Outpour
Outpour gallery
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Outpour is an app that's designed as a tool to share positive comments anonymously. While the intentions may be positive, with expectations of anonymous compliments that sweet shy teens might not feel comfortable sharing face-to-face, the possibility for anonymous bullying or harassment is also a very real possibility. It's safe enough for teens to have it installed on their phones, since they can control what appears on their walls, deleting objectionable posts and reporting abusers. Parents need to know that once the app is installed, though, kids can anonymously text any contact in their phone, even people who are not using Outpour.What kids can learn
The thrill of anonymous messaging will draw teens in, and hopefully, the repeated encouragement to keep things positive will have an impact.
The reminders encouraging teens to post positive messages will get through, teaching kids how powerful words can be.
Teens can see their post history on their wall but have the ability to delete posts as well as report offensive posts.
What's it about?
To create an account, kids create a username and enter their phone number. They then chose to have their phone contacts used as their friends list in OUTPOUR and begin spreading positive messages, getting lots of inspiration urging them to send kind words. Teens can post their messages to their friends or send them as anonymous text messages to their contacts who are not using Outpour?. While the posts are anonymous, they are not private. Others can see their posts, comment on them, or like them, but the user can delete any posts or comments.
Is it any good?
It's clear that Outpour has good intentions to spread kindness. Teens will find lots of encouragement to be kind with motivational posts like "People should know they are loved. Will you tell someone today?" or "Your kind words can make someone feel wonderful right now." The ability for teens to delete what appears on their wall is great, too, and there are no images to worry about -- all giving Outpour a safety edge over other social media apps. Still, while anonymity might give teens the courage to pay a compliment, it could still also give others a tool to bully or harass.
Families can talk about...
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Families can about the consequences of sexting, which is a potential issue with an anonymous flirting app. Read our article Talking About Sexting for ideas to discuss.
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Talk to kids about the power of words -- both positive and negative -- and how sharing kind words can brighten someone's day but meanness can have even more lasting implications.
App details
| Devices: | iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad |
| Price: | Free |
| Pricing structure: | Free |
| Release date: | December 10, 2014 |
| Category: | Social Networking |
| Topics: | High school |
| Size: | 7.00 MB |
| Publisher: | Calvin Liu |
| Version: | 1.0.2 |
| Minimum software requirements: | iOS 7,0 or later |
