PRESS RELEASE: PARENT ENTREPRENEURS CREATE DIJIWISE APP TO PROMOTE DIGITAL RESPONSIBILITY

DIJIWISE APP GIVES PARENTS NEW WAY TO START CONVERSATIONS WITH TWEENS AND TEENS

DETROIT & ST. LOUIS -- Social media is a mainstay in the life of many 5th grade to high school-age kids, and with that comes the importance of understanding digital responsibility. That’s why a group of parents with technology, digital and media backgrounds have created DijiWise, an easy-to-use mobile app that keeps parents connected with their kids’ social media activity in real-time to inspire conversations about the moments they share online.

While most parents want to be aware of their child’s online world, 40 percent don’t check their child’s social media, and 1/3 know the password to at least one of their child’s social accounts (Pew Research). With social media usage starting as young as pre-teen years, the importance of education about digital responsibility is critical, no matter the age.

“DijiWise is a company with a cause. Digital parenting and helping our kids understand the benefits and challenges of online behavior and social media is a new responsibility parents have,” states the founding team at DijiWise. “Conversations can become a lost art with busy schedules and technology. Our goal in creating this app is to remove the complexity for parents and encourage conversations.”

DijiWise is available for download for iOS and Android. It features a low-cost subscription via In-App purchase for $4.99 per month - peace of mind and parental engagement for the cost of a cup of coffee.

App features:

●      Dashboard view with real-time updates on social media activity that helps parents interpret actions or inactions, stay familiar with kids’ peer groups, and save time by eliminating the need to hop website to website

●      Ability to monitor up to 4 profiles across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with more to come

●      Save feature that enables parents to save an activity as a prompt to discuss later

●      Ability to personalize notification settings and activity you’d like to receive notifications for

●      Tips and trends on digital parenting, social media and teens

The company is led by women who have spent their careers in media and technology, including Stacy Kania, Director of Platform & Product Development, and Cindy Kerber Spellman, the company’s VP of Strategy & Community Development. Both moms whose intersecting career and parenting experiences have heightened their awareness of the importance of digital responsibility as their children grow.

“What digital responsibility and social media usage mean family to family may be different, and that’s ok. If we can empower parents and teens to be comfortable with the subject and become more aware of our digital footprints, then we’re making huge strides in responsibly enjoying the great things social media makes possible,” noted Kerber Spellman.

A DijiWise Community

Beyond the app, through outreach and partnerships, DijiWise is committed to encouraging a community of DijiWise families who practice online responsibility. The Parent Central section on the DijiWise website gives parents access to content about digital parenting, tech and digital trends among teens, online safety and more. Parents can also share and read DijiWise Moments.

ABOUT DIJIWISE

DijiWise is an app with a cause. Made for parents, by parents, we’ve created a new way for parents to stay connected to their children and encourage digital responsibility. By providing a real-time view of a child’s social media activity in one simple place, we make it easier to have conversations about the moments kids share. DijiWise is a women-led startup proud to call Detroit and St. Louis home.

Why Justin Bieber Leaving Instagram Matters

Credit: Facebook

Another celebrity has left a social media network, for now.

If you have a Belieber in your house, you likely learned within hours of it happening that singer Justin Bieber deleted his Instagram account. Maybe you saw it in one of your feeds, or quite simply, you just don’t care.

But you should.

Whether or not you take note of what celebrities do, the reason behind Justin Bieber leaving Instagram raises an important issue for parents and teenagers: hate that exists on social media.

If you’d like more on the gossip and the once-private, ex-boyfriend/girlfriend feuds social media gives us front row seats to, a quick Google search will give you the 411 on how Bieber deactivating his Instagram went down.

For the rest of us, here’s the Cliff Notes version:

Justin dated a girl named Selena Gomez. They’re both stars. They broke up. Fast forward to recent posts on Instagram by Justin of him together with a different girl by his side. More than 1 million people liked it and another 44,000+ had something to say about it in the comments -- including a harmony of Bieber followers who took on temporary personas of Internet trolls and voiced preference for ex-girlfriend Selena or hatred that, heaven forbid, he had a new girlfriend. Curious responses when, like most Instagram users, he simply posted a pic of what’s currently happening in his life.

And then it got interesting.

Having enough, Bieber posted a warning that he’d delete his Instagram account if his followers didn’t stop the hate. "I'm gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don't stop the hate this is getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you wouldn't be so mean to people that I like."

Ex-girlfriend Selena chimed in, saying, “If you can’t handle the hate, then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend lol - it should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you. They were there for you before anyone.”

