Facebook Launches Youth Portal to Educate Teens

Facebook on Tuesday launched a youth platform to educate Kenyan teens on how to stay safe while using the social media platform and understand how their data is used.

The service targetting the young generation provides basic information on data usage and how to interact with the service in line with the guidelines and principles.

"Welcome to our Youth Portal. Consider this your guide to all things Facebook: general tips, insider tricks, privacy and safety information, and everything else you need to have a great experience on Facebook.

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"It's also a space for you to hear from people your age, in their own voices, about the issues that matter to them online," the website reads in part.

The platform also guides users on how to interact online with pointers on what is appropriate to post, choosing who to friend and password protection.

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"Be aware of who you’ve allowed to enter your space, and who you’re allowing to continue to spend time there. Check your friends list regularly to make sure you’re cool with who’s looking at your content. Accept friend requests from people you know, carefully vet anyone else who knocks at your door, and unfriend anyone who has worn out their welcome.

"Don’t share your password with anyone. Not your friends, not the person you're dating. It is never, ever worth it. As your friends list grows, re-visit your privacy settings regularly to make sure the information you are keeping private and public still feels good to you," the portal explains.

Youth are also advised to speak up when they notice something strange online, be it an offensive post, a fraud account or inappropriate content that will enable developers to take action and make Facebook safer for other users.

In addition to Facebook being a networking site, the youth are also advised on how to use the platform for social activism.

"Social media activism works. It is also why I urge other activists not to let trolls stop them, and to know and use all the tools Facebook and Instagram offer to keep themselves safe.

If you take on the title of social activist, you have a responsibility to that struggle and to honour it, online and off," reads an article by Amonge, a 16-year-old creative content curator and founder of the youth organization Blackboard Africa.

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