Encourage her to recognise that social media ‘friends’ or ‘followers’ aren’t necessarily true friends or even acquaintances, and therefore she should think carefully about what she’s sharing in the public domain.
Prioritise good friendships in your own life, too: be positive about the place your friends have in your life and make sure your daughter knows how much you value your own two or three closest friends – and how a wider network is great, but not quite the same as a dependable inner circle.
Periodically review your daughter’s basic internet safety issues, such as controlling the privacy settings on all social networking profiles, not sharing her name and address, nor any provocative photos, high school details, her parents’ contact information, or anything else that can help strangers identify her. Create a home social networking contract that you both sign.
Discuss the long-term nature of the internet with her. Help her realise that online means forever – she can’t change something once it has been shared. And ensure she recognises the importance of understanding and setting up privacy settings for all her accounts.