Online Sharing Platforms

Most people think about sharing information online through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. But there’s more options than just the common social media sites. Other places to share information online include email, forums, and blogs. The information that you want to share will determine the platform that you will use. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram let you share photos, videos, and other thoughts with friends and the public. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger provide instant text-based communication with other individuals or groups. Email is a staple for more formal communication, particularly in academic and professional spaces. Forums like Reddit give you a place to discuss your interests in specific topics with others in the same community. Each platform has its own unique features and ways of connecting people, making it important for you to understand how they work and how to use them effectively.

Platform Guidelines

Online social spaces operate under a set of rules, both written and unwritten, similar to in-person social spaces. These rules are communicated through an agreement all users must agree to called the Terms of Service (ToS) and Community Standards. The ToS and Community Standards will be presented to you in a window with a check box to indicate that you agree before you are allowed to make an account on any platform. While each platform will have their own specific guidelines, there are common themes found throughout most ToS and Community Standards language.

One important rule found in the ToS for social media websites is an age restriction. Most of the widely used social media sites like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Discord have a minimum age requirement of 13 years old. Some states have laws that require parent consent for minors to use social media. While it may seem enticing to lie about your age online to access content that otherwise would be unavailable to you, these restrictions are in place to protect your safety online. Defying them could cause you to see content that is inappropriate, lead to you having inappropriate interactions with adults that don’t know you’re a child, creating unsafe situations, and you could get caught and have your account banned, losing access to everything you’ve put online. It’s always best to talk to the adults in your life about which platforms are appropriate, and respect the age restrictions.

Terms of Service

The Terms of Service for a social media platform is a legal document that outlines the rules you must follow to use the platform. This covers things like account creation, data usage by the company, and ownership of intellectual property. Essentially, it is a contract that governs your relationship with the owners of the platform. They are long and complicated documents that most people gloss over and blindly agree to. Do your best to be informed about what you are agreeing to before checking the box and moving on.

Community Standards

After agreeing to the Terms of Service during account creation, you will often then be prompted to agree to a set of Community Standards. These are guidelines that define acceptable behavior within the platform community. It aims to ensure a respectful and inclusive environment by forbidding things like hate speech, bullying, and harassment.

Content Policies

The final set of regulations presented to users of a platform is the Content Policy. These policies specify what types of content are allowed or prohibited on the platform. They address issues like copyright infringement, graphic content, misinformation, and spam. Basically these rules dictate what can and cannot be posted, along with disciplinary procedures if the rules are broken. Breaking the content policies could result in your account being put on watch or even banned depending on the severity of the violation.

Acceptable Use Policies

When you log in to your computer at school, you probably don’t notice the fine text on the log-in screen below the space to type in your username. If you were to read it over, you’d notice that this is an Acceptable Use Policy, or AUP. The AUP serves as a guideline that outlines how individuals are expected to use the technological resource responsibly and ethically within the school environment. You may also need to agree to one in various professional spaces. These purposes establish clear behavior expectations, protect network resources and systems, ensure a safe and respectful environment, and define consequences for violating the policy. Basically, AUPs create a framework for responsible technology use, ensuring all users understand their rights and responsibilities within a given digital space.