A little public back and forth ensued (as millions munched on popcorn and curiously watched), and just like that - @justinbieber on Instagram said “Sorry, this page isn’t available.” Justin Bieber left Instagram and the company of almost 78 million followers.

Credit: Instagram/The Sun

Why does this small blip on social media matter to parents in the big picture of the rest of the world?

Justin Bieber deleted his Instagram account because of hateful comments. Chances are, kids you know are on the giving or receiving end of criticism at some point, too.

Just because our kids aren’t celebs doesn’t mean they’re immune to criticism on social media. Few, if any of the million plus people who interacted with Bieber’s Instagram post, know him personally enough to have a valid reason to express their support or dissent about who he dates. It’s easy to hit “like” or react to a social post, and even easier to make a comment when you don’t know the person. It's easy to forget that on the opposite side of the screen - the receiving end - is someone who is still a person, no different than the rest of us.

It’s social - it’s quick, we see, we react, we move on. C’est la vie.

A quip to a post might seem harmless, but judging and making irresponsible comments contribute to a chorus of hate and normalizes negative mindsets. Beyond the possibly of being guilty of contributing to it, kids are regularly exposed to negativity on social as much as they are to the positivity. They follow celebs, publishers, sport teams, athletes, brands, friends they know, and people they may not know personally. If teenagers are used to seeing hateful comments on social media, what’s to keep them from becoming desensitized to it and partaking without realizing the impact their comment might have on others - especially their friends?

You might live with an Internet troll - one might even be your kid

That’s impossible, right?! Internet trolls are people who sit alone at their computer in dark rooms and make ugly and hateful comments behind the anonymity of a screen and...pause. This thinking is where we let the problem breed. Before we go into parental denial, let’s do a simple reality check ask ourselves what we’re doing to be sure our kids' activity on social isn't harmful or hurting anyone - are you checking your kids’ social media activity regularly? Are you having conversations with them about digital responsibility, or the good and the bad they see on social media, and the importance of our in-person manners carrying over online?

When kids get access to their first social media accounts, many parents are apprehensive. Why is that? Among many parents and teens I know, it's for reasons just like this. I don’t know the demographics of Justin Bieber’s “Belieber” fan base or social media followers, but intuition tells me it isn’t you or me getting upset the Biebs is seeing someone new. Whether you’re logging into their accounts daily or use apps like DijiWise that make it easy to see their social media activity in one place, having conversations about their everyday lives and online behavior will give you peace of mind that your son or daughter knows better than to be a troll, even if for a moment. In the end they’ll demonstrate responsibility when using Twitter, KIK, Snapchat, Instagram and other social networks.

“If you can’t handle the hate, then stop posting” sends the WRONG message

Did anyone else catch that? When the pop star warned he’d delete his account if the hate didn’t stop, his high-profile ex publicly suggested that if he couldn’t handle the hate, then he shouldn’t post pictures. Words straight from the mouth of an influential 24-year-old woman. It’s worrisome because it suggests that hatred toward another person is the norm on social media. Why is it even acceptable? Not to mention cringing when you see two people engage in a public argument online.

That’s why this saga is a learning moment for our sons and daughters.  When it comes to social, our job as a ‘digital parent’ is helping our pre-teen and teenage kids understand there will be time when they don’t agree with everything someone posts, not everyone will always agree with them either, and how to handle it (or how not to) when it happens.

If only more people did what Justin did. Or Leslie Jones. Or Curt Schilling.

Bieber isn’t the first celebrity to have had enough with ugliness that can brew on social media. Comedian/actress Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters) abandoned Twitter after receiving what she described as racist abuse from Twitter users. Retired MLB player Curt Schilling took a public stance calling out Twitter users who Tweeted vulgar comments about his daughter after he announced the college team she’d be playing for. Everyday people, like you and me, like our sons and daughters, suddenly found themselves suspended from college. Or fired from their job.

We should encourage our kids to not get to the point to the point they feel reliant on a social network and can’t live without it. Having respect for themselves has far greater importance. Imagine if more people - famous or not - draw a line and take similar stances toward hatred on social media. We might see a shift in how companies like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram or Twitter respond and better protect their users and the integrity of their platform. Even better, on an individual basis, we’d see a positive shift in what our kids deem acceptable from their friends - or of their own behavior.

Parenting in a ‘digital generation’ is different for most of us who didn’t grow up with social media and only started using it in college or in our adulthood. Privacy has new meaning, and we have less control over what our kids are exposed to and where they express themselves. What was once ‘our business’ is made everyone’s business with a simple click.

