5 Reasons Every Parent Should Beware of Instagram

You think you've got what's hot and trending under control because you use Facebook? Think again. Until I recently experienced one of the latest social media trends through the eyes of my middle-school aged niece, I realized that both you and I have a lot to catch up on. 

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Welcome to Instagram. Until now, I've seen my Facebook friends post photos through Instagram, and I thought it was just a cool and convenient way to share photos, giving it an old-school Polaroid feel. Sure, it is that -- but it's so much more. So here's the lowdown. 

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1. It's Like Facebook 101 for Pre-Teens 
Since Facebook bought Instagram for a mere $1 billion (a fact that my 13-year old nephew chimed in to remind me), it was a no-brainer once I learned more about it that it hit me: Instagram is really a crash course for kids on Intro to Social Networking. Why? Instagram goes one step further than just posting photos out: It has its own social networking service built in. Within seconds, kids learn to comment, like, and check out what all their friends are doing - all within Instagram. Since it's photo-based, it's more than just posting your status in words. It's a "Look what I did" or "Check out what I'm doing" or "See what I got?" or "Guess where I am now" world through instantly posted pictures with a caption. A big wow for me was the bottom line: Kids don't feel like they need a Facebook account. 

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"Why would I?" was the impression I got from my 11-year-old niece when I asked her if she was begging my sister to let her have her own Facebook account. Facebook is out, Instagram is in. That piqued my interest to dive further. 

2. It's Warp Speed Fast 
I guess they had to make the "insta" in Instagram as accurate as possible. Kids click to take a photo with their phone, and with just one more tap, it can be shared out to Instagram. The process was a lot faster than having to take another step to upload and choose a photo to post out on Facebook. And just as fast were the responses to the photos. Double taps on the photo to like them. Wow, I thought back to the days when I was a pre-teen. I had to ask my mom to use the phone. We had usually hours to reflect on anything that may have happened with a friend that day. With Instagram, I could see how a negative photo or comment mixed with the emotions and hormones of middle-schoolers could potentially down-spiral-fast. 

3. Private Setting Still Reveals Personal Info 
There are two simple privacy settings - your account can either be private or public. Private means that only your friends are allowed to see your photos. Public is anyone. But (big BUT) everyone can see your bio. Agh! All these creepy people out there could just be stalking kids Instagram accounts, and quickly learning who didn't get the right lessons on Internet Safety. Kids could be posting private information in their bios, thinking they have a private account. Hopefully they have learned not to write anything too personal such as their home address, a phone number, or what school softball team they play for. 

4. Who Really Are Your Friends? 
A big red flag for me were the number of friends your kids may have quickly. Many kids have at least 200 online friends, and many are friends of friends. But I can also imagine all the kids who just click on people and make them a friend just for the sake of tallying up more friends. That really compromises the meaning of 'friend' to me at an age that friends are really, really important. Before your child sets up an Instagram account, set up your own, even if it's under a fake name, and be sure they make you a friend so you can see what is going on at all times. 

5. It's Highly Addictive 
How popular is it? When I started to type the letter "i" into google, it was the 2nd most popular search suggestion, only trailing the iPhone. I think that's a good indication of saying you and I better get with it. Just keep an eye on how often your child is checking Instagram or any messages. The more you do something in an involuntary way, the more it becomes a habit. Unhealthy tech habits are hard to break - just think about your own! 

What You Should Do About It 
Instagram has restrictions. You're supposed to be thirteen years old to have an account. But honestly, I don't worry about that. We can't keep these things from our kids forever, no matter when you allow your child to start. If it's not Instagram, there will be something else. Take the effort to be aware of what your child is doing on technology -- it should be a privilege. Instill the set of creative thinking, problem-solving, and respect that will carry over from their "real" lives to their online lives. And stay up on what's trending. If you don't have a cool 11-year old niece, then you better go find a good source. 

source: www.yahoo.com

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See the 5 Finalists For Doritos' Crowdsourced Super Bowl Ads

It's that time of year again. While there have been drips and drabs of Super Bowl announcements over the past few weeks and months, the season has begun in earnest with the airing of Doritos' "Crash the Super Bowl" contest.

For the sixth year in a row, the PepsiCo brand is crowdsourcing its ads in the big game. After casting for entries from Oct. 8 to Nov. 16, the brand has settled on the five finalists above. Two of the ads -- one chosen by the people and one by Doritos execs -- will run during the Super Bowl. If the ad scores number one on USA Today's AdMeter, the ad's creator will get $1 million and the opportunity to work with Michael Bay on the next Transformers sequel, which is set to premiere in June 2014. (Second-place on AdMeter nets $600,000; third-place, $400,000.)

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While three of the ads won't make the cut, the creators at least get a $25,000 and a trip to New Orleans to attend Super Bowl XLVII in a private luxury suite at the game.

What do you think? Which is the best and worst ad? Let us know in the comments.

Thumbnail image courtesy of YouTube

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Cats Get Their Own Social Network

Fellow cat owners: ever caught your feline stealing jealous glances at your laptop? Wonder why they keep walking all over your keyboard?

Turns out they're not trying to catch your attention or steal your lap heat. They just want you to get off Facebook so they can have their turn.

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OK, not really -- but the world's smartest pets are long overdue for their own social network. And now, thanks to a couple of developers in Malaysia, they just may have found one worthy of them.

The site in question is Catmoji, the brainchild of Matthew Phiong and Koekoe Loo Wan Koe. "We want to be Facebook for cats," the Penang-based programmers told Betabeat.

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Facebook isn't the first social network you'll think of when you see the design, however. Check it out:

Pinterest, anyone?

Then again, a picture and video-based social network makes a lot of sense when cats are your subject. None of that pesky text that dogs (so to speak) sites such as Catster or United Cats. Given the international appeal of cats -- and the rather shaky English of Catmoji's founders -- that's probably for the best. The site does offer the option to tag and filter cat pics according to their emotion (hence the name).

Catmoji only launched on Christmas Eve, so it doesn't have anything in the way of impressive user numbers just yet. But given its founders' obvious passion for the topic, we'll be keeping one beady kitty eye on its growth.

And if you're thinking you've already seen a parody video along the lines of a feline social network, you might be thinking of this:

It goes on too long, and could do with a little more motion to justify the Stealer's Wheel soundtrack. But these are forgivable sins in the cat video world, it seems; Tom Tom's spherical plastic antics have racked up more than 11 million views.

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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