Online Safety: What Parents and carers need to know about Clickbait
Welcome to our weekly online safety bulletin! Each week of the school term, we will provide useful tips, facts and guides on how to stay safe online.
This week's theme is: Clickbait
While scrolling online, you’ll almost inevitably have come across posts or links with headlines like “You Won’t Believe These 10 Crazy Facts about …”. Such lurid language – and the often-dubious nature of the content it promotes – has become something of a running joke on the internet. Yet while these articles are often laughed at by communities online, they can have an insidious side.
Clickbait, as it’s known, can frequently function as part of a trap: intended to draw users in for the sake of advertising revenue or, in worse cases, masking an attempting to collect their personal information. This guide explores the various risks of clickbait and offers some top tips for evading the pitfalls of this controversial marketing technique.
Useful links:
Internet Matters - This website has lots of practical advice and information, including detailed guides on how to set up parental controls on a range of devices.
Childnet - Help, advice and resources for parents and carers
Parent Zone - Digital advice, activities and ideas for parents and families
NSPCC - Online Safety advice, guides and news.
Visit our Online Safety page for more information.
Missed an update? Head over to our Online Safety Tip of the Week archive.
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