children are required to grant Houseparty access to camera, microphone, notification, and location. These settings can lead to personal information leakage.
Hacking Risk
Houseparty users complained that they were hacked, reporting on social media that their PayPal, Netflix, Spotify, and online bank accounts had been compromised. If your children are using Houseparty, their information may be hacked.
How to Protect Kids from Houseparty?
To protect your children from the harmful effects of Houseparty, you need to sit down and explain to them the various risks in this social media. Kids must know how to keep the chat private and safe. You must always pay attention to your children’s online activities because online predators are likely to appear in your children’s video chat. You can make online rules and let your children follow them. Here are some ways to protect your children:
Talk to Your Kids
Talking to your kids is the best way to protect them from using dangerous social platforms. You should often talk to your children to learn about their whereabouts and online activities they are performing. In addition, you should teach them how to deal with child predators and cyberbullying, and prevent them from talking with strangers.
Establish Rules for Cell Phone Use
Make rules so that your children need to ask for your permission before downloading any app on their phones. When your children want to join a new social media platform, please work with them to make security settings and choose the most suitable platform.
Set Up System Built-in Parental Controls on Children’s Phones
Many mobile phones now come with parental control functions. You can check your children’s devices model and set up parental controls on their phones. For example, you can set a screen time limit, block certain mobile apps, and so on.
- How to Set up Parental Controls for Houseparty on iPhone?
- How to Set up Parental Controls for Houseparty on Android?
Use A Parental Control App
You can install a parental control app like iKeyMonitor. It is your parenting assistant, it will keep you informed about your children’s whereabouts, and let you manage screen time and block dangerous apps on their phones with just a tap.
Monitor Houseparty with iKeyMonitor Parental Control App
When your children use Houseparty, the best thing you can do is to have a proper conversation with them and tell them what they might encounter. And you need to pay attention to their activities on Houseparty. You can install iKeyMonitor monitoring tool. It will allow you to remotely access your children’s devices. Apart from that, you can easily check every activity they perform on Houseparty. These are the ways iKeyMonitor helps monitor Houseparty:
Take Screenshots on Houseparty to Detect Suspicious Video Chat
iKeyMonitor regularly captures screenshots of pictures and video chats on Houseparty. You can check these screenshots to see if any predators are approaching your children. You can take timely measures to block online predators.
Block Houseparty to Protect Your Kids
You can use time-limit rules to block Houseparty on your children’s devices. Through the timetable, you can also specify when to flexibly block Houseparty, and when to unblock it.
Set Screen Time Limit on Houseparty
With iKeyMonitor, you can restrict the use of Houseparty through specific rules. Children will know when they can use Houseparty when they should study, sleep, and eat.
Track Keystrokes to Know Everything Typed on Houseparty
iKeyMonitor keylogger tracks all keystrokes typed on your children‘s Houseparty, including pasted text, so that you can clearly know what happened on Houseparty.
Get Alerted about Dangerous Activities on Houseparty
You can set keyword alerts on your children’s mobile phones. In this way, whenever your children use Houseparty on their mobile phones or type in alert keywords on Houseparty, you will receive an instant alert via email.
Using iKeyMonitor parental control tool, you can easily protect your children from the harmful effects of Houseparty. In addition to monitoring social media, it also monitors call history, text messages, phone surroundings, and more. It provides a free trial plan that you can download and use right away.
Tags: Dangerous Activities on Houseparty, facts about Houseparty, Houseparty, Monitor Houseparty, Set Screen Time Limit on Houseparty, What Is Houseparty
Category: Learning & How to, Parental Control Tips
