Is Twitter Safe? A Twitter App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

Porn

Twitter’s search function is essentially a Google search bar. Conventional terms like “porn” serve up countless results, but there are also workarounds to find content: alternate spellings like “p0rn” and “seggs” for example. Twitter has always had loose standards when it comes to this kind of content, but recently they took it a step further by editing their rules to formally allow NSFW videos and images on the platform. Before, Twitter’s rules didn’t say you couldn’t post this content — now they outright say it’s allowed, with the caveat that it has to be labeled as consensual. 

Kids may also learn about Twitter porn on other platforms. If you search for #twitterporn on TikTok, for instance, you’ll see tons of videos that provide tips and advice on how to find it. You’ll also encounter confession videos where teens spread the word about how Twitter is the best porn platform (versus traditional porn sites like Pornhub). Other videos show kids joking about how their parents wonder why they have been spending so much time on Twitter. (Hint: it’s not because they love tweeting).

Bullying

Subtweeting is tweeting negatively about someone without mentioning their name. While this may sound fairly harmless, it can actually cause the victim of the tweet a great deal of distress and often escalates to cyberbullying. 

Hate speech

Twitter is home to all sorts of communities and groups, but unfortunately, many of them can be hateful organizations. Fringe groups may target kids with innocent-seeming memes that then slowly indoctrinate them into more radical beliefs.

Predation 🚨

Direct messages (DM) are a big part of Twitter, and like any platform that has a chat/messaging feature, there’s always the potential for predators to groom a child.

Privacy 🔒

Location services allow your child to “check in” and let the world know where they are, which could lead to the potential for a stranger to find them all too easily. Also, many people choose to use their real name on Twitter, which could enable strangers to find out a lot of information about them.

Parental Controls ✅

Twitter provides a fair amount of options for parents to customize their child’s Twitter experience, but none of these features are password protected. This means your kid could change the settings back at any point. It’s also important to remember that Twitter can be accessed without even logging in at all, making account-based settings moot. 

Bark also provides help for Twitter. We’re here to help you keep your kid safe by allowing you to:

• Block Twitter entirely, if needed.
• Manage when your child can use Twitter throughout the day.
• Monitor your child’s direct messages.

So, should my kid download it?

Is Twitter safe? It’s not. Twitter presents a world of inappropriate content — primarily porn —  at the tap of a search button. Even if you’re not worried about your child seeking out this type of content, the chances of them stumbling upon it are still pretty high.