Tips for setting or updating your privacy settings

As social media users, it’s very important to understand the responsibilities and realities of posting to social media websites and to be aware of program updates and changes. Let’s take a look at recent changes to Facebook.

Facebook has introduced a new timeline layout, which will eventually be rolled out to all users. As always, in response to any Facebook changes, you should check your privacy settings to make sure Facebook has not changed your previously-selected privacy settings. You can check your settings by clicking on the arrow next to “Home” and selecting “Privacy Settings” from the drop down menu.

We highly recommend that you set your “How You Connect” privacy settings to “Friends Only.” We’ve noticed that the default setting will be “Everyone” for the last option: Who can see posts by others on your timeline? Make sure you select “Friends” for that option.

Setting your “Privacy Settings” to “Friends of Friends” opens up a new level of concern, possibly making more of your information public than you would like. Setting your privacy to “Public” does not provide you with any safeguards – your information is just that – PUBLIC! Note: “Cover Photos” in the new timeline format are all PUBLIC – no matter what your privacy settings are.

With the above settings, only “Friends” can see your activity on Facebook and not “Friends of Friends” or any other users. By leaving “Everyone” as your selection for friend requests and messages, you are still able to receive friend requests and messages from people you have not currently “friended.”

Common Facebook Questions
Taken from Facebook’s finding, viewing and interacting with Facebook pages website.

How are Pages different from personal profiles (timelines)?
Profiles (timelines) represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative. 

If I post or comment on a Facebook Page, who can see it?
Facebook Pages for businesses and brands are public spaces. When you post or comment to a public page, a story is published on your Wall and can also be published in News Feeds.

Can a Page see my information if I Like it?
Pages cannot see the profiles (timelines) of people who connect with them, only their profile picture and name. Pages also do not have access to a News Feed with information about the activity of the people who connect with them. Page administrators, however, will be able to see anything you’ve made available as “Public” on your profile (timeline) by visiting your profile (timeline). Pages can communicate with users that like their Page by sending messages. Authenticated Pages may also post status updates, which may appear in the News Feeds of users that like the Page.

What does it mean to “Like” a Page or content off of Facebook?
When you click “Like” on a Facebook Page, in an advertisement, or on content off of Facebook (any website), you are making a connection. A story about your “like” will appear on your Wall (timeline) and may also appear in your News Feed. You may be displayed on the Page you connected to, in advertisements about that Page, or in social plugins next to the content you “like.”

Facebook Pages you “like” may post updates to your News Feed or send you messages. Your connection to the Page may also be shared with Apps on the Facebook Platform. For example, if you go to EGUSD’s website and click on the “follow EGUSD on Facebook” link, you will be prompted to login to Facebook if you haven’t already. Your “Like” will then show up on your Wall (timeline).
To familiarize yourself with more Facebook terminology, click here to visit their glossary.

If you have additional questions about Facebook, please post a comment or send us an email.

“Protecting one’s equipment is not only a matter of personal responsibility but also necessary for protecting the community.” Mike Ribble

For students to practice good digital citizenship, they need to value their privacy and understand how to protect their personal information. Here are a few resources we recommend:

• Protecting Online Privacy and Security – More great resources from Common Sense Media, a curriculum we are currently rolling out in our middle and high school sites.
• My Privacy Quiz – Excellent resource from the Canadian Commission on Privacy.
• Cybersecurity Posters for the Classroom – From Stay Safe Online, a collection of printable posters and lesson resources.
• Identity Theft – What Teens Need to Know - Short video from Highway Quest.
• Do You Really Have a Private Life Online? – Video animation – very informative!

We will continue to add resources on the topic of guarding online privacy.  Please join the conversation and add a comment if you have questions you’d like us to address or additional resources to share with our EGUSD community.

Kamala Harris,  attorney general of California, wrote an excellent piece on cyberbullying for San Jose Mercury News. We encourage you to read the article, but if you’re pressed for time, a couple of standout points include:

California recently enacted two laws criminalizing certain forms of online impersonation and giving school officials the authority to suspend or expel students who engage in cyberbullying. These laws are crucial to promoting safety, but they aren’t enough.”…..

…Ultimately, it is young people themselves who must make the Internet a place of tolerance. They have the most at stake. Their generation is the first to be born into a digital, connected world, and they will have the biggest hand in shaping its contours. I hope we can all affirm that, while the Internet has changed how we interact, it has not fundamentally changed how we should treat one another.”

So how do we get the word out to our students/children that they must be the change?  We warmly invite your input on this important topic. What questions or suggestions do you have? Where can we find strategies, resources, and models that are genuinely bringing about a decline in bullying/cyberbullying?

Many of the parents we meet during our Internet Safety workshops share with us a common concern: They wish they had a better handle on how to make sure their children are using Facebook in ways they will not sooner or later regret. Parents want a complete guide. Their wish has been granted.  Connect Safely has posted a 35-page Parent Guide to Facebook.

Image from ConnectSafely.org

The guide features hands-on, step-by-step instructions and illustrations, as well as parenting points on safety, privacy, and reputation protection. It covers both cellphone- and computer-based use of Facebook and the site’s newest features, including Places, Groups, and the latest privacy updates.

But if you do not have time to download and read through the complete guide, authors Anne Collier and Larry Magid are also providing you with an “at a glance interactive chart” with their recommended privacy settings. A very concise, informative resource!

