We’re always hearing about new apps from young people at our talks in Schools and colleges. You might recall Ask.FM, Ask Frank or Sarahah amongst our blogs on anonymous messaging apps and websites. Apps of this nature still remain very popular with risky features continuing to be developed at a frequent rate.
A research carried out by Cyber Safe Ireland to mark Safer Internet Day 2019 recently found from a survey of 1,200 primary pupils from 3rd, 4th and 5th classes that ‘79% of children owned a smart device that could access the internet’.
Of those ‘40% of pupils admitted to speaking to strangers online either through social media channels or games consoles, with a third admitting they speak to strangers online every day’.
This app came up recently when a local school raised concerns that the app was being used by students and it was causing issues in the school. According to different sources the app currently has between 8-10 million registered users and receives 30 million monthly visitors – sharing 1 million ‘Tells’ per day. The app has come to the attention of the police in Manchester, Coventry and Derby. According to an article in the Coventry Telegraph ‘Two schools have issued warnings to parents about Tellonym, claiming it allows inappropriate postings, comments and photographs which have caused upset and distress to young people’. According to the same message sent out by Urmston Grammar in Trafford and Abraham Moss in Manchester, posts have led to police being called into schools over incidents involving sexual texts and images, bullying and harassment.
The idea behind the Tellonym app is to ‘answer anonymous questions and ask others the things you have never dared before’.
Similar to Sarahah, Ask Frank, Ask.fm and other anonymous-based apps we’ve reviewed in the past, users register for the app by signing up with an email address or mobile number which can allow them to search for friends via their phones contact list. The app can also be linked to social media accounts such as Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat accounts.
Once a user has registered they can send or share a link in which other users can send back questions or comments anonymously. This link can be shared across all platforms – including popular social networking platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and WhatsApp.
Users can also follow each other on the platform and send each other messages. Similar to most social media platforms, a newsfeed displays all messages addressed to the user and notifications when a new ‘Tell’(message) is received.
The app appears to offer users ‘Safety Options’ which can be accessed by going into your profile and tapping on the cog wheel on the top right.
From here users can control different safety options. Once the user has set the safety levels they are comfortable with, they can set a ‘safety code’ which prevents others from changing the safety settings applied to the users account. One issue we noticed with this was that once you set the ‘safety code’ a copy of the actual 4-digit code was then emailed to your registered email address which in itself could become a concern if the email account associated with the account was ever to be breached.
Within the safety features users also have the ability to set and adjust the ‘Language Filters’ from very low to very high and also turn on an option in which they can only receive ‘Tells’ (messages) from registered users. The app does also give users further control to increase filter levers covering;
Users of Tellonym also have the ability to block users by tapping on the 3 dots on a user profile as well as reporting the user for the following;
Reporting features
If a user finds something they deem inappropriate on the platform they can report it. This is done by simply tapping on the 3 dots to the right of the message. An option will appear on screen:
At this stage the options for reporting include:
There are a number of concerning aspects for Parents:
With this app, like other similar apps we’ve reviewed, which allow users the ability to post and respond to messages anonymously, there is the potential for them to be mis-used. They can end up being used negatively to cyberbully, harass and cause hurt and distress to others. Tellonym is just another in a long line of apps like Afterschool, Whisper, Ask.fm and Sarahah which will continue to be of concern for parents.
Following are some reviews by parents on Common Sense Media:
‘Terrible app.
My daughter has this app and it is nothing but a platform for bullying. I wish that I could give zero stars. Also wish I could post a screenshot of the threatening messages my daughter received’.
‘Noooooo
If I could give it 0 stars I would. It’s a platform for bullies, cowards and trolls. Being anonymous lends itself to the cruel west of worlds with no consequences. If your kid has the app, it’s in your best interest to check it daily or delete it!!!!
Commonsense Media, a pragmatic no-nonsense media reviewing source, we recommend highly to schools, has this piece of advice
‘With online anonymity increasing the likelihood of callousness and cruelty, anonymous messaging is a questionable concept at best, especially for kids. Though there’s some potential for fun in guessing who’s messaging you — the app store’s tagline reads “See who likes you” — there’s just as much potential for finding out who doesn’t. Users in app store reviews report being harassed repeatedly, told they’re ugly, and that they should “kill themselves.”
‘And though Tellonym claims its simple text-based approach and in-house monitoring reduce the possibility of cyberbullying, the app’s ability to link to more diverse social media apps like Snapchat and Twitter more or less cancel out that claim. With two million registered users and the promise of anonymity, Tellonym is an obvious temptation for shy kids and teens; unfortunately, the app’s potential for encouraging meanness and clique-ishness make it the last kind of app kids should use’.
Take care online.
Wayne
Remember to share it with your family & friends.
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