Parents Guide to Yubo

Parents Guide to Yubo

There are many articles for parents on the app, Yubo. But these articles don’t really offer parents a guide to Yubo.

Yubo (formerly Yellow) has been in the press often. Many have called it “Tinder for Teens.” That label alone is enough to cause concerns for many parents. I also understand this label might cause some parents to immediately assume Yubo won’t appeal to their teens. But, Yubo has a fan base of over 15 million users! So, clearly Yubo is an app many people are using.

It’s important as parents to understand the apps marketed to our kids. It’s equally important to understand how the apps function so we can discuss concerns based on fact and not hype.

So let’s dig in and learn more about Yubo so we can talk to the teens in our lives.

Parents Guide to Yubo

What is Yubo?

In a nutshell, Yubo is a social networking app used for making new friends. With Yubo, users can connect and chat with other Yubo users. Users can also watch a live stream of other users, or do their own live stream.

Why have people called Yubo “Tinder for Teens?”

Most people now associate the “swipe right to like and left to pass” feature of apps with the dating app Tinder. While Yubo isn’t a dating app, it does employ this swipe feature for connecting with friends on the app. Hence the name “Tinder for Teens.”

What is the age requirement for Yubo?

Yubo is for teens 13-17 who have permission from their parents. And anyone over 17. There are two age brackets in Yubo. One for teens, 13-17, and one for those 17+. In a perfect world this would be great. But, it’s not a perfect world. It’s easy for users to lie about their age when setting up their profile. This goes both ways. Teens can lie to get into the older age group. And adults can lie to meet your teen. Yubo is working on the implementation of a process to verify the age of users. They hope to have this live in the coming months.

Does Yubo catch and remove fake, abusive, underage, or predator accounts?

Accounts are not 100% fully moderated by a human. Like most companies, Yubo uses a combination of technology and human moderators. This means users within the Yubo community have a responsibility to follow the rules and to report abuses so a human moderator can investigate the problem and take the appropriate action.

What do I do if my teen under 17 opens a Yubo account without my permission?

Contact Yubo and ask them to remove the account. Talk to your teen about your family’s guidelines regarding technology and social media. It’s important that you keep conversations open with your teen when it comes to their online life.

A harsh authoritarian approach will only cause them to create secret accounts. Yes, remove the account. But please don’t let this incident cast a dark shadow over the relationship you have with your teen.

What type of content can users expect to see on Yubo?

Yubo is a social sharing app. They offer the option to chat, share images, and live stream. Users will find a range of content depending on the friends they match. Overall, users will find others looking to make friends. While I did not come across any inappropriate content, that doesn’t mean Yubo is free of it.

However, Yubo has numerous notifications when setting up a new account letting you know inappropriate photos and videos are forbidden. They also offer a safety guide to Yubo for parents and teen guide to Yubo explaining how to report users who post content which goes against the community guidelines.

Setting up an account

Setting up an account is easy. You must enter a phone number to get started. Next, you’ll enter your name, gender, and date of birth. Yubo is a location-based app. So, your location will pull automatically. Once your account it set, you can edit your profile and hide your city. There is also an option to hide the feature which lets friends find you using your phone number.

Your email isn’t automatically populated when you set up your account. But there is an option in the profile settings to add it. By selecting “Manage Swipe” you can also opt to have one gender only show and match with you.

Can you block or report inappropriate content and users?

Yes. To do so, go to their profile. Tap the 3 dots in the top right-hand corner. There you have the option to block or block and report. Once you block a user, they are unable to see you within the app. And, all content you shared together is removed. If you need a screenshot for reporting, be sure to get it before blocking the user.

Are in-app purchases available?

No

Is Yubo a good app or not?

I rarely think it’s fair to classify an app as good or bad. Apps are tools. An app is in the hands of the user. Instead, parents should be aware of safety concerns with apps their teens use.

There are valid safety concerns with our teens, and location-based apps are always a concern. On one hand we could argue the networked public is not unlike public space. There are strangers. We certainly don’t keep our teens home because we fear them being around strangers.

The flip-side is the public space gives us a better visual on who is watching us. The Yubo team is proactive in their approach to safety. But, there is the ability for adults to cross the age barrier and enter the 13-17-year-old filter within Yubo. That’s clear from this review:

Teens do need to understand that the likelihood of adults seeing their content is high.