2WebWatchers would like to thank Microsoft for the excellent free resources they have created on key topics of digital citizenship:

• Digital Citizenship and Creative Content - Excellent set of four lessons for teaching about copyright and more. You’ll need to register to download the handouts, but that process will take less than 30 seconds.
• The Naked Truth: Beware What You Share – Scary – but telling – stats on cyberbullying and sexting - presented on an eye-catching poster:

Image from Microsoft

Thank you, Microsoft!

Image from http://cyberbullying.us

One of our favorite sites for current, research-based information on confronting cyberbullying is the Cyberbullying Research Center. We appreciate the commitment Professors Justin Patchin  and Sameer Hinduja have made to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents.

Here is a sampling of a few resources you might like to add to your cyberbullying toolkit :

• A Student’s Guide to Personal Publishing - This well-designed guide would make a great  double-sided handout for PTO meetings. The guide includes topics central to good digital citizenship:
  • Issues to Consider: audience, anonymity, permanence, copyright, and free speech
  • Potential Consequences
  • Questions to Ask Yourself
  • Guidelines to Publish By
• Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention, and Response - This 5-page Fact Sheet has tips for teachers, parents, and students.
• Dealing with Cyberbully Quiz (for students) and Addressing Cyberbullying Quiz (for parents and teachers) - These online quizzes provide not only the correct answers, but also the research the correct answer is based on.
• Cyberbullying legislation updates and analysis, such as their response to  New Jersey’s recently updated anti-bullying legislation.

How are other states handling bullying? New Jersey made the headlines yesterday with a new law that mandates their school districts to adopt anti-bullying programs and designate anti-bullying specialists to investigate complaints.

The law, known as the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, is considered the “toughest legislation against bullying in the nation,” and demands that all public schools adopt comprehensive anti-bullying policies, increase staff training and adhere to tight deadlines for reporting episodes.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/new-anti-bullying-law-in-effect-for-new-jersey-school-districts#ixzz1Wl6UCa2z.

How does New Jersey’s law compare to California’s anti-bullying legislation? Good question for a classroom discussion, recorded on a Venn diagram. Check out the California Watch article Anti-bullying law expanded to include social networking sites.

What is good cyber citizenship?

Being a good Cyber Citizen means that you use respect and good judgment when interacting with other people online.”

The above definition comes from YouTube’s Safety Center.  We appreciate the efforts YouTube has taken to provide guidelines and resources for parents and educators on the safe and ethical use of their amazing site. In addition to guidelines, the YouTube team has recently posted several excellent videos on digital citizenship issues, such as Detecting Lies and Staying True (available also in Spanish):

We also recommend Staying Clear of Cyber Tricks.

If you’re an Elk Grove teacher and have not used our filter override to view YouTube videos, here’s a link to the instructions.

On Friday, July 8th, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 746, a bill that will allow schools to suspend students who use social networking sites to bully other students. The bill modifies California’s AB 86 (2008), which gave school administrators the authority to discipline students for bullying others offline or online.

The original cyber-bullying law (AB 86) targeted instant messages, text messages and e-mails sent to individuals. It did not apply to comments or pictures posted on social networking sites. For example “Facebook burn pages” did not exist in 2008. They are now a growing disruptive issue today. Burn pages are created by students to harass, ridicule, or embarrass students at particular school sites. As fast as they are taken down, new burn pages pop up. The language of AB 746 would give schools the ability to discipline students for creating these social networking website burn pages.

As stated on the CA Watch Website:

According to the state education code, students who engage in bullying or cyber-bullying face possible suspension and expulsion. Stephanie Papas, a bullying specialist with the California Department of Education, said it’s up to administrators to determine if behavior is “materially disrupting the learning environment,” even if that bullying is happening outside of school.”

As Papas points out, the gray area still exists when the cyberbullying happens outside the school day. Articles such as the California Watch article, point out two sides of the issue: freedom of speech versus student well-being and safety.

So who should be responsible and accountable for cyberbullying? Schools? Parents? Both? This question provides material for classroom debates/essays and dinner table conversation around a serious topic and concern. We would love to hear how you are addressing this issue at school or within your home.

One of our favorite Internet safety organizations - Common Sense Media – has just updated their list of Social Networking Sites for Kids. The organization does an outstanding job of reviewing, ranking, and regularly updating their list of kid-oriented social networks.

According to Caroline Knorr, parenting editor at Common Sense Media, “The key to all of this for parents — for getting the most out of social networking and all technology – is understanding the technology, setting usage rules, setting privacy settings and, most importantly, training your kids to practice responsible online behavior.”

Here’s their latest list:

1. ScuttlePad (2010) Age 7+

Social network with training wheels is safe but limited.

2. Togetherville (2010) Age 7+

Kids’ social site connects to parents’ Facebook friends.

3. WhatsWhat.me (2011) Age7+

Tween social network with top-notch safety features.

4. Yoursphere (2009) Age 9+

Kid-only social network promises to block dangerous adults.

5. Franktown Rocks (2009) Age 10+

Music and social networking combine in safe, cool hangout.

6. GiantHello (2010) Age 10+

Facebook-lite gets a lot right, but watch out for games.

7. GirlSense (2009) Age 10+

Safe, creative community for tween fashionistas.

8. Sweety High (2010) Age 11+

Fun, closed social network for girls is strong on privacy.

9. Imbee (2011) Age 10+

Safer social networking if parents stay involved.

10. YourCause (2009) Age 13+

An easy, fun, socially networked way to fundraise.

If you have any feedback on the above sites, or know of a site that should be added to the list, please jump in and add a comment.