Hi, I'm Toby Knapp, neighborhood radio superhero and father of a 15-year-old freshman in high school daughter.
If there's something I've learned... it's that no matter how good you think you are at, say, Instagram... or anything dubbed "social media..." you are doing it wrong...
... at least according to your teen.
I guess this rule pretty much applies to anyone over a certain age... and anyone who has a teen, pre-teen... or someone in the world of the Internet which they've grown up with... which, frankly, as parents, we've only learned about in the last 20 years. True story. While we as adults who have seen this stuff come about in our lifetimes think we've learned it... we have to remember that Facebook was never intended for us at first (it was launched for college students), Snapchat and Instagram are where the young went to get away from prying parental eyes... Twitter is okay but became the domain of the ridiculous over the last few years and now, the generation of my daughter has moved on to even other places which we haven't figured out yet, but will, and when we do we'll try to be masters of that domain as well...
... but we will still be "try-hard" at it while we're "doing it wrong."
Nevertheless, we will try.
I saw this in our "prep" this morning and thought I'd share it with you. It's a list of things which - dramatic word alert - REVEAL that a parent is running your Instagram feed and I thought of so many conversations I've had with my daughter... and her peers... about how we as adults... do what we do on the Internet.... Give this a read:
Someone keeps posting embarrassing baby pictures
The hashtag #Mychubbyboy is all over your account
Any of the following hashtags:
#BoyMom #DaddyDaughter #ProudMomma #ProudPapa #DadLife #MomLife or any hashtag with some variant of #Mom or #Dad in it.
You’ve got 200 new followers over the age of 70
All the filters are in black and white
You got a direct message from your nana
The good people at Metamucil are now following you
All of your shirtless selfies have been taken down
All social media influencers have been un-followed
They messaged “F” Jerry telling him he’s very inappropriate
They think Tank Sinatra is Frank Sinatra’s bodyguard
There’s a picture of your parents with the hashtag #getoutofourbasement
All the pictures have a note that says “Nice Boy To Marry”
I'm sure there are things we could add to this list... and if you've got some you've been inspired by... hit me up. We can rest well knowing that we, you and I, are "doing it wrong..." together!
Thanks for reading!
#LoveToby
tk@iheartradio.com