**Disclaimer** This platform and many others are great for making friends, and there are plenty of great people on here, however there are also predators on here and other platforms as well! Please use your best judgement in choosing your online friends and be careful out there. Thank you.

For minors that are lost puppies and struggle with what's right or wrong to do online, please. I hope you're reading this. I made this HANDBOOK just for you! These are ways to stay safe on this platform, as well as other platforms too. This has helped me growing up, and it may as well help you too!

FOLLOW THESE RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS TO AVOID POTENTIAL P*DOS, TROLLS, UNSAFE SITUATIONS, ETC.

First, some questions to answer to yourself:

1. Have I set my profiles to private, made sure that nothing about me is set to public?(name(have an alias), photos, location, school names, etc) If the answer to this question is NO or I DON'T KNOW, go and check all of your online platforms right now and set everything to PRIVATE. If at this point, setting your profile(s) to private doesn't seem like enough to you, delete any info that's too giving of your location DELETED. If you have no idea how to do this, ask a techsavvy or adult to help you on this.

2. Do I feel safe on this platform or on other platforms? If the answer is something other than yes, stop using that platform.

3. Are my friends online just online friends? If yes, use your best judgement if you should keep them all or not. Which online friends are trustworthy, and which aren't really being what you'd want in an online friend?

Now that we're through with those questions, and hopefully you've gone and fixed your profile(s). If not, just tread carefully. These are some rules to keep you safe though. 

RULE NO. 1: NEVER give any stranger your real name, location or photos! It is up to you to reveal your age, but never state that you're older than your actual age. *Creating an online alias is your best bet to protect yourself online.* For example: My name might be Jenny, but I like to go by Cinniebuns online, as well as other usernames or aliases. Be creative with your alias, and try not to include your real name in it.(Not your first, middle or last name or names) 

RULE NO. 2: Have your online friend circle perhaps be people you know in real life before just having online friends. Your friends can help with judgement on other people that they don't know on the platform! (Who's safe/cool to talk to and who's sketchy.)

RULE NO. 3: If they talk to you asking for your info, send you links, or anything that is not safe for you, DO NOT RESPOND AND BLOCK THEM. Also be sure to report them to help protect others on the platform as well. (Ask for help if you don't know how to block other users)

RULE NO. 4: (This is something rhetorical, but you never know) do NOT share your email(s)/password(s)/username(s) with ANYONE on the internet. This is to help protect you and your identity as well! 

RULE NO. 5: Don't link your other platforms(like Facebook or Instagram ) to this platform...unless!! there are absolutely no giving details about your name/location and there aren't any photos of you. In some cases this will be okay if it's just a kpop loving account/cute account about like Sanrio..etc! 

Hopefully this will help some-most of you. I would add more to this, but it's getting late. I hope this is okay...