Social media connects people, including celebrities with their fans, and fans with other fans. In this case, hopefully it will connect parents and teens to start a conversation about hatred and the expectations and implications of our actions online.

Cindy Kerber Spellman (@kerberpr) is the VP of Strategy & Community Development at DijiWise. Her experiences as a parent and leadership background in communications, technology and digital media fuel her inspiration to encourage conversations about digital responsibility.

Kids, Social Media, and FOMO: A Game of Chutes and Ladders for Parents

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There’s an acronym for parents to be familiar with, and it’s FOMO. As if LMK, LOL, SMH and ICYMI weren’t brainteasers to begin with.

If you’ve ever had a crush and dropped that person a line, then wondered if they got your message, worried they wouldn’t call you back or waited for what seemed like an eternity (15 minutes) before you heard back, then you have a sense of the phenomenon that’s happening among many kids who use social media. Only it’s magnified and isn’t about crushes. It has many tangents related to self confidence, social acceptance, body image and more. At an impressionable time, mind you, in a mind that’s going through changing emotions and rapid maturation.

It’s called Fear Of Missing Out.

We used to live our life in the moment and share it when we caught up with our family and friends. Now, we share it as it happens on SnapChat, YouTube, WeChat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The living, then sharing sequence is starting to shift as people mull over the perfect post to get likes, the right words for an update to attract comments, and instead of living in the moment, we are creating moments to live -- for social media.

A dad of a 7th grader recently described it perfectly when he was talking about his experiences as a parent in a more digital world.

“As I watch my daughter use digital media, it reminds me of the old days with IM and ICQ. We could message someone or many people at once and anxiously await their response. Today, I watch in amazement as it really is the same feeling for our kids when they use social media, but through a different medium with more myopic expectations.”

Seems harmless, right? But if you’re a parent who has ever witnessed the signs or had chats with your kids about things you never imagined they would worry about, then you’re wiser to know better.

The Australian Psychological Society’s annual Stress and Wellbeing Survey reports that social media usage is tied to depression and anxiety in teens. That’s not to panic you or set off red alert signals in parents, but knowledge is power, which is valuable in being an informed parent. It’s a reality check to understand that times are different now than when we were kids - even for those of us who grew up with the Internet, Instant Messenger and email. So it’s important that amidst our busy lives we stay tuned in to what our kids say and interpret what may be between the lines of their moods, their days in the dumps or the times on cloud nine.

The report states that FOMO is more common among heavy users of social media, and that one in two of the teenagers ages 13-17 included in the study said they felt the fear of missing out on their friends' inside jokes and events, as well as the chance to show on social media that they're having fun. Social media usage also makes teens feel like their experiences aren’t as great as their friends, and that they’re missing out on something when they see a post they weren’t a part of -- even if they were quite happy doing whatever they were doing when it took place.

The fear of missing out is something that every parent with a child who uses social media should know about and be ready to help their teen through.

That dad in Michigan who’s learning as he goes as a digital parent said that from his perspective, the mind of kids today goes something like this:

1. I like my smile! → I’ll take a selfie.
2. This is a good one! → I’ll post it! (WeChat, ShapChat, FB, Instagram...))
3. Did anyone like it? → How many likes did I get?
4. Is anyone commenting? → What are they saying?
5. I just checked 15 seconds ago. I guess I’ll wait 5 more seconds before I check again.
6. If I tag them, will they tag me back?
7. Should I ask for a tag?
8. Did one of my friends/followers have a friend who saw it?
9. Did that friend of a friend ask to follow me?
10. How many followers do I have?
11. How many likes do I have?
12. How many people tagged me today?
13. Oh no!!! No one has tagged, liked, shared a photo or commented about me in a while…*sad face emoji*
14. Where is everyone?
15. I guess I'll have to go back to step one to make sure they don't forget about me...

Sound familiar!? The activity is amazing and captivating. As a parent, it makes you think of the good and the bad your child might be experiencing. It might even be a bit relatable to some of your experiences on social media, too.

Confidence and self-esteem are critical to nurture in our kids, but has become more complicated and much like a game of Chutes and Ladders for parents as our kids grow up in a digital world with more influences, less face to face communication, and more opportunity for self discovery. It gives us days as parents we feel like we’ve advanced, and days we’ve unexpectedly slid backwards as we try to teach our children values and how to filter what should matter and what shouldn’t.

“Confidence and self-esteem are critical to nurture in our kids, but has become more complicated and much like a game of Chutes and Ladders for parents as our kids grow up in a digital world with more influences, less face to face communication, and more opportunity for self discovery.”

