social media Archives | Cool Mom Tech

How to practice safe socializing using tech during the Coronavirus outbreak

It’s ironic that I chose the word “connect” as my 2020 word, just to find myself practicing “social distancing” three months into the year. Suddenly, instead of looking forward to coffee shop meetups, long chummy walks, and dinners with...

JIF vs GIF: How the peanut butter is trying to end the pronunciation debate for once and for all.

by Liz Gumbinner | Social Media, Tech Toys and Random Fun

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who pronounce GIF with a hard “G” as in GRAPHIC…and those who are wrong. (And yes, I know that GIF creator Steve Wilhite pronounces it with a soft J, but unless the acronym now stands for Jurrasic...

Here’s my beef with Snapchat for kids. And it might surprise you.

by Kristen Chase | Social Media

Over the years, we’ve shared our concerns with kids on Snapchat, which aren’t really that surprising. We all know that it’s terribly difficult to monitor. And we’ve seen our kids deal with the difficult issues that arise with Snap Maps. But...

How to hide your Instagram Story from users. Psst: If you can do it, your kids can do it too.

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

A few months ago, we shared how to set up the Close Friends feature on Instagram, just in case you’ve got your kids (and their friends) following you and wanted to share something that they couldn’t see. Of course, whenever you do that, then you can pretty much assume...

Here’s how Facebook is stalking you. And what you can do about it.

by Kristen Chase | Social Media

If you’re like me, you’ve had a few instances where you know you didn’t search for a particular product or service on your phone or your computer, but suddenly you’re getting ads for it in your Facebook feed. Is Facebook listening into your...

Instagram trick: How to find all those cool Instagram Story filters everyone else seems to have.

by Liz Gumbinner | Photo Apps, Social Media

We used to say “photos or it didn’t happen,” but it feels like 2020 is all about “filters or it isn’t Instagram.” You may have noticed folks you follow using wacky filters — or oddly flattering filters that bathe them in a...

The top 10 Cool Mom Tech posts of 2019

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

We’re going into our 10th year of Cool Mom Tech and our 2nd year of our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook group that’s almost at 4500 members! We know, we can’t believe it either. Every year, we share our 10 most visited posts on Cool Mom Tech. From tech...

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

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

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...

Digital parenting tips: 5 ways you can be a tech-positive parent

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

We know that “digital parenting” is quite the buzz phrase these days. Our approach to it has been similar to how we parent our kids around similar difficult topics (think non-alarmist, non-judgmental), except unlike the sex talk or the drug talk,...

You won’t believe how easily this CNN reporter was hacked. Here’s how to prevent it.

by Kristen Chase | Internet Safety

Our team watched this CNN Business video with our jaw dropped when we saw how easily hacker Rachel Tobac was able to get information about journalist Donie O’ Sullivan. Just from looking at his social media, she was able to do everything from get his home...