Appropriate

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Cheat Apps – also known as Homework Helpers. Download this week to learn more about how to spot the differences between the ones that help them learn and the ones that do the learning for them, how to recognize the factors that make kids susceptible to the temptation of cheating and how to use technology and parenting set your kid up for true future success academic and otherwise.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Vault apps - camouflaging apps which are used to store/ hide personal messages, photos, and videos – primarily from parents. Download today and learn about the two most common reasons kids use these apps, how to identify them, and how to give you children age-appropriate levels of privacy without either sacrificing their safety or reputation OR stifling that development.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about COPPA - The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act - a federal law which, both is designed to protect our kids’ online data, AND has established 13 as the age of “Internet adulthood.” Download today and learn more about COPPA’s history, its guidelines, how the concept of Personal information has changed since the Internet happened, and what you can do as a parent to support and supplement the COPPA standards for your kid/s.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about creating social media profiles - often the first thing people see when your profile pops up in platforms, searches or notifications. Creating a positive online profile is an art, and an acquired skill set, and as parents, it is important for us to help our offspring think carefully and critically about what their profile says about them and the audiences for whom it is intended. Download today, and learn more about best practices for photos, how profiles can impact digital citizenship, and the four main  categories in which kids are likely to make mistakes with regard to their profiles.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Byte - the long-awaited (by some) reboot (or sequel depending on who you ask) of the popular though now-defunct, Vine app. Similar to the original Vine app, Byte allows users to film and upload six-second looping videos- however, Byte is piloting a program for revenue sharing that will allow creators to monetize their content in hopes that it will make a bigger splash in the crowded pool of short-form video platforms. Download today to learn about the recent, surprise launch of Byte the appeal and pitfalls of the micro-video platforms – particularly for Generation Z, and some guidelines for dealing with online trolls.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Lipsi - another anonymous app that lets users can accept anonymous feedback from others – more accurately, it allows users  to tell others what they think of them without revealing their own identities. Download today and learn about Lipsi’s connection to Instagram, the concerns you should associate with that and how to talk to kids about anonymous apps.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Whisper - an anonymous, “confessional” app populated by user-created meme-like posts. Download today and learn more about the good and bad of anonymous apps, what sets Whisper apart from other, anonymous apps, the ways in which it makes parental monitoring complicated and why Whisper is the only app of this kind that I endorse for young people.

Got a kid who likes to watch other people play video games? This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Twitch - a livestreaming platform primarily used by gamers, which lets you watch other people play video games, as well as broadcast your own gameplay to the world. Download today and learn about Parenting around this wildly popular platform, its comparison and contrasts to YouTube (including finding out what a TwitchDitch is) and tips how to handle a kid who wants to start livestreaming themselves

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about VSCO, a creative photography app, very similar to Instagram – including its popularity with teens. Download today and learn about what it shares with and what sets it apart from Instagram, its connections to the currently-trendy genre of adolescent girl and its potential benefits for creative kids.  

This week’s APPropriate podcast is an update about Snapchat the wildly popular, insta-texting app that’s marketed directly to teens. The fleeting nature of Snapchat posts, encourage behaviors that can bring heavy consequences to themselves and other people. Download this week's episode to refresh your memory about both the benefits and risks of this popular app, how and why it may be trying to grow itself up a bit AND learn more about the real reasons teens are drawn to this innovative platform, why it is not the number two social networking service and how to manage this phenomenon as a parent.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is an update about Facebook. Download this week's episode to refresh your memory about both the benefits and risks of this popular app, AND learn more about how social networking can be used to manipulate, how irresponsible  use and sharing can impact other people, how susceptible we all are to viral disinformation and a primer of what you and your family need to know as we head into yet another election year.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is an update about Instagram an online photo/ video sharing social networking service that lets users take pictures and videos, alter them digitally in cool and unique ways and share them in sort of an online, streaming scrapbook. Download this week's episode to refresh your memory about both the benefits and risks of this popular app, AND learn more about the differences between the trolls that grown-ups encounter and the ones that teens deal with, why blocking and reporting can make things worse sometimes and the new anti-bullying feature they are implementing, called Restrict.

This week’s APPropriate podcast is an update about Twitter, one of the biggest and arguably the most relevant social networks. Its immediacy combined with its popularity and the possibility of anonymity means that Twitter can bring out both the best and the worst in humans. Download this week's episode to refresh your memory about both the benefits and risks of this popular app, AND learn more about some of the changes it is pioneering to improve the health and control of the conversations, and aid in faster and hopefully more pro-active  takedown of fake accounts and hateful posts.

This week’s episode is about Tango, a messaging app, similar to apps such as WhatsApp and Kik, though describes itself as the “all-in-one” social networking app. Download this week's episode to learn more about Tango, alternatives and best practices for use talking points to hit with your children

This week's episode is about Down- the rebranded version of the android app, Bang with Friends, which was a teen version of Tinder. Listen today to learn more about this popular app’s innovative and modern takes of online dating, it’s connections to Facebook and how to talk about online dating with your kid/s.  

This week's episode is about LIKEE, a free, video creation and editing app which lets users star in their own videos and share them online with a curated fan base. This diverse, skill-sharing platform offers users opportunities to be paid actual funds in exchange for their content. Download today to learn what else your child may be exchanging through this apps Terms of Service, and why you should exercise very specific cautions.  

This week’s APPropriate podcast is about Badoo, a popular social media platform with a stated focus on dating. What it really is, is a hookup app, designed like a dating app, but marketed as social networking. Download this week to learn more about Badoo’s unusual verification policies, use of a People Nearby features and profiles and what they mean for your family.

Blendr is a relatively straight-forward online dating/ hook up app; a location-based app where people can make friends, chat and eventually meet for a date. Listen today to learn more about this app’s connections to both Facebook and Tinder, information about dating apps in general and how to talk about them with your child/ren.

Kik is a fast, simple and personal Smartphone messaging system- similar to old-fashioned, “mortal” texting BUT the app has a built-in web browser and a host of internal, native apps. Even if you've never heard of Kik, chances are that your kid has. In fact, 40 percent of American teenagers have reportedly interacted with the app. Download today to hear about why this app’s appeal and biggest cautions are related to your kids.

With more than 300,000 members around the world, MyLOL promotes itself as the ‘#1 teen dating site in the US, UK Canada and Australia.  MyLOL not the first website to raise adult concern about dating apps aimed at young people. Download today to hear more about this app’s safety measures, suspicious concerns and how to discuss online dating with your teens.