Bark Social Media Monitoring & Parental Controls

$~~14.99~~ $11.99/mo

Get alerts for issues like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation, and more
Monitor texts, emails, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms
Manage screen time and filter websites your kids can visit
Know when kids arrive with location alerts and check-ins

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Smithville and Bark Social Media Monitoring

Smithville is here to connect you to what matters. Our Fast Fiber Internet allows individuals to video chat loved ones, upload and download important work files, and stream the newest video game. While the internet has immense benefits to our lives, it’s rapid evolvement and limitless access has made it intimidating for parents who care about their children’s digital life.

We are now offering Bark to help parents see, know and respond to potential dangers in their kid’s digital life. Bark is a social media monitoring tool that can help parents know if their kids are experiencing or engaging with:

Cyberbullying
Inappropriate content
Online predators
Suicidal ideation
Screen addiction
Disordered eating

Bark by Smithville is here for you to know what your kids are seeing online so you can start a conversation and help raise healthy kids in the digital age.

Bark statistics: 7.5 million protected, 3.7 millions severe self-harm situations detected, 5.9 million severe bullying situations detected

Bark Social Media Monitoring Location Sharing on Bark App Screen

Bark Social Media Monitoring Filter Apps App Screen

Bark Social Media Monitoring App Screen with a bullying alert notification

Set Location Alerts

Bark allows you to set up location alerts so you don’t have to wait on your kid to text you when they’ve reached a location.

Filter Websites

Bark makes it easy for you to choose what apps and websites your child can use and filters inappropriate content.

Monitor Content

Bark makes social media monitoring easy by scanning your kid’s text messages, 30+ social media apps, and other online activity to notify you when it catches online threats.

Download Our Online Family Safety Pledge

Talking with your kids about what is safe and unsafe online activity is the best way to start your online family safety journey. Bark’s social media monitoring works best for families when they get on the same page about online safety. Creating an online safety pledge together is one way to get the conversation started! Download our free Online Family Safety Pledge and plan a time to talk with your kids about online safety.

Online Family Safety Pledge Download

Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

Content Monitoring
- Bark monitors your child’s texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and social media platforms for issues like cyberbullying, adult content, sexual predators, profanity, suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more.
- Parents receive text or email alerts only when something potentially problematic occurs online. You won’t have full access to everything on your child’s phone — just the things you might need to know about. This saves you countless hours of scrolling through every online interaction your child has while allowing you to build trust and maintain an open line of communication with your child.
Screen Time Management
- Bark’s screen time management features help families set time limits and create schedules for when their children’s devices can connect to the internet (through both cell service and Wi-Fi).
App and Website Blocking
- Our website blocking feature lets you select which apps and websites are appropriate for your child to access on their devices. You can block specific sites or even whole categories like streaming services, online gaming, sexual content, and more.
Location Sharing
- Bark’s location sharing features include both location alerts and check-ins. Through location tracking alerts, you can get notified when your child arrives at or leaves a specific place. With check-ins, you can see exactly where your kid is at a given time.

This will vary depending on the type of device and number of devices and accounts you plan to setup. Apple is strict when it comes to security and doesn’t allow any third-party solutions (including Bark) direct access to monitor iOS devices. You’ll need a computer to set up Bark Premium if your child has an iPhone, iPad, or iPod (you can see step-by-step instructions for how to do setup on iOS devices here). In general, users should set aside roughly 30-60 mins to complete Bark setup.

No. Smithville is offering this service in partnership with Bark and the service is available anywhere Bark offers service.

If your child changes the passwords to their email or social media accounts, causing Bark to stop monitoring them, you’ll get a notification. You’ll also be alerted if your child uninstalls one of our child companion apps. You can prevent companion apps from being uninstalled from iOS and Android devices:

If your child has an iOS device, you’ll need to use Apple’s Screen Time to enforce Uninstall Protection. Navigate to:

Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > iTunes and App Store Purchases > Deleting Apps > Don’t Allow
NOTE: If you haven’t set up iOS Screen Time, click here for instructions.

Kids are generally receptive to Bark once they learn that we protect them online while also giving them more privacy. Parents don’t get access to every single message they send — only online activities that indicate that they might be in danger. Here’s how to talk to your child about Bark.

Apple is strict when it comes to security and doesn’t allow any third-party solutions (including Bark) direct access to monitor iOS devices. You’ll need a computer to set up Bark Premium if your child has an iPhone, iPad, or iPod (you can see step-by-step instructions for how to do setup on iOS devices here). For Androids, you won’t need a computer at all.

Absolutely! Bark’s pledges to handle all personal information with utmost respect and care. Here you can find the details about exactly how they address security and privacy. Bark does not share any personal or confidential information with Smithville.

Bark is compatible with most devices. If your phone or computer is on the older side, learn if it is still supported.

Content Monitoring FAQs

Bark’s social media monitoring features uses advanced machine learning and statistical analysis techniques to recognize potential problems. Simple keyword searches are not enough to detect the majority of issues, which is why our parental control app uses contextual analysis and natural language processing to determine when something serious might be happening. Bark’s algorithm also keeps up with the latest in teen slang.

Yes, Bark analyzes images and videos associated with a message or that are stored on a device. They’re analyzed for nudity, violence, and other inappropriate content, including text added to the images.

No parental control tool will ever be perfect. It is possible that something could be missed, or that you’ll get an occasional alert when no real issue exists. That being said, Bark’s A.I. is constantly improving! Plus, they are a tool to help families protect their children online, not a replacement for active, engaged parenting.

Generally speaking, Apple has more stringent security and privacy restrictions than other operating systems. For this reason, set-up is slightly different for iOS devices. Bark analyzes text messages, photos, videos, and more thorough scans of your child’s iOS device.

To help ensure Bark is able to monitor your child’s iOS device, please follow the iOS connection instructions in the onboarding process. After the initial set-up, the Bark Desktop App will automatically back up your child’s iOS device to your computer for analysis.

Bark monitors 30+ of the most popular social media platforms and apps, as well as text messages and saved photos and videos on devices. You can check out an interactive list of everything Bark monitors here based on what type of device your child has. For apps that Bark doesn’t currently monitor, you can easily block them entirely or set limits on daily access.

Website Block & Screen Time FAQs

Families can manage not only when their kids can access the internet on their devices, but also which sites and apps they can visit.

You can create custom profiles for each child in your house, create screen time schedules, and manage access to a wide variety of websites — including video streaming, gaming, adult content, and more.

Absolutely! As parents ourselves, we know that raising an 11-year-old isn’t the same as raising a 16-year-old. Because of this, you can create a different schedule for each of your children.

Yes, our web filtering feature lets you manage access to up to 18 different website categories. Within those categories, you can also create exceptions. For example, you can block all streaming sites but allow Netflix (and vice versa).

Children aren’t able to adjust their own screen time limits from the Bark for Kids app. Deleting the app will allow them to get around the restrictions, but you’ll be notified if this happens.

Raising Kids in the Digital Age Just Got Easier