What Is Reddit and How To Keep Safe While You’re Using It?

Reddit is an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Registered members submit content to the site such as links, text posts, and images, which are then voted up or down by other members. Content entries are organized by areas of interest, called "subreddits". Reddit was founded by University of Virginia roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005. Condé Nast publications acquired the site in October 2006.

In addition to providing a means of entertainment, Reddit users have used the site to raise money for charity projects, including Japan earthquake relief and funding, as well as donating $65,000 to the victims of the June 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. The site has been the source of controversy, including the release of unauthorized nude photographs of numerous celebrities in 2014 and 2015. The United States Secret Service has indicated that they are "aware" of Reddit in response to a petition concerning net neutrality, but that they currently do not “monitor” it.

Is Reddit Safe for Kids and Teenagers?

Although Reddit is not meant for children, there is no age or age-verification system in place to prevent kids from accessing the platform. Anyone savvy enough with technology can bypass the current age-restriction system that Reddit applies. This means that parents need to take the lead and talk to their children about the risks and safety concerns of using Reddit. Even if your child does not have an account, they can still access and read some of the forums.

What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using computers or other devices. For example, it can be sending mean messages or pictures (sometimes called rants) or sharing personal information to embarrass someone. It can also involve attacking people on social networking sites like Facebook or Instagram or pretending to be someone else online.

In the United States, cyberbullying is against the law in most states and around the world. Cyberbullying can be both a crime and a civil wrong. It is also illegal to take part in bullying by hacking into someone's social media account and sharing their personal information or private conversations.

How does Cyberbullying affect kids?

Children and teenagers who experience cyberbullying might feel confused by changes in their friendship groups. They might also feel alone, lonely and isolated.

Cyberbullying often leaves children and teenagers with lowered self-esteem, less interest in school, and low academic achievement. In some cases, cyberbullying leads to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, or even suicide.

According to the U.S. Department of Health, each year there are around 3.2 million cases of children using the internet to bully other children. More than one out of every four students involved in bullying is a victim of cyberbullying.

Schools can help prevent cyberbullying by educating both students and parents about the topic.

Parents can also help combat internet bullying by monitoring their children's internet usage, having family meetings about Internet safety, and providing constructive feedback to their children about their social interactions online.

How to prevent cyberbullying?

Here are some of the ways you can address cyberbullying:

Establish parental controls on devices. You may want to install parental software that can limit and control what your child sees online, allowing you to keep them safe from accessing inappropriate content. You can do this on your computer, smartphone, or TV box by downloading special software. Most devices have parental control options. Most browsers also have content controls, including a "SafeSearch" feature that filters out adult material and protects children from seeing explicit photos and links.

Warn them about the risks of sharing information. Kids need to know that asking someone how they're feeling is normal, but sharing details of their personal life online isn't. Remind them that it's okay to be open with you about their feelings, but they shouldn't share anything too private in public spaces such as social media or chat rooms.

As mentioned in this post, hacking the victim’s social media account is one of the ways that cyberbullies do to cause harm, therefore, protecting your wifi network is essential to block cyberbullies from trying to access social media accounts.

What is a VPN?

First and foremost, what does VPN stand for? A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that encrypts users' private network traffic and sends it over a public network like the internet. VPN is used for Keeping your data and web traffic safe from intruders, anonymizing your identity, masking your true location, and unblocking websites and services by circumventing content geo-restrictions

How will VPN Unlimited protect you against cyberbullying?

This means that whether where you are or what content or website you need to unblock, like Reddit, for example, you can always find a VPN server that is up to the task. Not only that, but a large number of servers ensures that they are not overburdened and that all users have ample bandwidth. Finally, global coverage ensures that there are plenty of VPN servers in your area, ensuring low ping and minimizing lags.