snapchat Archives | Cool Mom Tech

Digital parenting question: Should I let my child on Snapchat because all of her friends are?

This past week, my 11-year old daughter and I had a long conversation about Snapchat. She’s been begging me for awhile now, but lately, it’s amped up because pretty much all her friends use it exclusively to communicate. I’ve been very resistant to...

17 of the riskiest social apps for kids right now that parents should know about | Guide to Digital Parenting

by Cool Mom Staff | Guide to Digital Parenting, Internet Safety, Lifestyle Apps, Tips and Tricks

While parents are still freaking out about Snapchat and the Momo challenge, the truth is there are some risky apps for kids that can fly right under our radar. Some of them seem completely innocuous — while some are clearly bad news waiting to happen. To be...

How do I keep kids safe on social media? | Guide to Digital Parenting

by Cool Mom Staff | Guide to Digital Parenting, Internet Safety, Social Media, Tips and Tricks

We couldn’t create an Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting without including tips about how to keep your kids safe on social media. After all, for our tweens and teens, the Internet is social media, and they could sooner give up the games, the videos, and even...

Screen time and social media with kids: We might be doing it wrong, parents

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

Since reading Anya Kamenetz’s interview with Jordan Shapiro on NPR, I’ve made some heavy shifts in how I’m approaching screen time with my kids. For the years that they’ve been on video games, tablets and most recently, their own phones,...

Our top 10 most popular Cool Mom Tech posts of 2018. Happy New Year!

by Cool Mom Staff | Tips and Tricks

From questionable Snapchat stories to gadgets that make our lives easier, we rounded up our top 10 most popular Cool Mom Tech posts of 2018. Happy New Year! Related: Our 10 most popular posts of 2017 10. How to figure out which categories Facebook has assigned to...

A new study says teens feel social media has an positive impact on their lives

by Kristen Chase | Social Media

Our friends over at Common Sense Media recently conducted a survey study of teens 13-17 years old, and we have to admit that the results are fascinating, and well, reassuring. If you have a tween or teen, it’s worth taking the few minutes to read their summary,...

Web coolness: Big changes to Netflix, how passwords get stolen, and more!

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

Here are a few cool tech links from around the web. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. Running out of space on your iPhone? (And don’t miss how to save battery life on your iPhone.) This airline is using facial recognition technology to speed up security....

Web coolness: A Hello Kitty bullet train, the Sally Ride stamp, and avoiding getting banned from Amazon

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

Here are some cool tech links from around the web. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. We are excited for this new stamp release of astronaut Sally Ride. President Trump can no longer block users from seeing his Twitter account. A lively interview with the...

What you need to know about Cosmo After Dark on Snapchat, parents.

by Kristen Chase | Lifestyle Apps

I am not going to say “I told you so!” when it comes to Snapchat, but it’s mighty tempting after the recent launch of Cosmopolitan’s new Cosmo After Dark stories that go live every Friday at 6pm EDT. And hey, I even wrote a book about sex for...

NEW: The podcast that helps you be a savvier digital parent in under 15 minutes a week

Hi! We’re Kristen + Liz

Kristen Chase + Liz Gumbinner of Cool Mom Picks

We started Cool Mom Tech in 2010 to help make our increasingly digital lives easier, more organized, more meaningful, and more fun, however old your kids may be.

We love that it's grown to become the go-to source for millions of parents who want commonsense info about tech delivered with a smile.

We even have the privilege of sharing our tips + tricks with The TODAY Show, CNN, HLN, GMA, Nightline, newspapers and magazines around the country, and our favorite -- regular parents who stop us at PTA meetings and ask us how old kids need to be to get a smartphone, and whether they really need to panic about Snapchat.

(Answer: It's complicated.)

We're so glad you're here! And we hope we can help you too.