Tumblr (age limit 13yrs)
Tumblr is a social networking site that lets you share text, photos, quotes, links, audio clips, slideshows and videos. And you can customise your page and share other people’s posts. You can also send private messages.
It’s a cross between a blog and Twitter: It’s a streaming scrapbook of text, photos, and/or videos and audio clips. Users create and follow short blogs, or “tumblogs,” that can be seen by anyone online (if made public). Many teens have tumblogs for personal use: sharing photos, videos, musings, and things they find funny with their friends. However,
46% of the children and young people asked by NSPCC think Tumblr can be risky. The top concerns were:
- sexual content
- inappropriate content
- bullying
Inappropriate material is easy to find. This online hangout is hip and creative but sometimes raunchy. Pornographic images and videos and depictions of violence, self-harm, drug use, and offensive language are easily searchable.
Privacy can be guarded but only through an awkward workaround. The first profile a member creates is public and viewable by anyone on the Internet. Members who desire full privacy have to create a second profile, which they’re able to password-protect.
Posts are often copied and shared. Reblogging on Tumblr is similar to re-tweeting: A post is reblogged from one tumblog to another. Many children like — and, in fact, want — their posts reblogged. But do you really want your children’s words and photos on someone else’s page?