Social media plays a more and more dominant aspect of everyone's lives, and is becoming very common among young children. With young children being exposed to social media, it raises the question of whether social media should be so easily accessible to the youth, as it is today. I think there is room to debate on either side of this question. It is inevitable that the age of children who have social media will continue to decrease. However, there are several pros and cons to this.
First, I'll discuss the positives social media can have on children's lives. One of the benefits is that online platforms can help kids extend their social lives beyond their in-person interactions. Social media can be a good way for kids to feel more comfortable making connections with others and forming new friendships. This can be a positive thing--however, only a certain extent, as it's also important for kids to learn how to make friends without technology. Online platforms also open doors to many creative outlets for kids. These outlets can help the youth be more creative and find their own individuality.
A downside of children having social media is that there is a great deal of toxic culture involved. For example, young people are seeing images and videos of seemingly "perfect" people, and it can be degrading to not only impressionable individuals, but anyone in general who uses social media. Seeing people who look and act a certain way can make you compare your life to theirs. It could make many question whether they are "normal," or not. Body image issues undoubtably stem from social media as well. Incorrect and altered portrayals of influencers are being put online, making viewers feel like they're inadequate.
With these to arguments being said, I don't think there is a clear answer to the question of whether social media should be easily accessible to the youth. There is no doubt that social media will be accessed by increasingly younger people as time goes on. I'm not sure that there's anything that can be done to stop that. Every kid is different and not every one of them will have the same maturity level, and they may process social media differently. Some may have drastic negative effects from social media, while others may be perfectly fine using it from a young age. It's a very subjective topic, which once again, is why I can't exactly give a definite answer to the question.
I really like how you mentioned both the pros and cons of young children using social media. A lot of people, especially parents, don't consider the pros which I think is just as important to consider as the cons. I personally think that everyone should take both the good and the bad of social media in consideration before getting it/using it. I definitely agree with you that there really isn't an answer to the question of social media. It really does depend on the person using it. I really enjoyed reading your blog post and it made me open up my eyes a little to social media.
ReplyDelete- Neeraja
I actually did the same topic for my blog post, and I completely agree with your point. Social media can be helpful to a certain extent, but after a certain point it becomes harmful, especially in kids. Social media use should definitely be monitored/restricted for kids as their minds haven't fully developed. With the algorithm/etc, things may start to harm children and negatively impact the future of this nation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. I made a post about youtube, and we have some similar ideas. There can be a huge benefit - just the idea that you can connect with millions of people around the world while sitting in your house by yourself is truly amazing. However, there are so many potetnial negative effects. First, there is a lot of content that is quite innapropriate, and it can be a source of very negative mental health disorders like body dysmophia , depression, anxiety, etc.
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