Here are my top tips for staying safe online. It’s a practice not perfection!
Child Line’s Tips
Look at these first, ChildLine is an official, trusted source and goes into a lot of detail https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/staying-safe-online/ they also have a free helpline you can call! The rest of these tips are personalised and my own, and I will have missed details and thoroughness.
Find your balance
It’s helpful to have things you do online that aren’t social media scrolling, it might be gaming, watching funny videos, listening to music, writing blogs, reading articles, or joining online community groups (e.g. Meet Up– I find this is safe because you are not alone and the organisers hold some responsibility over members of the community).
I’ve really benefited with being able to connect with people online, and have at times really struggled. Finding the balance IS hard, especially at the moment when a lot of activity is online, emails and zoom meetings galore! Find which sites work for you, which ones positively and negatively affect your mental health, and start from there.
Apps can tell you which apps you use the most, and you can start to take notes of patterns and I often write down for myself any feelings that come up while I’m online, good and bad!
There are some great benefits to the internet worth exploring before giving it up entirely!
Consider social media breaks
This could be for a whole day, a weekend, or even a few hours. Evenings are a good time to switch off. Remember you really do not need to be contactable 24 hours a day!
If it makes the process feel easier, you could use Do Not Disturb settings on your phone, and have phone calls activated for work calls, doctors or other important people calling. Also if you forget to turn notifications or silent mode back on- in case or family members and friend try to reach you and think you went AWOL, it happens!
Try courses, educate yourself
RSPH (Royal society for Public Health) offer this free course on Looking after your self and finding a balance on and offline, find it here https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-services/e-learning/courses/free-courses/looking-after-your-selfie.html
Safe internet. org includes free resources, videos, quizzes and more
Cyber Security Alliance – from basics to spotting online scammers and reporting cyber crime
Make accounts private
It can help protect you to not give your full name online, you could use a first name only or a screen name. You could have your full name on private accounts, and first name on a public one (private accounts means nobody else except approved followers can see your posts. Sometimes you might want to reach out to a wider audience!)
Speaking from experience of someone who has been harassed online, it can be very difficult to report individuals as they can make several new accounts and make themselves anonymous, even use other people’s identities to fool you/friends to accept friend requests! I do have my full name on Twitter though, it’s just a preference and find it a useful way to be found. Other accounts are (usually) private.
Trust your instincts
Be sure to watch out if anything looks suspicious, you’ll often have a gut feeling if something looks a bit shady or not quite right. Red flags can be hard to detect, there’s some clever internet trolls out there and it’s very simple to create an identity and hide behind it online. Speak to someone you trust if you are ever worried or not sure.
Know how and where to report someone
Here’s how on:
Facebook offical- should be up to date
unofficial site- could have changed since 2018 but it’s thorough for different instances
Twitter offical
Instagram offical
Here’s an interesting article detailing what stalking online looks like
If it’s someone’s account, get your friends to report them too, it directs Facebook/Twitter etc faster and it will be more quickly shut down. I suggest screen shots of all and any troll accounts, any messages they sent, keep a record. If anyone personally threats you and you feel unsafe, definitely consider telling a trusted adult, teachers if at school, or even the police.
Have fun, try not to worry!
Eaiser said than done, I know, I just had to end on a positive note!
It’s quite easy to feel unsure, at best overwhelmed, and at worst unsafe.
I think it’s important to remember there are resources and support out there, you’re really not alone online! Whether you’ve been scammed by email, or faced trolling or abuse, you’re not alone. If you do feel alone, and don’t know where to turn, look to the real world, consider switching off for a while.
It’s okay to not be ok, it’s ok to take your time with it too. Stay safe everyone (:
chronically happy 