A new study from Microsoft has found that more than four in 10 teens feel their parents share too much about them on social media.
Roughly 42 percent of the teenagers, who were polled in 25 countries, asserted that they had some issue with their parents’ posts about them online.
Of that 42 percent, 11 percent described the issue as a “big problem” while 14 percent expressed medium concern. Around 17 percent considered the problem to only be a small issue.
Just 30 percent argued that they had no issue with their parents’ posts about them. The final 28 percent of teens said their parents never posted about them without their knowledge or permission.
The study also asked the teens if they had ever fallen victim to any “online risk.” Around 66 percent said they had.
Microsoft says the study, which polled 12,520 teens between the ages of 13 and 17, is part of its research into “digital civility.” The tech giant hopes the data will lead to “safer, healthier and more respectful online interactions among all people.”
Although the company did not find a direct correlation between parents’ content and online risks facing their children, experts argue that such posts could potentially put children in danger.
“To share or not to share is an individual family’s decision, but if the choice is to share, parents should be attentive, exercise discretion and not inadvertently reveal too much, including children’s real full names, ages, dates of births, home addresses, mothers’ maiden names, favorite sports teams, names of pets and photos, to cite a few examples,” Microsoft writes.
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