Do you know what Streaks are? Snapchat has something they call Snapstreaks that count the consecutive days you send a Snap to the same person. My daughter has some Snapstreaks that are more than 200 days long. To keep a "streak" going both people must send a Snap back-and-forth within 24 hours.
I've learned from the teens I've talked to that Snapstreaks don't necessarily signify a deep or special relationship. The number of "streaks" your kids have going at any one time may surprise you. This happened to me. Tessa (my daughter) and I were headed out on a week-long trip together and I asked that she leave her cellphone at home so as to mitigate some of the tension that sometimes arises between us around the phone. Tessa's first response was to be concerned about her "streaks" — it turns out she had 40 Snapstreaks going. I was shocked. I wondered how she had the time to communicate individually with 40 different people every day. So we discussed it and in fact, she informed me that she sends a Snap to all 40 people at once, sort of like a cc. My co-producer's 17-year-old has 5 Snapstreaks going and when she asked him if he just sends them all the same one, he said no, that he likes to send a personal Snap to each of his 5 friends. What some kids do when they are forced to part with their phones is they give a friend their Snapchat password to have them keep their "streaks" going. Tessa and I had a nice, calm discussion about all this and in the end, she easily agreed to leave her phone at home.
This week we are talking about "streaks' for Tech Talk Tuesday. Here are some questions to get the conversation started:
a snap picture from co-producer Lisa Tabb's teen daughter
As well as our weekly blog, we publish videos like this one every week on the Screenagers YouTube channel
Do you know what Streaks are? Snapchat has something they call Snapstreaks that count the consecutive days you send a Snap to the same person. My daughter has some Snapstreaks that are more than 200 days long. To keep a "streak" going both people must send a Snap back-and-forth within 24 hours.
I've learned from the teens I've talked to that Snapstreaks don't necessarily signify a deep or special relationship. The number of "streaks" your kids have going at any one time may surprise you. This happened to me. Tessa (my daughter) and I were headed out on a week-long trip together and I asked that she leave her cellphone at home so as to mitigate some of the tension that sometimes arises between us around the phone. Tessa's first response was to be concerned about her "streaks" — it turns out she had 40 Snapstreaks going. I was shocked. I wondered how she had the time to communicate individually with 40 different people every day. So we discussed it and in fact, she informed me that she sends a Snap to all 40 people at once, sort of like a cc. My co-producer's 17-year-old has 5 Snapstreaks going and when she asked him if he just sends them all the same one, he said no, that he likes to send a personal Snap to each of his 5 friends. What some kids do when they are forced to part with their phones is they give a friend their Snapchat password to have them keep their "streaks" going. Tessa and I had a nice, calm discussion about all this and in the end, she easily agreed to leave her phone at home.
This week we are talking about "streaks' for Tech Talk Tuesday. Here are some questions to get the conversation started:
a snap picture from co-producer Lisa Tabb's teen daughter
As well as our weekly blog, we publish videos like this one every week on the Screenagers YouTube channel
Many young people are overwhelmed by constant social media use, which can displace important activities like sleep, schoolwork, and friendships. Over 200 school districts are suing platforms like Meta for harms related to social media addiction. The blog covers what problematic social media use is from a clinical perspective and how our kids can talk with a friend (or family member) if they are worried their friend might have some level of problematic use.
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A week ago, Instagram announced changes to its rules for “Teen Accounts.” All new teen users will be defaulted into these accounts, and current teen users will transition over the next two months. Instagram’s head of Products, discussed these changes, and one comment surprised me. She mentioned that teens aged 13 to 16 will need parental permission to have a public account, hoping this would encourage dialogue between teens and parents about social media use. However, I feel this still puts too much responsibility on parents when we need broader societal solutions. I discuss this and the rest of the changes in today's blog.
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We have created a table that compares the 4 most common social media platforms and the specific ways they are similar and different. Spoiler alert, they are way more similar than different. It makes perfect sense since companies see what young people use on other apps and incorporate such features into their own apps.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