We may not understand it all, the emotion, the reaction or the why. We might even have a #WhatJustHappened moment. But FOMO is real, and our role as listening and observant parents becomes that much more important for the teenagers in our lives. We can help lessen or eliminate their FOMO and be more able as parents to recognize the source of any changes in attitude, behavior or moods by trying these things:

• Leading by example and empowering our teenagers and pre-teens to be comfortable having conversations about what’s going on in their day and how they feel
• Managing how much a time teenagers spend looking at a screen and the time of day they’re on social media
• Keeping a pulse on their activity with apps like DijiWise or sharing login and password information for periodic check-ins on social media activity.

The fun of social media has created new pressures teenagers often put on themselves. They’re talking to themselves as much in their minds as they are tapping on their screens. Our new responsibility as parents is to help our kids see that social media isn’t a game or a popularity contest, and that their true identity -- who they are -- outweighs their perceived digital identity created by likes, favorites and followers. The journey from start to finish as a digital parent isn’t easy, but just remember each day is your move, and if you or your teen land on a chute, grab the spinner and spin again.

Gifting Tech: Setting Your Teen Up For Success

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Giving the gift of tech for the holidays? Smartphones, tablets and connected gaming devices are popular gifts to give for Christmas and Hanukkah, not to mention a favorite to receive among teenagers and pre-teens. With such gifts that connect our kids around the clock to the digital world comes a whole new world of expression and experiences — and the opportunity for parents to have a conversation together with children about digital responsibility.

To keep that excitement and joy going months after they unwrapped their present, here are some real-world stories moms and dads shared with us to help you when you have “the talk.”

“I have a 12-year-old with both a cellphone and an iPad mini, and both are used for school. We put down the ground rules before we got each device, and have many rules in place. He doesn’t like to talk on the phone, and uses messaging more often. The first 6 months, all of his messages also went to my iPad. He isn’t allowed to delete any messages, and also knows that at anytime I can ask him for his phone and iPad over to view his messages. We don’t allow him to use his tablet or phone to view YouTube on the bus, and all devices go off at 9pm at and are plugged in for the night. We have the understanding that he’ll lose both if any of his activity is deemed inappropriate.”

“When we got our daughter a cell phone, we put parental restrictions on the device. She also knows that we monitor her use of the phone, both her contacts and texting. She really does great with it.”

“I didn’t see a reason for my children to have cell phones before high school, so they received them as a gift for their 8th grade graduation and we talked ahead of time about the fact that they would be receiving them.”

“Giving our kids a phone gave us peace of mind about their safety and being able to get in touch with them, and it also excited them and made them feel more responsible. We chatted with them about the financial aspect of it so that they knew it cost money each month, and that it is a privilege to have. In the beginning we had the passwords to access their device but we don’t access it in private, instead we say, “hey, show me this.” I didn’t want their phone or tablet to be a sticky subject for us constantly, and stressed that if it did, they would be taken away. So to prevent it, we keep an eye on the apps they're using and sites they’re visiting, and try to just talk to them about how their day is everyday. They use their phones and iPads for a lot of things and so far, so good.”

“My biggest concern when adding new tech to our home is the amount of time spent on it. We make sure there is a balance between tech and non-tech activities available to our kids and help them self-regulate so we don’t have to police them. Too much time in front of a screen can turn anyone’s brain to mush. Simple things like getting outside for fresh air, reading a good book, or playing a board game can give anyone an invigorating boost.”

Other ways parents keep tech gifts friendly at home include having the child sign a digital contract agreeing to rules and responsibilities, or limiting how long or when a child can use the device. There are also apps that help parents enable parental restrictions or monitor their kids’ activities, such as DijiWise, which makes monitoring social media activity on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, easy for parents.

Giving smartphones and tablets as presents is exciting for both the giver and the receiver. Encouraging digital responsibility at an early age will keep the joy of your gift going for many months and years to come.

10 Websites and Apps We’re Thankful For

It's hard to imagine what life would be like without the access to information, entertainment and each other that the Internet and tech make possible. This time of year, expressions of thanks and greetings flood social media and apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and SnapChat.

As we make new memories and celebrate Thanksgiving with traditions, we thought we’d share a list compiled by everyone at Team DijiWise of 10 websites and apps we’re thankful for that keep us going and make life great.

GoFundMe
GoFundMe and other online fundraising websites not only make it easier to raise money, they’ve enabled globalization of the spirit of giving. It’s a forum for anyone to raise money for almost anything - charity, medical costs, community outreach, natural disasters, a person or family facing an emergency, a project, or even groceries. With GoFundMe, people can receive help or donate money, touch the lives of other people with more immediacy, and discover and contribute to any cause or purpose that’s meaningful to them. And for these reasons, we’re thankful.

