Vine is a social media application that was designed to be a “video” version of Twitter. The app allows its users to post 6-second videos to their followers and is the most downloaded app on the App Store. The company’s founders put some serious time and money into this app, and they got all they were hoping for. After Twitter Inc. had bought the app for $30 Million, the app was expected to get better and better. The improvements from Twitter Inc. that are most major changes to the algorithm are what boosted Vine up to the top of the charts. But, like everything else, Vine became something that the owners never thought of in their dreams.
The answer to the question “If this is appropriate for underage teens?” would be a definite no. Why? Well, here’s why:
Absurd Amount of Sexual Content
Let’s forget Vine for a second and talk about Twitter. Twitter allows its users to post content whether it is in the form of text, video, or image and everyone already knows where we are going with this. 20% of tweets that are sent out contain content inappropriate for teens. With Vine, the number doubles, in the form of videos. Hashtags like #porn and #sex are pretty famous on the app. The worst thing about Vine is that you don’t have to search for these types of things specifically but you can just stumble upon it through the “Trending” tab. The fact that your teens could stumble upon porn without intending to could prove out to be very dangerous and this could even motivate teens to post similar content of their own. Vine has released the Vine Kids app for underage users, but it’s obvious that that version of the app won’t gain much popularity.
Number of Porn stars on Vine
We have already talked about what happens when people post porn on Vine. Let’s talk about what happens when famous people do the same. Most of you might have heard of a woman by the name of Amanda Cerney. If you don’t, she’s a sensation on Vine, and interestingly, also a sensation on Playboy and Maxim. The danger of this is that a person with a higher amount of fan following is more likely to spread inappropriate content on Vine. Amanda isn’t the only one – there are hundreds and thousands of other Vine celebrities that have similar activities.
Cyberbullying Events
Cyber bullying on Vine is increasing day-by-day events. People posting videos with racial content are very common these days. These videos are often directed towards a certain religion or country. Other than that, there have also been cases where those videos are directed towards an individual – usually a teen being abused by peers. Cyberbullying on Vine has also caused several cases that caught the attention of FBI where FBI ended up taking assistance from Vine to arrest the fugitives.
What can Parents do?
Vine isn’t an inappropriate app, per say. The company makes huge efforts to try to stop things that could make a child do things they normally wouldn’t do. There are several efficient ways to use Vine. Vine has been used for educational purposes and still is. There are several “Viners” like King Bach and Anwar Jibawi that are pretty funny and are probably good if you want your teen to take some time off every once in a while. But, it isn’t a totally safe app. You should make sure that you know exactly who your child talks to on Vine and who is it they’re following, and what type of content they post.
Checking your child’s phone every once in a while can’t hurt, but most teens have passwords so that no one can snoop in on their phones while they are gone. Thus, the best way for teens to keep track of their child’s Vine account would be TheOneSpy. TheOneSpy is the best spy app available in the market today and contains all the necessary features that you could need to keep your child safe. The best feature is GPS location monitoring. It can track your child anywhere they go so you can know their exact whereabouts at all times. It can check all the social networking platforms on your child’s device and copy the content to your account. It can keep an eye on your child’s browsing history and help you block websites that you think are inappropriate for them. These are just some of the best and most productive uses of TOS. There are tons more than can help you keep your teen safe from the predators looking to groom their child inappropriately and help them become the best versions of themselves.
