New Lingo Developed to Keep Parents in Dark About Online Behavior

Parents, do you know what the acronyms "D46" or "182" mean? If not, then you're not alone, says .

The San Bruno-based company that monitors kids' online social networking activities, today released its list of the top terms parents need to know. The company says these little-known codes are part of a new lexicon being formed by children—and those who might prey on children—to communicate with each other in ways that most adults wouldn't understand.

“Many parents think friending their child on social networks is enough to monitor their activities and protect them, yet time and time again it’s shown that it isn’t,” George Garrick, CEO of SocialShield, said in a statement. “Most parents don’t have the time to keep up with the sheer volume of interactions or have the understanding of the online language to really get what their kids are saying or what people are saying to their kids. This makes it really easy for problems to go unnoticed.”

The list was curated from an analysis of commonly “flagged” terms identified by SocialShield’s monitoring engines as somehow risky, dangerous or illicit.

The terms range from sexual in nature to cries for help, but most fall into one of six categories that SocialShield has created to help parents identify and understand the types of issues their children are discussing on social networks. Other categories include cyberbullying, drugs and drinking, warnings of parents in the room, and requests to meet up in person.

SocialShield has also found that as more parents have started friending their kids online, more kids are adopting this new lingo. 

In addition, the lexicon of terms changes often as kids develop new codes.

According to SocialShield, some of the top terms parents need to know include:

• Sexual Terms: GNOC (“Get Naked On Cam”); TDTM (“Talk Dirty To Me”); D46 (“Down For Sex?”)
• Cyberbullying Terms: BIH (“Burn In Hell”); GKY (“Go Kill Yourself”); 182 (“I Hate You”)
• Depression Signs: IHML (“I Hate My Life”); IHTFP (“I Hate This F--king Place”); PHM (“Please Help Me”)
• Drugs/Drinking Terms: CRAFT (“Can’t Remember A F--king Thing”); UDI (“Unidentified Drinking Injury”)
• Meet Up Requests: MIRL (“Meet In Real Life?”); W2M (“Want To Meet?”); S2R (“Send To Receive” [Pictures])
• Warning of Parents/Adults Nearby: POS (“Parent Over Shoulder”); AITR (“Adult In The Room”); P911 (“Parent Emergency”)

The full list of terms can be found on Socialshield’s Facebook page.

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