Social Media Etiquette For Parents: How Not To Embarrass Yourself And Your Teen

If eye-rolling and emotional outbursts are what you handle day in and day out, you're probably the parent of a teenager. Trying to get along with your teen isn't always easy, and embarrassing them comes oh-so-naturally! So, the last thing you want to do is unintentionally embarrass them on social media, too, literally in front of their 700-odd friends.

So, pause before you unabashedly post, tag, comment, or share your teen's every social media post lest they make one of your worst social media nightmares come true by unfriending you.

Here's a fun fact: Everyone can see whatever you post on social media platforms; you, your teen, your friends, and even your teen's friend's friends. Take a moment to ponder this news!

So, here's a quick guide to social media etiquette.

Watch Your Behavior

On social media platforms, refrain from:

• commenting on all your teen's posts
• criticizing their posts
• sharing their childhood snapshots and tagging them without their permission
• correcting them
• reprimanding them

Mind Your Language

You must have told your kids a trillion times when they were young to check their language and spelling, but social media language is a whole different ball game where abbreviations and acronyms rule. So, if you think LOL is lots of love, surprise, surprise! It means laugh out loud. The new-age kids are genetically disposed to master this language within no time, whereas you, as parents, will take years to understand it. Mastering it is a long way off.

So, before your social media vocabulary gets an upgrade with TBH, fam and obvi, stick to what you know and save your teen from embarrassment because of your social media language faux pas.

Make a Contract

Draw up a social media agreement with your teen where they agree to keep a check on their social media activity and engagements. Make sure they know the ground rules they need to follow. In turn, as parents, you will get to friend them and find a balance between monitoring their social media activity for their safety and respecting their privacy.

Here are some sound ground rules you can include in your agreement:

• No giving out personal information (phone numbers, address) on a public platform.
• Sharing passwords with anyone, even with people known to them, is a huge security threat and a definite no-no.
• Create different passwords for different sites.
• Click only on trustworthy links.
• Avoid posting negative comments.
• Bullying others is unacceptable both in the real world and the virtual world.
• Never ever post or send images of yourself in any state of undress.
• Do not get into any sort of virtual spat or argument with someone.
• Impersonating others on social media is a punishable offense.

Virtual Behavior Checklist For Parents

Setting a good example through your virtual behavior can go a long way toward helping your teen use social media safely and responsibly. Remember, if you can see your teen's posts and activity, they can see yours.

• A sour rant-fest on a social media platform isn't pretty to witness. So, whenever you're tempted to share your outrage on an issue through a social media post, remember your teen is watching and learning.
• Model mature behavior. Act responsibly and stay away from posting private comments publicly, and avoid sharing negative criticisms.
• The horror of horrors is sending friend requests to their friends! Why? Because this draws attention to the fact that a friend's mom or dad is lurking on their friend's profile! If you want to be blacklisted, sure, go ahead!

Like us, teens have a social life and status to maintain. The last thing you should do is intrude into their social media life and embarrass them. Instead, merely be an observer on social media platforms and have a one-on-one chat, or use private messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram if something is bothering you about their social media activity. Social media is a great tool and can be extremely valuable for parents to understand the world their teens live in. So, by all means, become your teen's friend on Facebook or follower on Instagram. Just be quiet about it!