Dear Julia: My 10-year-old daughter thinks she’s the next Miranda Cosgrove (the star of iCarly). She wants to start her own blog (or maybe a YouTube channel) with some friends. I’m hesitant, for obvious reasons. Should I let her? Is it safe? — Concerned Dad

Dear Dad: I understand your concern — but you should know that attempting to battle the siren song of iCarly (the wildly popular Nickelodeon sitcom about tweens who run a Web show) is like our government trying to contain WikiLeaks. Possible in theory, way difficult in practice.

Unless you want to pull the Internet plug and block Wi-Fi hotspots in your home — and good luck with that — you should probably treat your daughter’s online ambitions the way most parents handle a 16-year-old’s request to drive the family car: Give proper training, set appropriate rules, and then PRAY.

The good news? Blogging or posting videos on YouTube can be an incredible outlet for your child’s burgeoning creativity. She’ll learn a variety of skills that are necessary in this 2.0 world (probably 3.0, by the time she’s ready for college), including computer fluency, video-editing techniques, writing well, and interacting with an online community.

If you’re really smart, you’ll sign her up for a basic programming class as a condition of the endeavour. Encouraging your daughter to design her own website and maybe even start her own Web business will teach her valuable lessons about technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and other tech prodigies all spent large portions of their childhoods playing with computers. Doing so is the lemonade stand for the next generation. (And who knows? With the right iPad app, your daughter could be supporting YOU in a few years!)

Now, a few caveats.

1. Don’t allow your daughter to use her real name, or at least not her full name. Make this a fun process. Tell her, “Hey! You get to pick your own stage name!” It’s less about being wary of online predators (although it would be nice if people couldn’t find out where you live) and more about being able to control the permanency of your child’s online repertoire. Exhibit A — a dozen 20-year-old VHS cassette tapes filled with hours of my favourite preteen amusement: lip-syncing to Paula Abdul songs while dancing around my living room. I was no baby Britney Spears. They’re awful, but they’re private. However, 13-year-old Rebecca Black, whose Friday YouTube experiment has garnered more than 148 million views and been dubbed “the worst music video in the world”, will live with that for Internet eternity. I thank the tech gods every day that I was born in 1981.

2. Get the passwords. This gives your daughter the idea, true or not, that you are the omniscient overlord of her online domain, a parental editor-in-chief. You see everything, you hear everything, you know everything — and you can delete anything you deem inappropriate. I would suggest having a discussion with her about exactly what that means. Here’s a good start: “Don’t write anything online you would be embarrassed to read aloud in front of your seventh-grade English class.” Or in front of your grandmother!

3. Limit or eliminate comments. Comments are the cesspool of the Internet, and they can wreak havoc on your young daughter if left unchecked. I would recommend either eliminating them (on YouTube) or using a service like Disqus that allows you to approve them (the comments are sent to your email). Online bullying isn’t a joke, and you have to be careful with a fragile preteen’s self- esteem.

That all said, look at the wild success of pint-sized fashionista Tavi Gevinson, who began her blog Style Rookie, at age 11, and skyrocketed to New York fashion fame, sitting front row at Fashion Week and publishing articles in major glossies like Harper’s Bazaar. Now 15, she has a new magazine/website coming out with publishing legend Jane Pratt.

Dear Julia: Is it OK if I follow my therapist on Twitter? — Technically Crazed

Dear Crazed: Well, if he gives good advice, sure. Just avoid seeking therapy by tweeting him. You probably don’t want a public record of your daddy issues in 140 characters or less.

Julia Allison is a veteran columnist, TV personality and public speaker.

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