Social Media Reputation Monitoring: uKnowKids, Reppler and Today's Tools

A decade ago, a small group of services promised to protect kids' and adults' online reputations by scanning social media for problems. Two of the best known were uKnowKids, aimed at parents, and Reppler, aimed at anyone worried about what their Facebook profile said about them. Neither exists today. But the problem they addressed, that what you post can follow you, matters more than ever.

uKnowKids: what it was and what happened

uKnowKids was a parental monitoring service that watched a child's social networks and phone activity and alerted parents to concerning content, new friends, and potential risks. Parents connected the child's accounts, and the service built a picture of the child's online life, flagging things like inappropriate language or contact from unknown adults.

On January 3, 2020, uKnowKids announced it was closing. The company said Bark would carry on its mission. Existing members could move to Bark using the same email address, and Bark said it would honor annual and lifetime uKnowKids plans. New uKnowKids accounts could no longer be created. The uKnowKids website still shows that farewell announcement.

Our earlier uKnowKids review covers how the service worked in its day.

Reppler: what it was and what happened

Reppler launched in 2010 as a free service that scanned your Facebook profile for content that could hurt your reputation: inappropriate photos, offensive language, risky links, and privacy settings that exposed too much. It was popular with job seekers and parents who wanted to check how a teen's profile might look to a school or employer.

The service has been gone for years, and its website no longer exists.

What does the job now

For parents: alert-based monitoring

Bark is the direct successor for former uKnowKids families. It scans texts, email, browsers and more than 30 social apps for warning signs like bullying, sexual content, self-harm and contact from predators, and alerts parents rather than showing everything. Some social platforms require the child's login details to connect. On iPhone, deeper scanning of messages and photos requires Bark's Sync charger accessory.

Other parental control services, such as Qustodio, include social monitoring alerts for a handful of apps.

For everyone: built-in privacy checkups

The platforms themselves now offer much of what Reppler did.

• Facebook has a Privacy Checkup that walks you through who can see your posts, profile information and more. See our guide to the five-minute Facebook privacy checkup.
• Instagram lets you make an account private, control who can tag and mention you, and review tags before they appear. Teen accounts on Instagram default to stricter settings.
• Google offers "Results about you," which lets you find and request removal of search results containing personal contact details like your phone number or home address.

How to do a reputation check with your teen

You don't need a paid service to see what the internet says about your child. Sit down together and work through this:

1. Search their name in Google and Bing, in quotes, with and without your town or school. Check web, image and video results.
2. Search their usernames. Teens often reuse the same handle across apps.
3. View their profiles while logged out, or from a browser where you're not signed in. That's what a stranger, school or employer sees.
4. Review tagged photos and remove tags they don't like.
5. Check old accounts. Delete accounts on apps they no longer use.
6. Review privacy settings on every active account: who can see posts, who can message them, and whether their location is shown.
7. Set up a Google Alert for their name, so you hear about new mentions. Our guide explains how to create a Google Alert.

What to teach about reputation

• Assume everything is permanent. Screenshots last longer than stories and "disappearing" messages.
• Ask before posting others. Photos of friends can affect their reputations too.
• Think about the audience you can't see. A coach, a future employer or a college admissions officer may look someday.
• Positive footprints count. Sports results, art, volunteer work and school achievements show up in searches too.
• Fixing mistakes is possible. Deleting posts, untagging, and asking friends to remove photos all help.

Our guide to controlling your digital footprint goes into more depth.

When a post causes real trouble

Sometimes a reputation problem is more than an embarrassing photo. If your child is being impersonated, harassed, or targeted with posts that share private images or personal details, act quickly:

1. Take screenshots that show the content, the account name and the date.
2. Use the platform's reporting tools for impersonation, harassment or privacy violations.
3. Block the accounts involved.
4. Contact the school if classmates are involved.
5. Contact law enforcement if there are threats or sexual images of a minor.

Make it a routine

A reputation check works best as a habit rather than a one-off. Many families do it at natural checkpoints: the start of a school year, before a college or job application, or after joining a new app. Each time, it takes only a few minutes, and it gives your teen practice at the self-check they'll need to do on their own as adults. Over time, let them lead the search while you watch, then step back entirely.

The bottom line

• uKnowKids closed in 2020 and passed its members to Bark.
• Reppler is long gone.
• Bark and similar services handle alert-based social monitoring today.
• Free privacy checkups on Facebook, Instagram and Google cover much of the rest.
• A regular, shared reputation check with your teen teaches more than any scanner.