Official Review: The Social Tattoo

[Dolor]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Social Tattoo" by Kelly Williams - Richardson.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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It is rampant nowadays to see very young children who have not yet learned how to read but are adept at navigating around devices like an iPad, or an iPhone. While some parents are not as tech-savvy as their children, they must gain enough knowledge to monitor their children's behavior on social media and grab the opportunity while it is easier to monitor, to set ground rules and to ensure that the children’s social experiences stay positive, safe, and enriching.

How do we prevent our children from getting a ‘Social Tattoo’? The Social Tattoo: A Parent’s Guide to Social Media by Kelly Williams - Richardson is a comprehensive guide to the good, the bad, and the ugly of social media; at the same time, it looks at the overall picture, offering advice, tips on management and a few handy cheats. It walks us through a vast of knowledge presented in a simplistic array of the topics that could help us keep our kids safe and teach them how to leave positive digital footprints. At the end of the book, there is a list of the most popular social media sites and what they are used for, and a number of slang words featuring the most popular social or text acronyms. It also includes The Social Tattoo Agreement which can be printed for free in A4 format. Written above are the things this book has, which makes it shine the brightest among the books and the blogs of the same genre. This nonfiction book was published by Spiderwize in 2018. It has 44 standard pages (134 pages on eReader Prestigio); 250 words per page.

As a parent of two kids (14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son), who are on social media, I occasionally monitor my kids online because I am aware of the perils of the virtual world - trolls, bullies, pedophiles, and sexual predators.  The worst scene is that they might accidentally get into websites which stream porn videos and promote suicide challenges. Being added to their Facebook accounts, I could receive notifications whenever they post and interact with their peers. I send them private messages to discuss and to give pieces of advice whenever I could smell something fishy on their posts, likes, shares, and comments. I had warned them of stranger-danger, too.

Generally, I am already aware of the topics in this book since I had learned them by surfing online. I had downloaded an app which sends notifications of the new apps and games. I had been on social media, in forums, and in chat rooms where I had known those slang words, social texts, and acronyms. What I have just known for reading this book are the results of the surveys revolving around social media that the author conducted in schools. The knowledge I had about the book's topics does not deviate the book's value. This is such a great compilation to educate those parents who need more knowledge about social media, devices settings, and internet navigation.

I laud the author for her efforts in writing every little details that parents need to guide the children from the emotional and psychological stresses of social media - most especially the social media manners, to prevent the children from getting a ‘Social Tattoo’ which could possibly damage their future career and those possible events that might cause them regrets. The author gives emphasis to avoid the ‘Social Tattoo’ (which is like a body tattoo) that leaves a scar even if lasered out. I love the author's simplistic, conversational writing style that even the lay people could easily understand. Another thing I love about this book is that it's not demanding the parents to strictly implement the author's guidelines. In fact, it encourages communication with the children and suggests family bonding activities.

There is nothing I don't like in this book. The true-to-life examples were given the full details the moment they were re-mentioned. The errors ranging from a missing word and the few missing punctuations did not hinder the reading flow and my enjoyment. This makes The Social Tattoo: A Parent’s Guide to Social Media by Kelly Williams - Richardson deserving of the perfect 4 out of 4 stars rating. I recommend this book to the general crowd because it is a wholesome eye-opener. The message of this book is that it is never too early to get good practices in place and it is our social responsibility to take note and to share.

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The Social Tattoo
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Like Dolor's review? Post a comment saying so!

[stacie k]

What a relevant and helpful book for today’s world! I, too, am a parent of teens and can easily fall behind them with the multitude of social media options available. This issue can create fear in a parent, so a tool like this book can be helpful to educate and empower families to be safe in their use of the internet. Thank you for a thorough review!

[Dolor]

What a relevant and helpful book for today’s world! I, too, am a parent of teens and can easily fall behind them with the multitude of social media options available. This issue can create fear in a parent, so a tool like this book can be helpful to educate and empower families to be safe in their use of the internet. Thank you for a thorough review!

You're welcome.

Yes, parents need to be educated first and foremost about the upsides and downsides of social media. This book focuses more on the downsides and gives light to parents through real examples of tragic incidents online.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a piece from your mind.

[Laura Ungureanu]

More people should read this book. The internet is not something all good. I think that it should be reduced for children. When I was 13, and the internet started to become what it is, my father monitored my activities. And I remember he didn't let me stay more than 3 hours on the internet. Today it is harder to stop children, the internet being everywhere. So I think everyone would really benefit from reading this book.

[Dolor]

More people should read this book. The internet is not something all good. I think that it should be reduced for children. When I was 13, and the internet started to become what it is, my father monitored my activities. And I remember he didn't let me stay more than 3 hours on the internet. Today it is harder to stop children, the internet being everywhere. So I think everyone would really benefit from reading this book.

Yes, both the parents and the children should be aware of the dangers online. Nowadays, parents are so into their careers. To stop the children from intervening their busy world, they give them an iPad or an iPhone perhaps to enjoy movies and games. When the children get fed up with those apps, they explore more. Chances are, they might accidentally get into those websites with inappropriate contents.

