Teens and Tumblr

Tumblr has been called, tumblelog and microblogging and if your teen has been talking about wanting a Tumblr account, beware it is another cyber playground for online predators. Tumblr is a social networking site where you can post, blogs, pictures, videos, music, text, quotes from the your cell phone, which is the most popular way, but you can also use your desktop.  Tumblr is really meant for the twenty-something crowd because of its sexual undertones, drugs and language accompanying the posts. Anyone under the age of 13 is prohibited to use Tumblr. This is based on U.S. federal and state legislation.

Tumblr is different from Facebook and MySpace in the idea you are posting more creative images from different media and less text. It is a blogging community on a social networking site. All blogs are public unless you specifically go in and change your settings to private where only your friends can see them. I have heard many times, strangers trying to meet up with teens on Tumblr. If your teen is mature and you decide Tumblr is acceptable for your teen, remember to have parental controls and to talk with him/her about not following any photos which endorse drug use or degrading sexual behavior. These paths can lead to some explicit materials which are not for teens.

Let us know how many parents have let your teens have a Tumblr account and your experience with Tumblr.