We work collaboratively across industry, government and with schools to reach UK families with tools, tips and resources to help children benefit from connected technology smartly and safely.
Created in 2016, by three students, Tellonym is an anonymous messaging app that lets you ask and answer questions about each other anonymously and non-anonymously, it’s popular among teens.
How does the Tellonym app work?
Tellonym users can receive messages through the platform which are called ‘Tells’. Every Tell is sent and received to the recipient’s private inbox, which no one else can see. Then, only if a user decides to answer a Tell, the original Tell, and the answer becomes visible to other users.
Is there anything parents should be worried about?
With any online messaging app platform there are several potential risks that come with it, such as the cyberbullying, sexting, abusive comments, etc. As the apps main function is to connect with others, this may leave room for such risks to happen. The app has been given a rating of 17+ on the Apple App Store and a Teen rating on the Google Play Store.
Are there any parental controls?
Yes, there are several controls features available in Tellonym, some of the built-in, some of them must be set up. The following are controls you can apply, (we recommend doing a setup together with your teen):
Talk to your child about what they’re sharing
Help your child think about what they share online and who sees it. Compare it to what they would be happy to share offline. Remind them that they shouldn’t share private things, such as:
Personal information, like names, emails, phone numbers, location, and school names
Other people’s personal information
Links to join private group chats
Photos of themselves
Photos of their body, such as sexual photos or videos
Have regular conversations
Talking to your child about what is going on online and offline and risks will help them gain an understanding and develop their digital resilience. Our advice and tips can help you start these conversations.
Check their privacy settings
Check their privacy settings on your child’s Tellonym account.
Wayne Denner provides a short parents’ review of the Tellonym app
Display video transcript
00:00
when it comes to online safety one of
00:02
the most challenging things for parents
00:03
and guardians is keeping themselves up
00:05
to date with the latest social media
00:07
platforms smartphone apps websites and
00:10
the games the children and young people
00:12
are using and on this channel we work
00:14
hard to make sure we keep you as
00:16
up-to-date as possible when it comes to
00:18
all of those things so stick around
00:20
we're gonna take a look at another
00:22
smartphone app for parents and guardians
00:23
to have on their issei for the radar hey
00:33
welcome back thanks for stopping by and
00:34
checking out alone on my short videos if
00:37
you're watching this video on YouTube
00:39
please don't forget to hit that
00:40
subscribe button if you're watching over
00:42
on Facebook please don't forget to like
00:44
and share this video and if you know
00:46
somebody who can benefit from this video
00:48
please do tag them in the comments below
00:50
and if you're coming across this video
00:52
for the first time maybe one of your
00:55
friends shared a link to this video
00:57
please don't forget to hit that like
00:59
button so I can keep you up to date with
01:02
all of the latest smartphone apps social
01:04
media platforms and games for parents to
01:08
be aware of today we're talking about
01:10
another anonymous based app called
01:13
tell'em or tell on him now in the past
01:17
we have covered a number of similar
01:18
websites and apps such as ask fm Sahara
01:22
which was previously an app which has
01:24
now become a website and also ask Frank
01:27
all of these websites and apps allow
01:31
users to post and respond to questions
01:35
anonymously on their platform the
01:38
tell'em app is one which is gaining
01:40
popularity particularly with primary
01:43
school children and certainly one for
01:45
parents and guardians to be aware of the
01:48
app is between 8 and 10 million users
01:51
worldwide and according to tell them
01:54
there is over 1 million tells or
01:58
questions posted a day on the app now
02:01
it's pretty straightforward to set up on
02:03
account all you need is an email address
02:05
or a mobile number and once your account
02:07
is set up then you can begin posting
02:10
questions which are known as tales
02:13
to your profile on the app a couple of
02:16
the other things we noticed when we were
02:17
reviewing the app was that users could
02:20
also add their Instagram and their
02:22
snapchat ID to their profile on the
02:25
talam app now a number of schools in the
02:28
UK have issued warnings to parents
02:31
particularly about inappropriate
02:33
messages and comments on the talam app
02:37
so it is one for parents to be aware of
02:40
you can also go into your profile
02:42
settings and you can search for other
02:44
users you can change your age profile on
02:47
the app which will allow you potentially
02:49
to search for younger users on the
02:52
platform and that's something which is
02:54
concerning in itself now we have done a
02:57
detailed breakdown of this particular
02:59
app but if you want to know any more
03:00
information on this app please do click
03:03
on the link above in the post and that
03:06
will take you across to the website
03:08
which will have a full detailed
03:10
breakdown on the tell'em app or parents
03:13
need to know how some of the safety
03:15
features work on the app and some of the
03:17
other things that we noticed whenever we
03:19
were carrying out our review of the app
03:22
so as to tell them up one for parents
03:24
and guardians to be on the lookout for
03:25
and to be aware of I hope you found this
03:27
video useful please don't forget to
03:28
share it with your family and friends
03:30
please don't forget to reach out get in
03:31
touch if you'd like me to visit your
03:33
school or community and deliver one of
03:36
my practical online safety workshops I
03:39
would love to hear from you I'll be
03:40
coming back very soon with another one
03:42
of my short videos for parents and
03:45
guardians
Resources
Take a look at our parental controls for some of the popular apps and online platforms
