Social web

The internet gives the children and the young an opportunity for expressing themselves and meeting other like-minded. The idea of the social media is to create content together, or at least share it with other users. Examples of social media are e.g. social network sites, blogs, discussion boards, sites for sharing videos and images.

Social media is typified by networking and discussing with other users. Posting photos, videos and texts for others to comment on is an important part of the social media. The threshold for publishing is often low, and often there is no censorship for the content to be published. However, it is possible to report illegal or disturbing content to the maintainers of most websites.

When using the services of the social media, it is important to remember a few key issues about using the web:
good manners, criticism of sources and protection of personal data. However, sometimes it is difficult to avoid problems. Read more about web bullying and sharing personal data online. If your child wants to meet an online friend face-to-face, read more about the subject here.

Adolescents in Finland favour photo galleries, in particular. The most popular one is the national IRC-Galleria (www.irc-galleria.net). The basic idea of photo galleries is that users post photos of themselves for others to comment. The IRC-Galleria also has groups where users can discuss a common subject. Other examples of social media services are:

• www.city.fi - web community for young adults
• www.Suomi24.fi - web community
• www.habbohotel.fi - virtual world
• www.kuvake.net - photo gallery
• www.ii2.org - photo gallery
• www.facebook.com - a site intended for maintaining social networks
• www.myspace.com - a site intended for maintaining social networks
• www.secondlife.com - virtual world
• www.wikipedia.fi - free encyclopaedia
• www.youtube.com - platform for sharing videos