Cybersecurity & Account Safety
Example: A student uses a long string of random words and numbers to secure their phone, knowing it's something they should never share with other people.
What is a password?
Example: You browse an online clothing store for a new hoodie, and this tiny data file left on your phone causes ads for that exact hoodie to pop up on your Instagram feed all week.
What is a cookie?
Example: When a group chat splits up and everyone starts posting subtweets and screenshots about each other on their close friends stories, they are creating this.
What is digital drama?
Example: A Snapchat story shows a black silhouette of a classmate with the text "You won't BELIEVE who got expelled today!", but clicking it just leads to an ad for a mobile game.
What is clickbait?
Example: A student journalist writes a school newspaper recap of a football game, blaming the referees entirely for a loss while completely ignoring three fumbles made by their own best friend, showing this trait.
What is bias?
Example: Instead of using her legal name, a gamer uses "PixelQueen_09" as her identity online.
What is a handle?
Example: When someone creates an unidentifiable venting account on TikTok without using their face, voice, or real name, they are choosing to remain this.
What is anonymous?
Example: A student stays muted during a massive school assembly over Zoom and avoids typing spam into the chat box, showing good form in this category.
What is digital etiquette?
Example: A video titled "A Student Sneaked This Weapon into School!" turns out to be about a plastic water gun used for a senior prank, a classic example of this exaggerated media practice.
What is sensationalism?
Example: A biology student relies on a website hosted by a major university rather than a random TikTok video for their presentation because the university site has high levels of this.
What is credibility?
Example: A junior gets a text claiming to be from Instagram saying their account will be banned unless they click a link to verify their login info immediately, which is actually this type of scam.
What is phishing?
Example: Apps like TikTok and Instagram, where teens go to post updates, share videos, and direct message their friends, fall under this broad description.
What is a social networking site?
Example: A massive group chat argument breaks out over a school sports game, escalating into users typing in ALL CAPS and throwing personal, vitriolic insults at each other.
What is flaming?
Example: This type of person joins a school-wide comment section just to post obviously wrong or annoying statements to rile everyone up for their own amusement.
What is a troll?
Example: Knowing how to spot deepfakes, cite sources correctly, and successfully navigate online privacy settings are all signs of a student having a strong foundation in this.
What is digital literacy?
Example: A student tries to download a free, hacked version of a mobile game, but the sketchy file secretly installs this software to steal their phone's data.
What is malware?
Example: A free mobile study app silently tracks your late-night study habits, favorite fast-food searches, and location to figure out exactly when to show you ads for iced coffee.
What is data mining?
Example: A group of classmates continuously leaves cruel comments on a student’s posts and sends intimidating direct messages every single night, crossing the line into this.
What is cyberbullying?
Example: A TikToker posts a video claiming that a popular gaming console is "officially trash" just to watch thousands of furious fans argue and boost the video's views in the comments.
What is rage-bait?
Example: When a rumor spreads on Snapchat that midterms are canceled, a high school junior checks the official school portal and emails the principal to verify the truth, engaging in this process.
What is fact-checking?
Example: An entirely fabricated article with professional-looking graphics falsely claims that a famous musician was arrested, serving as an example of this.
What is fake news?
Example: A high school senior goes through their old middle school accounts to delete embarrassing posts and comments, realizing that everything they have ever uploaded online contributes to this permanent trail.
What is a digital footprint?
Example: A gamer uses stolen photos of an influencer to create a fake Discord profile, pretending to be a college student from a different state to date someone they met in a voice channel.
What is catfishing?
Example: An account on Twitter posts a picture of a plain grilled cheese sandwich with the caption, "Name a food better than this, you can't," purely to get thousands of people arguing in the replies and boosting the account's visibility.
Wat is engagement farming?
Example: A student retweets an edited screenshot claiming a popular video game server is shutting down forever, genuinely believing it is real and accidentally spreading this to their friends.
What is misinformation?