Kik was first released in 2009 by a bunch of students from a Canadian University looking to revolutionize people’s communication with their Smartphones. Kik was a joke when it was first released, but it gained popularity and swept the web. It gained a million users in a week which says a lot about the app. Kik has a friendly interface, easy-to-use, and is just a traditional texting app. But it could not stay that way for long. Kik has now become the go-to app for minors. Why is that? We are just about to discuss that very thing here.
Before Installing Kik Messenger App
If you look at the Kik messenger app in the Play Store or the App Store, it seems like a pretty decent app with positive reviews. However, if you browse down and look at some of the comments on the app, you will find:
“17 and single looking for someone to talk to” or maybe something like “Hi, I’m John looking for a dirty chat”.
Honestly, if you ask me that might be half the reason the app has gained so much popularity. According to an estimate, almost 60% of the users’ ages 17 to 18 on Kik are teens. Combine the comments, and our estimate looks like a recipe for disaster.
The app is controversial because an 8-years old child can create an account and text messaging and share media and private information with anyone online. So, parents need to worry about apps like Kik on their kids’ cellphones connected to cyberspace.
What Do You Need For Signing Up On Kik Messenger App?
Nothing, well, almost nothing is required to sign up on Kik. All you need is a name, a username, an email address, and your date of birth. It may be the reason the app is as inappropriate as it is today. Google Play Store or the App Store clearly states that Kik messaging app is a 17+ app. However, you only need to be 13+ years of age to sign up, and even if you’re 8 years old, you can sign up to Kik. Kik’s algorithm does not verify the date of birth that their users provide, making it very easy for anyone to lie about their age, and having a fake name and picture is something that we don’t even have to discuss – people have been doing that for years.
What Can People Do With Kik Messaging App?
We have already talked about how easy it is to be Channing Tatum on Kik let’s talk about what happens after you sign up. You can search for your friends using their Kik Username, and that’s the second problem right there. The fact of the matter searches anyone on Kik by just putting in their username and texting them is troubling for many reasons. This feature reported to be used by advertising agencies that pay people to be around and search up random names and send them stuff, and this is just the beginning of the things you can do with Kik.
What Are The Horrible Controversies Surrounding Kik?
There have been several convicted pedophiles that claimed to have used Kik to force children to do things they don’t normally do.
A convicted felon did as far as to claim that he could sign up on Kik at that moment, and within 20 minutes, he would have everything he wanted, including images and videos.
In February 2016, Kik Messenger became the talk of the town. An 18-year-old has used social messaging and contact the victim,
“Nicole Lovell, just a few weeks before she was kidnapped and murdered. Kik Interactive claimed that they helped the FBI to catch the murderer, after which Kik went from a 9+ app to strictly 13+.
Top Controversies Kik Messaging App Has Surrounded With:
Here are the following things that have made the Kik messaging app so controversial and a Red Flag for the online safety of children:
Cyber bullying is one of the controversies Kik messaging app has surrounded since it launched for everyone. Young kids are more likely to create an account on Kik messaging app. Young underage teens can send and receive text messages, photos, pre-designed cards, and multimedia sharing.
Kik empowers teens to use their user-name to keep their identity anonymous is a greater risk for online bullies –for sending body-shaming, slut-shaming, and abusive messages. Online predators can send sexually explicit messages and images to lure teens into grooming them sexually.
So, online stalkers target teens and try to catch teens by sexting to meet them in person after a couple of meetings on a social networking app, like Kik.
So, stranger danger is always there for underage teens. The social networking app enables online predators to bully young kids online, blackmail young teens, humiliate, and control the victim.
What Parents Should Do? Rather Than Worrying About!
Dialogue is one of the best ways to start with; you can talk to your teens and young kids. Slamming their device would not be a good idea. Guide your kids to protect you through the software that doesn’t disturb their digital citizenship and safeguards them from inappropriate activities and online threats.
You can talk to kids about the online dangers and how online predators can trap them. Children should know why parents are curious to see their activity on a social messaging app like –Kik by using the Kik spy app.
Set Up Parental Controls With Kik Monitoring App
TheOneSpy is one of the best parental control monitoring apps for cellphones, and tablet devices. Parents can install it on kids cellphone connected to the cyberspace, and active with the Kik messaging app. Here are the things parents can do to safeguard kids rather than worry about kids on Kik.
- Use the screen-time feature to block the Kik messenger app for a limited time.
Block Kik messenger from 1 hour up to 12 hours
- Record live cellphone screens in real-time and record phone screen videos.
Download videos from the TheOneSpy dashboard to see what kids are up to
- Capture live screenshots on a cellphone screen and schedule multiple screenshots.
Download captured screenshots to see kids’ activities on Kik messaging app
- Use keystrokes logging to capture IM keystrokes, passwords, and chat on Kik.
Read Kik messenger chat logs to see what they are talking about with friends online
- Use the multimedia feature to view the photos and videos sent and received on Kik.
Multimedia monitoring allows you to prevent sexting and sexual explicit image
- Block internet, and block text messages features remotely when kids are in danger.
Block sending and receiving messages, and block internet to prevent kids from kik
Conclusion:
Regardless of what Kik does anymore, make its algorithm strong. It should provide its users with all sorts of security that it needs and have already created a reputation among predators and child molesters. Thus, it is imperative for every single caring and responsible parent out there to look after their children. Further, keep an eye on them if they use an app as dangerous as this one.
