Safer Internet Day 2019 by Momio – The Harvest

For Safer Internet Day 2019, kids-friendly social media platform Momio organised an entire week of fun activities to get their young users thinking about what a good internet behaviour should be. In this article, Silja Nielsen, Head of Community and Safety at Momio, reflects on the week of awareness raising.

Date 2019-02-26 Author Silja Nielsen, Head of Community and Safety at Momio
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We took the kids on Momio on a treasure hunt last week, in honour of Safer Internet Day and the Media Literacy Week, and what a week we had!

Pictures say more than a thousand words, so what better way to kickstart the week than to ask momios to create pictures of people having fun online. Some of the art we received is used as illustrations on this blog post.

Tuesday, 5 February 2019 was Safer Internet Day. The global theme for this year was "Together for a better internet". But how? Momios were reflecting on how to play their part:

  • "Be kind and see others' happiness as your reward!"
  • "Ignore haters!"
  • "Don't believe absolutely EVERYTHING people tell you."
  • "Before you write anything, think about saying those things to your grandmother… If it would have been inappropriate, don't write it!"

Picture of Momio creations for Safer Internet Day 2019

Pictures: Happy Girl, Momio Netherlands – Onaa, Momio Netherlands – Smigolek, Momio Poland

Explaining and interpreting

Us adults are famous for not quite understanding what is going on in the kids' lives, especially online. It does not matter that we do not know the latest memes, but it is important that we get the big stuff. So, on Wednesday, we urged momios to imagine how they would explain the concept of having internet friends to their grandparents. Good news: kids are ready to explain, if we adults are ready to listen.

"I have already done that! I just said that I have buddies online, and they're really nice and sweet. My grandpa asked how I got to know them. I told him that I met them on Momio, and then I showed my grandpa how to play Momio!"

Thursday, 7 February 2019 was heaps of fun. Momios created polls to find out how others interpret emojis. Consensus was not always easy to find!

Picture of Momio creations for Safer Internet Day 2019

Pictures: NinaKroon, Momio Netherlands – kuroki, Momio Poland – ingrid banan, Momio Norway

Many things are well

On Friday, 8 February 2019, momios told us what they already love about the internet:

  • "For me, the best part is that you get to meet new friends. For example, I've met two that I want to keep forever… ♥️"
  • "I like social media, and the possibilities to explore Harry Potter. (And it's pretty nice not to have to write homework by hand, as well)"
  • "I love that you can, in contrast with real life, actually report and block people."

On Saturday, Momio's police officer Jack asked children to step in his shoes. What is an important online safety topic that everyone should know about? Many suggested topics like bullying and password safety – classic topics that Jack already frequently posts about. Some of the more rare suggestions were "Remember that you do not have to tell everything about yourself online" and "What would you do if you saw someone writing bad stuff about you". We saw Jack write ideas down in his notebook, so maybe we will see them on Momio soon!

Picture of Momio creations for Safer Internet Day 2019

Pictures: Philippa!, Momio Denmark – AlmaCaloryn, Momio Finland – loligercookie, Momio Germany

Two million pieces of nice

Sunday, 10 February 2019 came, the week was coming to an end, and the treasure map only had one stop left. To show how little is needed to have a great day online, we challenged momios to be nice to each other by sending momos, Momio's own little hellos. They are free to send and fun to receive. We set out to break a record of most momos sent in one day – and oh boy did we break it! Almost two million momos were flying around, making the day super fun and a perfect way to round up the week.

This article was originally published on company.momio.me and is reproduced here with permission. For more information about Momio's role as a Safer Internet Day Supporter, visit saferinternetday.org.

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