Using social media to communicate effectively with your children: 3 tips
Across the world, there are billions of social media users. People use social media for everything from keeping up with their favourite celebrities to entertaining themselves to learning the day’s news.
Some even use it to post their favorite selfies and pictures (be sure to consider Facetune if you want to make sure your selfies look their best). But another great way to use social media is to communicate with others easily.
In particular, parents can use social media as a great way to communicate with their children and teens, who are more online than ever before. This blog post will go over some tips for using social media to effectively communicate with your children.
Use it to understand them and their passions/interests
Social media allowing for personal expression is one of the many benefits it can provide, and you can often learn a lot about your child from how they use social media, even if they may not be telling you these things directly. Some youth may feel more comfortable sharing things online than in person, and using social media to understand more about your children is common.
A quick visit to most social media platforms can help you learn the things your children enjoy, whether it be sports, Pokemon, art, music, or anything else that they may not talk to you about. Also, conversing with them in a way that they are comfortable with can help bridge any generational gap and help you build an even stronger relationship. Of course, you still want to make an effort to spend time together in person and communicate, but online communication is certainly better than nothing.
Participate, but respect their space
While participating with your child on social media in one way or another can be brilliant for communication, you also need to respect their boundaries. If you are going to engage with their posts, like them, leave comments and things like that, try your best to do it sparingly. If you are constantly engaging with them on their favorite apps and platforms, it can be a little overwhelming for them.
All of their friends and acquaintances will also see this communication in many cases, and you don’t want to embarrass them by shadowing and always being present. Also, refrain from reprimanding your child online, as it is a public place and those types of conversations are better had in private.
Always lead by example
If you communicate with your child on social media, it is important to always lead by example. You need to use social media in a healthy way if you are advising them to do the same. If you make posts or communicate in a way that doesn’t live up to what you are trying to tell them to do, your message might not be very effective.
Your child will be able to see your profiles and posts, just like you can theirs, so it is important to be mature. The better you are able to have a healthy relationship with social media, the better the chances that your child will have the same.
In conclusion, we hope that this article has been able to help you learn a little more about how to effectively use social media to communicate with your children. It might be difficult for some parents to get a hold of, but it can help boost your communication with your child if you need it.