Andrew Watson

Safer Internet Day

Posted on 09. Feb, 2010 by Andrew Watson in Online Marketing, Video

Today is European Safer Internet Day (SID). It is organised by Insafe and is supported by countries throughout Europe, and an annual event to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones. It is great to see campaigns such as SID, and to see them get some air time across TV and internet news channels.

All too often we hear people talking about ‘how we can restrict’ the web or ‘what barriers can be put in place’ to make it safer? The internet is here to stay, and not only did Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) have a point in his recent speech at the Crunchie Awards, where he stated that ‘web users no longer expect to have the same level of online privacy as before thanks to the growing popularity of social media’ but one of the key features of web2.0 has been the ‘social’ aspect.

SID’s approach is therefore the correct one, we should not consider how ‘we restrict’ the web to make it safer, but how we educate users, especially the young. They will consume it with greater ease, and in even greater quantities than we do now. We will never be able to restrict the internet, all we can do is advise and educate the young into how to use it safely.

Internet safety is becoming an important consideration in the modern day, and it would have been useful to have seen more coverage in the press prior to today – but perhaps if more people become advocates of the message, it can have a bigger impact in years to come… and remember ‘Think B4 U post!‘