Reducing screen time, as you mentioned, is also one of the options this book suggests.

[Samanthajayne12]

This book is such a good idea! I hate to see parents keeping their small children quiet by giving them a phone or an iPad! Children become interested in social media at such a young age now and it's not healthy.

[Dolor]

This book is such a good idea! I hate to see parents keeping their small children quiet by giving them a phone or an iPad! Children become interested in social media at such a young age now and it's not healthy.

Thanks for sharing what's on your mind about this topic. Let's not forget the social media has upsides and downsides.

This book switches the light bulbs on the minds of the parents by proper guidance and monitoring including screen time moderation.

[kandscreeley]

I haven't heard that phrase before but I like it. "A social tattoo." I think that describes it perfectly. It's hard, I'm sure, to make the decision between monitoring your child and invading their privacy. Plus, you do have to be familiar with the technology. This sounds like a pertinent book in our society today. Thanks!

[Dolor]

I haven't heard that phrase before but I like it. "A social tattoo." I think that describes it perfectly. It's hard, I'm sure, to make the decision between monitoring your child and invading their privacy. Plus, you do have to be familiar with the technology. This sounds like a pertinent book in our society today. Thanks!

It's when the children are younger that the parents have the highest possibility to influence their decisions and to take control of the situation.

The author said, being open enough to the children and having an agreement with the children in the first place about the issue won't be an invasion of their privacy. It's when parents just sneak in to privately investigate and get caught that the children will feel invaded.

[Cristina Chifane]

I know that teenagers can be fervent defenders of their privacy, so it is often very difficult for parents to reach out to them. This is why I think parents should pay a lot of attention to developing a good relationship with their children form an earlier age. I have to congratulate you for everything you seem to have already known about the topics dealt with in this book. Your children are definitely lucky and I am glad you reviewed this book because many more parents could read it and benefit from all the information. Thank you!

[cpru68]

Even though we probably could go online and read about tips on how to keep our kids safe, I think a book is also relevant because a lot of older people have not all jumped in to the technology society that we are. As an older person, I have adapted myself to being online and using apps and such, but I have learned a lot of what goes on from my own kids. One of the things I told my kids was this: consider the internet like a large mall. You wouldn't go into the mall and start having a conversation with complete strangers. But, I realize that in today's age of internet, there are ways that kids can stumble into things which then can turn in to hiding the truth from the family. The book sounds great, and I think I am going to add it to my want to read shelf. I have a daughter who is a pretty popular YouTuber, and without me allowing her to use the internet when younger, I don't know if she would be where she is today. There has to be a balance to all things. The title of this book is very powerful. Thank you for your review.

[Dolor]

I know that teenagers can be fervent defenders of their privacy, so it is often very difficult for parents to reach out to them. This is why I think parents should pay a lot of attention to developing a good relationship with their children form an earlier age. I have to congratulate you for everything you seem to have already known about the topics dealt with in this book. Your children are definitely lucky and I am glad you reviewed this book because many more parents could read it and benefit from all the information. Thank you!

Thanks for the compliment.

[Dolor]

Even though we probably could go online and read about tips on how to keep our kids safe, I think a book is also relevant because a lot of older people have not all jumped in to the technology society that we are. As an older person, I have adapted myself to being online and using apps and such, but I have learned a lot of what goes on from my own kids. One of the things I told my kids was this: consider the internet like a large mall. You wouldn't go into the mall and start having a conversation with complete strangers. But, I realize that in today's age of internet, there are ways that kids can stumble into things which then can turn in to hiding the truth from the family. The book sounds great, and I think I am going to add it to my want to read shelf. I have a daughter who is a pretty popular YouTuber, and without me allowing her to use the internet when younger, I don't know if she would be where she is today. There has to be a balance to all things. The title of this book is very powerful. Thank you for your review.

Wow! I'm glad to hear about your daughter's success as a YouTuber.

Yes, I'm glad that the author had compiled these topics in one book. It's very useful to have enough knowledge of the advantage and disadvantage of the use of internet and to monitor our children's behavior on social media to avoid "social tattoo".

Thanks for dropping by and leaving your thoughts about the review.

[Sahani Nimandra]

Oh! That's big! I'm glad this book focuses on the social issues which has been raised due to internet making the world much closer. The rise of predators and porn sites is so high that 3/4 sites on internet are subjected to this. Actually it is far challenging to look after and protect the children now than ever before and even more challenging in the future. Even a boy is not safe in society these day while we know that girls are more subjected to been pray even at past. I am glad the author paid attention to this very serious topic and create awareness to parents. Thank for writing a effective review Dolor! Very thoughtful!

[Manang Muyang]

As technology soars to even greater heights, keeping track of what the children are exposed to is getting more and more difficult. The kids are infinitely more tech-savvy than the adults. Parents need to be more vigilant. Above all, I believe a nurturing personal relationship with your child, plus lots of prayers, would be best to keep him or her away from preying monsters in and out of the net. God bless our children and keep them free from all danger, including social tattoos!