After reading the title for this blog, you may be wondering – what exactly is a “burn book?” This reference came from the movie with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams called “Mean Girls” where there was a book (titled the Burn Book) where they had pictures of their classmates with some negative statements about them.
However, a lot has changed since the movie was released in 2004 and it appears that there are now digital burn books out there, which is of course leading to many cases of cyberbullying.
With this current case that happened here in KY, there was an Instagram account that posted pictures of classmates from this particular school with some negative information about these young children. This lead to a story that was aired on WAVE 3 News, and I was asked to talk about what are some ways parents and others can learn more about what they can do to make sure this doesn’t happen and if there are any resources out there they can use, particularly for Instagram.
I had the chance to talk with Scott Adkins yesterday on a case that happened near Louisville about an Instagram account that served as a “burn book.” Here’s the link to the story as well as the video of the story that aired last night here in Louisville on WAVE 3 News. I did an interview with Scott a few months ago on cyberbulling and social media, which you can see here.
As social media evolves, we all have to be aware of both the opportunities and challenges that arise when it comes to the new platforms being available across age cohorts. For me, this case was interesting to explore and talk about because it can not only happen to young children, but all ages as well. We have to be aware of the action steps we can take to handle these various challenges and situations proactively and in a timely manner.
Here are a few references just for Instagram you all may want to check out:
- Follow.me (able to track analytics and views from Instagram account): http://followgram.me/
- Stati.gram (search for hashtags and usernames): http://statigr.am/
- SearchInstagram (search engine for Instagram for hashtags based on location – may be helpful for parents to search within their communities): http://searchinstagram.com/
- ConnectSafely.org Parents Guide to Instagram (PDF File): http://www.connectsafely.org/wp-content/uploads/instagram_guide.pdf
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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