In recent months there have been several studies released that focus on teenagers in the US and Europe and their activities in regards to social media. It might be assumed that teens in Saudi Arabia are insulated from the negativity these studies associate with social media. Such an assumption would be incorrect. Saudi Gazette spoke with a tech savvy 15-year-old who attends an international school in the Eastern Province. He asked to remain anonymous to keep his parents in the dark and his friends from freaking out about the information he shared with us. We asked him to describe how he sees teenagers at his school engaging with social media. His observations should be a wakeup call for parents in the Kingdom. “It is not uncommon to have teenagers posting semi-nude pictures of themselves on Facebook, or to circulate explicit content - despite living in Saudi Arabia, a country with a conservative culture," he said. The teen described “shirtless" photos as far from unusual in postings and he said that even Muslim teens post photos that their parents definitely would not find acceptable. “Log into a teenager's Facebook account and you will probably be able to see everything their friends have done during the day, from what they ate to when they went to the toilet," said the student. “Many teenagers block their parents on Facebook, keeping them in the dark as to what's really going on. A few even go to the extent of having two profiles, one for friends and one for family." Chat functionality is very popular with teens, according to our young social media consultant. It's often used to share very personal things that would shock parents, who of course don't have any idea what information is divulged. Teens don't consider chat to be “public" sharing. They think that because the person on the other side of the connection is usually a friend, it's fine to discuss intimate details of any situation. And as difficult as it may be to believe, sharing of explicit content is a dangerous trend among teens – even in Saudi Arabia. That smut can be “homemade," such as teens disrobing on webcam for one another despite this being completely contrary to the local culture. “Many teens aren't ashamed of sharing explicit content and are willing to openly discuss it with friends," the 15-year-old said. If parents are looking for insight into a teenager's life, then a teen's Twitter profile is a great place to start. It can be easy to “follow" a specific teen because many teenagers have public profiles where they post very private information. It's also essential to consider which celebrities teenagers “follow" or “like" because teens will copy the behavior of their favorite stars - no matter how bad it may be. “My friends lie about their behavior online including who they may be talking to and what they are talking about," said the teenager. “One interesting thing is that many don't bother to clear their browsing or message history, as they know their parents simply don't check." Parents in the Kingdom rely heavily on the government's Internet firewall to keep their children safe. That's a mistake. Parents need to get involved in their teens' digital lives because digital content has potentially serious impacts on real life.
