Short for ‘away from keyboard’. Players use it to say they have stepped away from a game or chat for a moment.

The umbrella term for methods used to work out a user’s age online, ranging from typing a date of birth to facial estimation and formal ID checks.

A computer program that holds human-like conversations, such as ChatGPT or in-app ‘companion’ characters. Some young people form strong attachments to them or use them for advice, so it is worth asking which ones your child talks to.

The set of rules a platform uses to decide what each user sees next. Feeds like TikTok’s For You page are built by algorithms that learn from every tap, pause and replay.

A paid seasonal ticket in games like Fortnite that unlocks rewards the more you play. It can create pressure to play every day so the purchase is not ‘wasted’.

Roblox slang for stealing someone’s account or valuable items, often through scam links or fake ‘free Robux’ offers. If your child says they have been ‘beamed’, they have been hacked or conned.

When a group coordinates to mass-report, downvote or flood a person or post with abuse. It turns online disagreement into organised harassment.

A throwaway account created to hide someone’s real identity, often used to avoid consequences or contact someone who has blocked them.

Roblox’s restricted account type for children under 13 without verified parental consent, which limits chat, social features and content until a parent grants permissions.

‘Cap’ means a lie; ‘no cap’ means ‘honestly’ or ‘no lie’. If a young person says ‘that’s cap’, they are calling something untrue.

Pretending to be someone else online, usually with fake photos and details, to trick a person into a relationship or friendship. It is a common tactic in grooming and romance scams.

Small files websites store on a device to remember logins, preferences and browsing activity. They power convenience and also the tracking behind personalised adverts.

Criminal networks that move drugs from cities into smaller towns, often exploiting children as couriers. Recruitment increasingly starts online, through gaming chats, social media offers of money, or flashy lifestyle content.

The industry of people earning money from online content through ads, sponsorship, gifts and subscriptions. Many young people now name ‘content creator’ as a dream job, which shapes how they behave online.

A feature letting people on different devices, such as PlayStation, Xbox, PC and mobile, play the same game together. It widens who your child can encounter in a match.

Child sexual abuse material: images or videos depicting the sexual abuse or exploitation of children. Making, viewing or sharing it is a serious criminal offence; anyone who encounters it should report to the police or the Internet Watch Foundation and never forward or screenshot the material itself.

Sending unsolicited sexual images, often by AirDrop, Snapchat or direct message. It is a criminal offence in England and Wales and should be reported, not deleted in embarrassment.

An image, video or voice clip generated or altered by AI to make someone appear to say or do something they never did. Deepfake nudes of real people, including school pupils, are a growing safeguarding concern.

Direct messages: private one-to-one or group chats inside an app. ‘Sliding into DMs’ means starting a private conversation, which is why DM settings matter more than public profile settings.

Short for ‘do not interact’, posted on profiles to tell certain groups to stay away. It signals that a young person is managing who approaches them, and sometimes hints at the communities they are part of.

Publishing someone’s private information, such as their address, school or phone number, to intimidate them or encourage others to harass them.

Content that promotes eating disorders while avoiding banned words, using code terms, ‘what I eat in a day’ videos or thinness-idealising imagery. It is designed to slip past moderation and algorithms can amplify it.

A celebration, dance or gesture a game character performs, often bought with in-game currency. Emotes are a major driver of spending in games like Fortnite.

A security method where only the sender and recipient can read a message, used by WhatsApp and Signal. It protects privacy, and it also means platforms and parents cannot see message content.

TikTok’s parental control feature linking a parent’s account to their child’s, allowing remote management of screen time, direct messages and content restrictions. Other platforms offer similar linked-account tools.

A ‘fake Instagram’: a second, private account shared only with close friends, where a young person posts more freely than on their main profile. Most are harmless, but they can sit outside parental oversight.

A game mechanic, named after Japanese toy capsule machines, where players pay for a random chance at characters or items. It is the loot box’s cousin and common in games like Genshin Impact.

Deliberately ruining other players’ fun in a game, such as destroying their builds or sabotaging their team. Persistent griefing aimed at one person can amount to bullying.

The process of building trust with a child in order to exploit or abuse them, often starting with flattery, gifts or shared interests before isolating the child and introducing secrecy. Online grooming can move from public chat to private messages within minutes.

A browser setting that stops history, cookies and logins being saved on the device. It hides activity from others using that device, not from the network, the school or the websites visited.

Someone with a large online following who shapes what their audience buys, believes or copies. Young people often trust influencers like friends, which advertisers and, occasionally, bad actors exploit.

