Teens
Some social networking sites attract a significant proportion of teenagers. This makes these sites a very attractive place for the BBC to engage with this hard-to-reach age group, which routinely consumes little or no BBC content.
Teenagers clearly do run risks on social networking sites, particularly some 13-15 year olds whose technical knowledge may run ahead of their social skills. They may be at risk from being bullied or from publishing sensitive personal information on their profiles or from treating anonymous online “friends” as if they were real friends and becoming targets for online “grooming”.
Where a BBC brand or site is targeting teenagers, particularly 13-15 year olds, on a social networking site:
- The site should be suitable for the likely audience for the relevant BBC brand or programming
- BBC content and user generated content inspired by a BBC call to action should be suitable for the likely audience on the site
If you are in doubt about the suitability of the site to engage with younger teenagers, it may be worth asking whether it operates within the Home Office Task Force Good Practice Guidance on Social Networking, which is designed to protect children and young people online.
The Social Media Group wiki contains more information about the likely audience for specific social networking sites. The Central Communities Team in FM&T may also be able to offer advice.