Social Media
About:
Facebook is a social media network that connects people through an online platform. By sharing content like text status posts, images, videos, and external links like blog posts, Facebook users can contribute ideas and join conversations with other people who share the same or different interests.
Age Requirement:
To be eligible to sign up for Facebook, you must be at least 13 years old.
Useful Links:
- Facebook’s Safety Centre
- Facebook’s Bullying Prevention Hub
- Facebook’s Safety Tools
- Facebook Reporting Tools
- How to report underage users
- Facebook’s Community Standards
- Facebook’s Terms of Use
About:
Instagram is a free photo and video sharing app available on iPhone and Android. People can upload photos or videos to our service and share them with their followers or with a selected group of friends. They can also view, comment and like posts shared by their friends on Instagram.
Age Requirement:
To be eligible to sign up for Instagram, you must be at least 13 years old. Anyone 13 and older can create an Instagram account by registering an email address and selecting a username.
Useful Links:
- Instagram Help Centre
- Tips for Parents
- How to report things on Instagram
- Instagram Community Guidelines
- Instagram Terms of Use
- How to delete your Instagram account
- Information on Law enforcement
About:
Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to communicate in short messages called tweets. Many people use Twitter for news, as well as to follow their friends, favourite celebrities or brands.
Age Requirement:
13 years +
To sign up for Twitter, you must verify that your age is over 13.
Useful Links:
TikTok
About:
TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to express themselves through dancing, lip-synching, comedy sketches, makeup tutorials, and by telling stories about their lives in short videos that can be shared with others in the TikTok community. Videos are between 15 seconds and three minutes long. There are also a range of TikTok Influencers who create videos which get viewed millions of times.
Age Requirement:
13 years +
To sign up for TikTok, you must verify that your age is over 13.
Useful Links:
- TikTok’s Safety Centre
- TikTok’s Guardians Guide
- TikTok’s Safety and Privacy Controls
- TikTok’s Community Guidelines
- TikTok’s Terms of Use
YouTube
About:
YouTube is a video-sharing website that is owned by Google. There are a range of safety features such as reporting tools and restricting access to inappropriate content in Safety Mode.
Age Requirement:
13 years +
In order to create a YouTube account, you must be at least 13 years old.
It is possible to watch videos without registering an account, but you would not be able to post your own videos.
Useful Links:
- Privacy and safety centre
- Parental controls
- Information on reporting
- YouTube’s community guidelines
- YouTube’s Terms of Use
About:
WhatsApp is a free mobile messaging app which allows users to send and receive messages, images and videos to their existing phone contacts, using an internet connection. WhatsApp users can create groups and send messages to lots of their friends at the same time.
WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted meaning that only the sender and recipient can see the contents of a message.
Age Requirement:
16 years +
To be eligible to sign up for this service, you must be at least 16 years of age.
Useful Links:
Snapchat
About:
Snapchat is a messaging app that is popular with teenagers which allows them to share user-generated photos, texts and videos which only last on screen for a matter of seconds, these are called ‘snaps’.
Once a snap is sent to someone else, it can last on the screen of the receiver for between 1 and 30 seconds before disappearing. Users can also add images or videos to their story for their followers to see for 24 hours.
Age Requirement:
13 years +
To be eligible to sign up for Snapchat, you must be at least 13 years old.
Useful Links:
- Snapchat’s Safety Centre
- Advice for parents and educators
- Information about reporting
- Snapchat’s Community Guidelines
- Snapchat’s Terms of Use
Be Real
About:
BeReal is a photo-sharing application that allows users to post one photo per day to show their followers what they are doing in real-time. The BeReal app focuses on authenticity and asks users to be real. Users receive a notification at a random time once a day saying ‘Time to BeReal’. This opens up a two-minute window for the user to post a picture of what they are currently doing. The purpose of this is to capture an authentic, unfiltered snapshot of a user’s life.
Age Requirement:
13 years +
Useful Links:
Discord
About:
Discord is a free app for mobile and PC that lets people chat via text, voice, or video in real time. It also includes access to discussion boards. It can also be an easy-to-use group-chatting tool for friends.
Age Requirement:
13 years +
Useful Links:
Wizz
About:
Wizz is a free social networking app that enables users to chat live online with strangers from around the world. It features a swiping system in users can browse through profiles to choose someone to chat with, similar to popular dating apps for adults, such as Tinder. Although the app is free, there are paid subscriptions available. Wizz – It connects strangers with common interests so primarily is a friend-finding chat app, allowing a pair of individuals or groups to talk and exchange gifs, pictures, and videos.
Age Requirement:
16 years +
Useful Links:
Chat GPT
About:
ChatGPT is a computer programme which uses artificial intelligence (AI) bot which interacts in a conversational way. Tt gathers large amounts of data from the internet to create responses on demand and the dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. ChatGPT is unique because its answers are in conversational format, similar to how people write and speak. It can write essays and computer code, solve math problems, and much more.
Age Requirement:
No age restriction – this is a website
Useful Links:
- How Chat GPT Can Help Kids Explore New Ideas And Concepts
- Is Chat GPT Good For Kids’ Education?
- Guide to ChatGPT for Parents and Caregivers
Gaming
Call of Duty
About:
The Call of Duty games are all first person shooter games set in war zones.
Age Certification:
The age certification is PEGI-18. For more information please visit www.pegi.info
Useful Links:
FIFA
About:
FIFA is a simulated football game, where gamers can choose to play as their favourite real-life footballers in their favourite real-life teams. The first edition of FIFA was released by EA in 1993. Since then, it has become an annual game, with a new version being released every year to stay up to date with current football trends and introduce new mechanics to keep the game fresh.
Each new edition of FIFA has a companion app released alongside it. Both are highly anticipated by fans of the game. It is available in a Standard Edition and an Ultimate Edition for those who want an enhanced experience.
Age Certification:
The age certification of FIFA is PEGI-3. For more information visit www.pegi.info
Useful Links:
FIFA
About:
In Fortnite, players collaborate to survive in an open-world environment, by battling other characters who are controlled either by the game itself, or by other players.
Age Certification:
The age certification of FIFA is PEGI-12. For more information visit www.pegi.info
Useful Links:
Grand Theft Auto – GTA
About:
Grand Theft Auto is a game whereby gamers control criminals and attempt to increase their standing by completing missions in various virtual cities.
Age Certification:
The age certification of FIFA is PEGI-18. For more information visit www.pegi.info
Useful Links:
Roblox
About:
ROBLOX is an online game platform and game creation system that allows users to create their own content and games, as well as allowing them to play games created by other users. To agree to Roblox’s terms you need to be 18 or have parent’s/guardian’s permission to agree to them. However, you can be any age to have an account. Players aged 12 and younger have their posts and chats filtered for unsuitable content and to stop personal information from being posted. Account holders can stop who can chats with them and chat can be disabled.
Age Certification:
The age certification of Roblox is PEGI-7. For more information visit www.pegi.info
Useful Links:
Minecraft
About:
Minecraft is a 3-D computer game where players can build anything. The game which has been described as like an ‘online Lego’ involves building blocks and creating structures across different environments and terrains. Set in a virtual world the game involves resource gathering, crafting items, building, and combat. It’s one of the most popular games in the world right now and can be an excellent way for kids to learn about creativity and working together. Minecraft can be played on computers, phones, tablets and consoles. The game can cost around €20.00 depending on what device you are using it on.
Age Certification:
The age certification of Minecraft is PEGI-7. For more information visit www.pegi.info
