Frog - The social network fr.

The app's emphasis on realism appeal to users who want to avoid an airbrushed social media experience -- but its friending aspects could pose some issues. Thanks to Frog - The social network fr.'s lack of filters or image editing tools, kids won't see much altered content. While they may not randomly find friends on the app as easily as they might on a larger social media outlet, if they encourage people they know to join, they can potentially build a base of people to correspond with. Kids can reach out in a number of ways, including via Snapchat or text, and can give their friends an ID number to help them easily find their account. The app offers a few fun elements that can help friends connect. The Sequel feature, for instance, lets friends build on each other's posts, called SUPs, by adding a response -- which can help encourage users to communicate in a visually conversational way. Kids can prevent friends from continuing videos, as well, and can delete Sequel videos. They can combine a SUP with its response videos in a Flashback video, similar to TikTok's Duets option. Kids can also send friends Attitudes, which are basically stickers with messages like "LOL."

But some of the ways users can interact on the app aren't ideal. Before you've added even one friend, you can send requests to connect to other users who are listed as friends of friends. Because the app asks for access to your contact list when you register, it's possible you know people in common -- but without any information about who or how you're connected, that's unclear, and identifying people as friends of friends could give kids a false sense of comfort. Kids also don't get detailed information about how to use all the app's features. Some contain a brief description, which is helpful. But there isn't a detailed run-through of how to use the app -- a brief video shown when you download it has more style than substance and doesn't provide actual instructions. The app doesn't currently have any parental controls, and videos are monitored with an AI algorithm that may not catch everything, so mature content can potentially be shared. Parents may be concerned about that aspect -- and that strangers are only a tap away when kids are using the app. If older teens are looking for a new platform to keep in touch with friends, Frog - The social network fr. might offer a pared-down way to communicate, with a few interesting features like the ability to share sequels -- limiting connections to people they already know, though, would likely be the safest and best option.