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Today I will be talking about the social media site Ask.fm. Although I don’t have an Ask.fm account, I do have a few friends who do. I have heard upsetting stories about the way the site is used therefore I thought I would be vocal about my beliefs around the site’s usage and the possible consequences of using it.  To me having a discussion about it is another way to help you guys stay safe on the internet. All social media has its ups and downs, none are completely safe.

Ask.fm is very popular among teenagers. The format is question and answer based, pretty much what you do is ask a person a question and the person gets the option to answer it or not. The thing about asking the person a question is that you can let them know who you are or you can do it anonymously. A person can either answer a question that is given to them by another person, or they can answer one of the daily questions that the site gives out. The site is meant for people who are 13 years of age or older, at least that is according to their terms of service. The site is not monitored by anybody, which can be really bad in some cases.

Ask.fm can be rough on teenagers. This site has been used a lot for cyber bullying, there have been many problems that have been reported. This is an easy way for a person to get bullied because people are able to ask question on an anonymous status. That means that people are able to say bad things to a person and not get in trouble because they will never know who sent the question. People can also stalk you on there, they are able to see any of your previous activity from your profile page. There have been multiple cases of teen suicides due to the cyber bullying that happens on that site. I have a few friends that own an account themselves, and I have heard a few stories about how people ask them rude things. Some of my friends have gotten bullied pretty bad on this site. My advise is always the same, close the account and get support.

The only way you can prevent getting bullied on the site is by not getting an account at all. Users do have the option of blocking a person, but the person can still go on your profile page and look at your personal things. I don’t support Ask.fm because of all the harm it causes. How many more broken hearts, shattered self esteems, and deaths are going to have to happen until an adult steps in and decides to either shut it down or at least put some safeguards in place? Many people have sent complaints  to the founder of Ask.fm but he’s not shutting it down because he said that teens will still find a way to bully each other. That may be true but if shutting down the site may save a few lives, it’s all worth it. Every life is worth something and none are more important. Any life that we can possibly save is a step in the right direction. I read several heart breaking stories about the teens that committed suicide during my research . No child should have to go through that pain, so here I AM STANDING UP FOR THOSE BULLIED!

Here are some sites for your convenience. You can get a little more insight about the site and about the bullying that goes on every day.

http://www.chicagonow.com/tween-us/2013/10/facts-about-ask-fm-parents/

http://webwise.ie/AskfmGuide.shtm

http://nobullying.com/stories-of-7-teen-suicides-because-of-ask-fm-bullying/