The waiting area in an online game where players gather before a match starts. Lobbies often include open voice or text chat with strangers.

Features that broadcast where a device, and therefore a child, is, either continuously (like Snap Map or Life360) or per post. Useful within families, risky when visible to wider friend lists or the public.

A purchasable in-game item containing random rewards, so players pay without knowing what they will get. Regulators compare the mechanic to gambling, and from June 2026 newly submitted games containing paid loot boxes carry a minimum PEGI 16 rating.

Small in-game or in-app purchases, typically for cosmetics, currency or boosts. Individually tiny, they are designed to be frequent and can add up quickly on a saved card.

Modifying a game with player-made content such as new maps, characters or rules. Official mods are usually safe; downloads from unofficial websites can carry malware or unrated content.

The systems and people a platform uses to find and remove content that breaks its rules, combining AI detection with human reviewers. No moderation system catches everything, especially in live chat.

A ‘non-player character’: a computer-controlled figure in a game. As slang, calling a person an NPC means they are boring or lack independent thought, and it is usually meant as an insult.

Revealing more personal information online than is safe, such as school names, routines, locations or emotional struggles. Fragments shared across many posts can be pieced together by strangers.

A one-sided emotional bond with someone who does not know you exist, such as a streamer or influencer. Normal in moderation, but it can leave young people vulnerable to manipulation by the person they idolise.

Fake messages, emails or login pages designed to steal passwords, payment details or accounts. Young people are often targeted with fake ‘free skins’ or ‘account problem’ messages.

When large numbers of people descend on one person’s post with criticism or abuse. Even if each comment seems small, the combined effect on the target can be devastating.

A restricted communication mode offering only pre-written phrases, used in games like Rocket League and in Among Us’s under-13 setting. It lets children communicate in matches without free-text contact from strangers.

An optional setting on platforms like YouTube and TikTok that filters out mature or sensitive content. Helpful but imperfect, so treat it as a coarse filter rather than a guarantee.

Slang for charm or flirting skill, derived from ‘charisma’. Having ‘rizz’ means being smooth or persuasive, usually romantically.

Roblox’s virtual currency, bought with real money and spent on items, outfits and experiences. Fake ‘free Robux’ offers are one of the most common scams aimed at children.

The amount of time spent on devices, and also the name of Apple’s built-in controls for tracking and limiting it. Quality of use matters as much as quantity: an hour creating differs from an hour doom-scrolling.

A purchase granting access to a game’s content across a season or year, sometimes covering expansions and sometimes working like a battle pass. Either way, it ties spending to continued play.

In everyday use, an online space where a game world or community runs, such as a Minecraft server or a Discord server. Each has its own members, rules and moderators, or sometimes none.

Blackmail using sexual images: an offender tricks or pressures a young person into sharing an image, then threatens to publish it unless they pay or send more. Victims should stop contact, keep evidence, and report to CEOP or the police; they are never to blame.

Installing an app from outside the official app store, common on Android. It bypasses store safety checks and parental purchase controls, and is a frequent route for scam or malicious apps.

A cosmetic outfit or appearance for a game character or weapon. Skins change nothing about gameplay, yet they carry real social currency among children and drive significant spending.

A secondary account made by an experienced player to appear new, whether to play against weaker opponents or to dodge bans. More broadly, a sign that one person may hold several identities on a platform.

Snapchat’s live map showing friends’ locations whenever they open the app, unless Ghost Mode is switched on. Worth reviewing together, since location can be visible to a wide friend list.

Snapchat’s count of consecutive days two people have messaged each other. Streaks are prized among young people and create daily pressure to keep them alive, sometimes by sharing login details with friends.

Someone who broadcasts themselves live online, usually playing games or chatting, on platforms like Twitch, YouTube or TikTok LIVE. Many children watch streamers daily and some aspire to become one.

Short for ‘suspicious’ or ‘suspect’, popularised by the game Among Us. Something ‘sus’ seems dodgy or untrustworthy.

A login step that requires something extra beyond a password, such as a code sent to a phone. Switching it on is one of the simplest ways to protect a child’s accounts from theft.

Fortnite’s virtual currency, bought with real money and spent on skins, emotes and battle passes. Sold in bundles that rarely match item prices, which makes real costs harder to see.

A virtual private network, which routes internet traffic through an encrypted connection elsewhere, hiding activity from the local network and often disguising the user’s location. It is a legitimate privacy tool that also bypasses home and school filters.