Google+

Teens' exposure to violent content will depend upon what people in their circles choose to post and what sorts of content teen users decide to search for. The Google+ content policy states that users are not to post anything that is considered bullying, gratuitous violence, or that contains "hatred or violence towards groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity." There is a "report abuse" option for rule-violating content.

The Google+ content policy states users are not to post anything content that "presents children in a sexual manner" or any images containing "nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material," including profile pictures. Rules prohibit driving traffic to commercial pornography sites from Google+ accounts. There is a "report abuse" option for rule-violating content.

Potential exposure to inappropriate language will depend entirely upon what sort of language the people in a user's circles choose to post. There are no rules prohibiting specific words, but rather a blanket rule against hate speech.

The content policy does prohibit posting anything containing illegal activity (illegal drug use and underage alcohol consumption and smoking should fall under that rule), but that would not prohibit posting images of or content about drinking alcohol or smoking among those users of legal age.

Parents need to know that the Google+ social network is now open for teens, with some privacy tweaks for teen accounts and a new Google+ safety guide for teens. Just as with adult users, teens have the ability to limit who sees certain posts by "circles" -- friends, acquaintances, work, and general public circles for example. Google+ will automatically remind teens about who may be seeing their post if their posting on public or extended circles, and the company created age-appropriate privacy default settings for any users who are known to be teenagers by their site registration information. The education component includes a blog that highlights safety content, frequently asked questions, and links to other organizations concerned with Internet safety to help promote teen social networking safety and smart use, as well as provide answers for parents and teens new to Google+ about its features. The parent section includes content from Common Sense Media. Google+ also encourages the use of their features for users that allow teens to report abuse, block people, and remove negative comments from their posts. Still, teens will need to use the same caution they do with sharing on other social networks -- remembering that putting anything onto the Internet has the potential to stay there forever.