Are you logged into Whisper? Parents, do you know about this popular social messaging app for kids, youth, and teenagers?

It’s free to download on the iphone or android. Why use it? Because you can vent or say anything you want to random people worldwide and it’s completely anonymous (when compared to most other social media websites).

When you install the phone app, you create a user name. Every time you post something, your username will be attached to that image or comment. Then you add your gender, age group, and location. However, you can choose to be anonymous by turning off your location (Okemos, Detroit, etc.) so nobody will know what city you are from.

5 ways to use this app:

1. Create and post a comment
2. Directly reply to a user’s comment
3. Send a private message to a user
4. Join a chat group based on similar interests, hobbies, relationships, dating, talk with those in your same age group, or join campus groups like Michigan State University to talk with other college students.
5. Search keywords

So what is the age range of people using this app? It varies as young as middle school to fifty years old. That’s assuming that people aren’t lying about their age either.

Why should my child be careful with who they talk to on this app? Sex traffickers use this app to recruit and target victims.

For example, just two years ago in 2015, a 32 year old male from Grand Rapids Michigan used Whisper to talk to underage minors. He convinced them to take naked snapshots of their body to send to him. Then he met up with one of the females at a residential home in Wyoming. He was later convicted and sent to prison.

Because of this incident, you can see why it’s very important for a parent, guardian, mom, or dad to be aware of the social media tools that their child uses on a daily basis. Did you know sex trafficking occurs in Greater Lansing MI and the Midwest? Michigan is ranked #2. 

Reference:
Cnet.com What is Whisper?
Mlive.com Prison Man Used Whisper to Lure Teen Girls

Have you witnessed or seen suspicious comments on Whisper that could be a sign of Human Trafficking? Email Us SkepticalWorld@gmail.com