You know your kid is on Facebook and Twitter as well. But following the increasing teen suicide rates in which the worst of internet bullying came forth, other social networking websites are under scrutiny. Social media websites other than Facebook and Twitter are selling among middle and high school teens and parents are often kept in the dark about them.

Here are some of the popular social media apps that parents should be aware of. They are not inherently risky or harmful for teens but like many other websites in digital space, they are open to abusers, stalkers and bullies.  

Askfm

   You sign up for Askfm with a basic profile and a picture and then have to answer a number of questions both by friends and strangers who are users of the social media website. "Isn't social studies class the worst?" and "Who do you have a crush on?" may seem like harmless questions but the threads may take a darker turn when more sexual and murky questions are asked.

Askfm has been in the limelight for quite some time now. It has been making headlines as teen girls committed suicide after being harassed on the website.

Tumblr

Tumblr may seem to be a lightweight blogging platform but it’s really a loosely organized social network. That’s where the real danger lies. Teens like each other’s posts, comment on them and field questions asked by other users, both strangers and friends. Blog posts are sometimes funny and amusing but the problem is they are uncensored and often pornographic. There is a high likelihood that your kid has also come across such a post, read it and has been influenced by it.

Kik, Voxer and Whatsapp

All three apps are variations of one theme: free phone-to-phone messaging that is cross-platform, allow you to attach pictures and videos without counting towards message counts and data usage. Unlike messengers of the old, you don’t have to attach a phone number, except for Whatsapp. A username will be fine. 

But users are getting promiscuous with their usernames now posting them publicly and looking for anonymous chatters. Parents need to be wary of their children using such apps.

Snapchat

Snapchat is one of the most used social media apps. It has gained popularity and notoriety as an app that lets you post self-destructive pictures. The erasure however is not foolproof so other users can capture pictures with great ease. Millions of teens are using this every day share fun pictures, show their friends what they’re doing and do a bit of sexting if they trust the person on the other end.