With the years I learned some rules of behavior on internet, but I wonder if there is some kind of extensive guide for parents who are not experienced with technology.

For example, I don’t think content blockers are a good idea for teenagers. It works for kids, but teenagers will find workarounds because parents were lazy about teaching them the dangers and instead used a spyware app.

Here is a bad written list of some obvious rules:

  • Be anonymous
  • Use private social media accounts
  • Do not tell any personal information
  • Use ad blockers
  • Learn to recognize ads
  • Learn to recognize AI generated text and images
  • Learn to recognize scam
  • Understand consent
  • Learn to prevent blackmail
  • Learn to prevent grooming
  • Learn how fake pornography is and the unrespectful content

But I wish there was some kind of step by step guide

  • @[email protected]English
    86•20 hours ago
    • Learn to recognize pishing mail and sms
    • Do not share nude pics of yourself (even not to your boy/girlfriend)
    • Do not upload pics of your face to funny AI apps
    • Learn to recognize and ignore social media trolls
    • Learn netiquette writing style in social media
    • Do not write bad things about colleagues and boss in emails at work
    • Recognize dark shopping patterns such as time counter, discounts, voucher height
    • Recognize fake shops
    • Recognize no returns (Chinese) shops
    • Recognize gambling patterns in games such as loot boxes, rewards and more for real money
    • Understand the money loss through subscription schemes
    • Do not buy now and pay later

    Sorry for this long list. It’s just a terrible place for kids

    • @[email protected]English
      34•19 hours ago
      • Do not upload pictures of your face ANYWHERE, period - including private chats
      • Do not use any name even resembling your real one, or rederencing your known interests
      • If something asks for a phone number, avoid using it
      • If it is mandatory (like for government services) or very hard not to use (like Whatsapp or Telegram), ask the parent first, maybe there is an aliasing solution
      • If the data sharing is mandatory, try digging deeper for alternative options because it may turn out to be not so mandatory
      • Do not post anything political or even remotely questionable in the current climate (should be talked about with the parent), and must understand you can be arrested for pretty much anything and be made an example of
      • Each time an application is installed, think about what data it is able to access, pay attention to permissions
      • Prefer FOSS programs for everything possible
      • Learn to treat a Windows PC or a non-degoogled phone as a fundentally unprivate device and learn to not trust them with personal things (if I were a parent, I’d install a privacy-preserving OS on a device prior to giving it to a kid anyway)
      • @[email protected]English
        7•17 hours ago

        Not even like video calls. People can take screenshots. That’s happened to me in the past. (I was an adult when it occured but my point still stands)

    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      18•20 hours ago

      Thank you !

      Now I should add

      • Learn to recognize malwares
      • Learn to block disturbing people and to ignore haters

      Can you explain what you meant by netiquette and do noy pay later?

      • @[email protected]English
        8•17 hours ago

        There’s a lot of “services” like Klarna where you buy now for payments split over several months. At first glance these often seem ok but they’re essentially loans with credit card interest rates.

        • @[email protected]English
          2•16 hours ago

          If the BNPL offer comes with 0% interest and you pay with debit, or a credit card that you always pay off timely, I don’t see how it can be such a bad thing. Spending your money immediately, especially with the inflation accounted for, a fix $50 over twelve or twenty-four months means you actually came out ahead theoretically, since your money went further.

          The only catch here is of course that vendors will price their goods accordingly, where BNPL or loans will be the only way to afford their goods.

          • @[email protected]English
            5•15 hours ago

            I issue with subscriptions and pay later schemes is, that you loose sight of what you have paid, will pay next weeks/ months and what amount of money you still have left.

            Taking inflation into account for anything that is below 100k and over more than 5 years, is just ridiculous, to say it in plain words, sry.

            In short you live day to day with your money without any planning if you let your cash flow out by itself (subscriptions, loans)

    • CubitOomEnglish
      2•17 hours ago

      Great list, I would just suggest to recognize all dark patterns. It’s not like only shopping sites use them.