Why tumblr is bad for you

In January , more than million unique visitors from around the world accessed the site. So, just what is Tumblr? They can be a simple photo, an inspirational quote, a GIF, or even a single sentence.

When you find someone you like or someone you know, you can follow their account. Many people use Tumblr to discover new things — fan art, photography inspiration, memes, and more. Subcultures are common on the platform, creating communities of users that provide safe spaces for each other.

Like any social media, the main dangers to kids include viewing inappropriate content and messaging with strangers. As a niche platform, Tumblr has darker pockets of content ranging from self-harm to depictions of explicit sexual activity. Users can set their search so explicit content will not show in their search results using these directions from Tumblr.

Teach them how to mark their posts as private. While all primary profiles are public on Tumblr, users can set individual posts as private as a way to protect their information. Explain how and when to block other users.

Remind your teen when they should block someone and how to protect themselves from online strangers. Then, teach them how to block users when they need to. Tell them you need to be involved. Teens can easily find blogs that include pictures and posts about drinking, smoking, and drugs, especially marijuana. Parents need to know that that this online hangout is hip and creative but too raunchy for tykes.

The microblogging site and app showcases a range of user-generated content including product ads, racy images, depictions of drug use, and plenty of offensive language. Though the keyword search does block terms such as "porn," "f--k," and "sex," curious kids could stumble upon racy, and even raunchy, images and writings. There's really everything under the sun here -- positive and negative. The terms of service specify that Tumblr should not be used by children under 13, but the app stores rate it as mature and for 17 and older.

Note that posts are public by default and there's only one privacy setting which is only available on the website -- not the app: Users can turn off the option to let others find their blog through an email address. As of , there's a "Safe Mode" that users can toggle on and off that filters out racier content, but there's no lock or gate to keep teens from changing the setting. As of , there's also a group chatting feature in the Tumblr app.

Add your rating See all 40 parent reviews. Add your rating See all 90 kid reviews. After setting up an account on TUMBLR, users are presented with several suggested blogs to follow or can search by keyword to find blogs; they can also create short blogs, or "tumblelogs.

They can reblog other users' posts so they show up on their personal blogs. By tapping a smiley face icon, users can chat with bloggers they follow.

If they don't disable push notifications, users will receive notifications when their blogs have been liked or reblogged. Though it's a potentially creative outlet where teens can connect with others, it also has a lot of mature content and almost no privacy options. Think of it as a superblog, a streaming scrapbook of text, photos, videos, and audio clips, offering information a wide variety of topics.

For example, there are how-to blogs about eating disorders and also support-oriented blogs about preventing them. The lack of a commenting feature, the oldest blog tool in the world, is rather annoying.

But the look is sleek and the features Tumblr has are often inspired. Users can curate their followings according to their tastes. Reading on the phone or tablet is easy and appealing, and posting quick blogs-on-the-go is super easy, with a graphical interface for entering text, images, quotes, links, videos, or simply a "hello" greeting.

The snazzy microblogging platform has something for everyone -- except kids. Lowbrow humor abounds alongside more thoughtful content. Users should be aware that the option to chat with other users opens up possibilities for teens to have contact with anonymous adults. It's also important to note that, in the app, there's no way to prevent people from finding your posts by searching for your email address, so the site actually provides more flexibility within the settings.

Overall, Tumblr promises good, naughty fun for the under crowd and can be a solid venue for self-expression, but parents should think twice about letting minors join. Families can discuss the wisdom of older teens joining a site such as Tumblr, which seems to have been created largely by and for somethings.

The content is by turns refreshing, juvenile, inscrutable, and sexually provocative. Families can talk about how to responsibly use social-networking sites -- and how to react if someone posts something inappropriate. Set some rules for what is and isn't appropriate for your teens to communicate and post online.

Explain to your kids that inappropriate online activity even under a fake username can harm their reputation. Logged in and still not seeing content? This course may not be part of your membership plan.

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