AllRecipes.com
Dinner and hosting possibilities are endless when thousands of recipes, cooking videos and tips are a search away by ingredient, course or theme. (There’s even user ratings and comments on the recipes so you know what you’re in for.) The app is as user-friendly as the website, and the ability to save recipes so you have a digital cookbook of recipes you don't want to forget makes this one of the websites we’re most thankful for.

8tracks
Describe your mood and this website will find the perfect list of free playlists for your day. Pick a handful of keywords such as “summer,” “happy,” and “work out,” and discover an endless stream of music that is the epitome of those words. The 8tracks app works seamlessly as well, so add some sweet jams to the background of your work day or weekend morning.

Medium
Medium is a wonderful hub for reading and sharing stories with people around the world. You can follow people and topics that you’re passionate about, while being inspired to write your own stories. A broad range of perspectives are shared, from personal narratives like “Pseudonyms and True Names: The Sacred Power of Identity” to professional insights like “ABC: Always Be Coding.” This website gives individuals a space to connect through thoughtful interactions and words.

WorkFlowy
When you use WorkFlowy, you’ll be thankful you didn’t forget anything. This is the ultimate list for jotting down which groceries are running out, dinner party details, and random errands and is perfect for anyone with responsibilities. Everything is organized into one big sheet of expandable and collapsable bullet points. If you only want an overview of your to-dos, you can hide the underlying bullet points. Its website and app interfaces help you catch random reminders and efficiently cross off to-dos throughout the day.

Cozi
Cozi might just be the best family organizer app out there. You set up one family account that everyone can share (including grandparents and babysitters). Each member can access the app via their smartphone, tablet, or computer. The PIC (parent in charge) can upload grocery lists, to do lists, contacts, recipes and calendar for the entire family to access. No need to send Dad a text to stop for milk on the way home or remind Johnny about his soccer game on Saturday. Everything you need your family members to know is all contained privately in the app. A bonus feature is the online journal so you can jot down a milestone event, notable quote, story, or add a photo, which you can share privately with other household members. (We’re extra thankful Cozi is available for different devices and platforms including iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows.)

Evernote
Who hasn’t been thankful for something that makes staying organized easy? Evernote is the ultimate note taking/organizing app for busy people on the go. It keeps your life organized in notebooks, so it’s like your personal virtual filing cabinet to help you keep track of all the little things that can get lost in the shuffle. Tag your notes with keywords so you can easily search without having to remember where you filed them.  Scan business cards, invoices, receipts, or any other papers to eliminate desktop clutter. Its newer “web clipper” feature installs an extension on your browser so you can clip articles and things you find online, and save directly to your Evernote account. Evernote conveniently syncs to your master account so that you can access the same info from any device you use. This app is ideal for personal use, but excellent for work team collaboration as well and now integrates with Salesforce enterprise software.

TeamSnap
If you have kids who play sports, you’ll be thankful for the people who created TeamSnap. TeamSnap is perfect for keeping sports schedules organized and in one spot. Keep track of the team roster, parents' emails, phone numbers, and game and practice schedules. The interactive map feature is also helpful. Parents or the team coach can upload a schedule for the entire season and share with all of the members so that parents can add it to their iCal or Google calendar with the click of a button. TeamSnap is a HUGE time saver! Premium version offers additional features like photo sharing, payment tracking for team fees, player availability and more.

PocketUniverse
This app brings out the inner astronaut or astronomer in all of us by easily identifying the night sky with the simple point in the direction you're looking with your smartphone or tablet, teaching you interesting facts about space, the planets and more. Time flies when you use this app, and it’s just plain fun for all ages.

Nextdoor
Nextdoor brings a community closer and creates a private social network for your neighborhood. It’s useful for quick communications with your neighbors (and only your neighbors) to share emergency info, find a recommended plumber, dog walker, babysitter, or to look for a lost cat.  Nextdoor is also helpful for newcomers to meet their neighbors and get acquainted with a new community.

By this time next year, we expect another one to make the list of 10 sites and apps we’re thankful for - DijiWise. DijiWise is an app-based tool for parents that helps them monitor their children’s social media activity and encourages conversations about their posts and digital responsibility. DijiWise’s Parent Central also provides parents with articles and resources about online safety, digital responsibility, and fun, relatable everyday stories about parenting in the digital world. The app is expected to hit iTunes and Google Play by the end of the year.

We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving from our families to yours.