American Girls (50 page)
Authors: Nancy Jo Sales
Jim Taylor, Ph.D.,
Raising Generation Tech: Preparing Your Children for a Media-Fueled World
Sherry Turkle,
Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other
Social media platforms your children are probably using
Ask.fm - a Q&A-style platform where users post personal information and invite others to ask questions and make comments, which they can do anonymously
Facebook - a social networking site where users create profiles featuring pictures and personal information, including geographic information. The platform allows for communication between profiles, creation of groups and events, and offers a stream of “friend activity” via a newsfeed.
GroupMe - a mobile app that offers free group text messaging. It allows for easy exchange of pictures, videos, and Web links. Users can also send private messages, but only to someone who also has the GroupMe app.
iMessage - Apple's proprietary instant-messaging service, which allows sending of text, photo, video, and audio messages from the iOS platform and features group messaging
Instagram - photo- and video-sharing social media app where users create profiles, follow other profiles, and comment on and like images or videos. Unlike on Facebook, following a profile on Instagram is not symmetrical, so connections are not always mutual. In addition to posting content publicly, a user can also privately share photos or videos with one of his or her followers or a group of followers. Instagram profiles can be made private, requiring the user to give permission before someone can begin viewing their content.
Kik Messenger - an instant-messaging service available on mobile phones. Users can remain anonymous on this platform.
Periscope - a live video-streaming app. The streaming video can be made public or viewable to only certain users.
Pinterest - a social network that allows users to visually share and discover new interests by “pinning” images or videos to their own or others' boards and browsing what other users have pinned. Functions as a sort of online mood board.
Reddit - an entertainment, social networking, and news website where registered community members can submit content, such as text posts or direct links in the manner of an online bulletin board system
Snapchat - a photo- and video-messaging app where images are sent to a specific follower and then disappear after a set amount of time, or are available as a “story” that is broadcast to all of the user's followers for twenty-four hours. Users add each other as friends or follow stories of fellow users. Snapchat users receive immediate information on who has opened their Snaps or watched their Snapchat Stories.
Tinder - a location-based dating app that facilitates communication between mutually interested users, allowing matched users to chat. Users swipe right (interested) or left (not interested). Once a match is made, the users can begin messaging each other inside the Tinder app.
Tumblr - a micro-blogging platform and social networking website for sharing and following user-generated content
Twitter - a social networking service that allows users to broadcast short posts of 140 characters or fewer called tweets. Users can also broadcast photos and videos in their tweets. As on Instagram, users have followers and follow other profiles, but the connection is not always mutual.
Vine - a video-sharing platform of looped files between three and six seconds long
Yik Yak - an app for participating in anonymous discussion threads within a five-mile radius
YouTube - a video-sharing website. Users can create profiles and channels, which other users subscribe to in order to see updates. Users can also leave comments on video posts.
What we mean when we talk about sexism on social media
agency - Independence of choice and action, self-definition and self-direction
double standard - A set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another; especially a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than it does to men
feminism - The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities; a political discourse and movement aimed at transformation away from patriarchy and toward a society free from gender oppression
media - The main means of mass communication (especially television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet) regarded collectively
misogyny - Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women
objectification - When a person is defined by her/his sexual attributes and the rest of her/his personality and existence are ignored; objectification involves the reduction of a person to an object for someone else's gaze or pleasure
patriarchy - A society or social system that is controlled by men or in which men hold a disproportionate share of the power
rape culture - A society in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender, sex, and sexuality
sexism - Prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex
sex-positive - The idea that all sex and expressions of sexuality, as long as they are healthy and explicitly consensual, are positive things. Sex positivity stresses informed consent and agency within one's own sexuality and aims to remove stigma and shame from all sexual choices.
sexual harassment - Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
sexualization - When a person's value is defined by his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics, or when a person is made into a object for others' sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision-making. Sexualization also occurs when sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person.
slut-shaming - Attacking a person for being sexual, having one or more sexual partners, acknowledging sexual feelings, and/or acting on sexual feelings, especially as pertains to the sexual activity of girls and women (see double standard)
victim-blaming - When the victim of a crime, an accident, or any type of abusive maltreatment is held to be wholly or partially responsible for the wrongful conduct committed against her or him
War on Women - An expression used in United States to describe certain Republican Party policies and legislation as a wide-scale effort to restrict women's rights, especially reproductive rights
Resources for Parents
Child Mind Institute
The Child Mind Institute addresses mental health and learning disorders in children and offers resources that empower parents, professionals, and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most.
Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media is dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology.
www.âcommonsâensemedia.âorg
Connect Safely
Connect Safely educates users of connected technology about safety, privacy, and security.
Girls, Inc.
Girls, Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold by providing experiences and solutions to the unique issues girls face.
Girls Leadership
Girls Leadership teaches girls the skills to know who they are, what they believe, and how to express it, empowering them to create change in their world.
www.âgirlsleâadership.âorg
Netsmartz
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provides online safety resources for parents and teens.
On Guard Online
OnGuardOnline.gov is the federal government's website to help you be safe, secure and responsible online. It includes resources that address protecting children online.
www.âonguarâdonline.âgov
Webwise
Webwise is an Internet safety awareness center based in Ireland. The resources on the site crossover seamlessly for American parents and teens.
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