The Social Media's
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The main culprit in the war on the internet today is social media. Many are terrified of how it's changing the way we think, the way we interact, and the way we perceive technology.
With all the negative viewpoints on social media its crazy to think that it isn't already banned for being this terrible thing. However, that's just the point. If it was all bad they would'nt harbor some of the largest companies in the world.
Why it's important to have a Social Media(s)
Why it's important to have a Social Media(s)
It is very important to foster an open and learning-driven relationship with your child on the topic of technology. Everyone knows that when you tell a child/teen not to do something, they will probably do it anyway. This is even more apparent when it comes to social media and tech in general. They will see all of their friends texting on Snapchat, getting likes on Instagram, and talking about funny memes they saw on TikTok, and more than likely, your kid will feel left out because of this. Just as you hogged the wall phone for hours, stretching that cord as far as it could reach, or rode your bike around town to find which house your friends were at for the day. My generation and future generations have our own ways of interacting, planning, and socializing that will seem foreign but are imperative to your child's self-confidence.
Things that different Social Media's do well
(Disclaimer: I have used all of these apps consistently for at least 5 years)
Snapchat
This social media platform helps you stay in touch with friends like never before, and helps you strengthen your relationships with others. There is no other place like it for conversating.
The "streak" feature on this app gives you a "score" on how many days you have been keeping in touch with a person in a row. It seems silly but watching that counter get high brings a sense happiness and nostalgia for how long you've been friends. As well as creating a sense of responsibility of self and accountability from friends to not lose it.
The "Stories" feature makes it really enjoyable to see what a friend is up to in life. Whatever account you click on more, the more it gets recommended to you. On top of this you can send out funny polls or games when you're bored so that your friends can "hangout" with you even when they're not there.
Another feature that can be fun is all of the filters on Snapchat. From funky glasses, to turning yourself bald, there is a lot of fun ways to design and make a picture goofy.
This social media platform is less about texting, and more about sharing life updates. While Snapchats "stories" is for more informal, and Facebook is very formal for the kids of today standards, Instagram is a perfect medium between these two.
The way that this app delivers media/information to you is really pleasing. If there is a content page or person you like you can just follow them and your "feed" becomes filled with not only that thing but also other things that are similar to that.
Similarly to Snapchat, you can find a lot of new friends here pretty easily, and due to your custom "feed", they will probably share a common interest with you.
The famous Instagram like button. Once again kind of silly, but If someone you care about or many people you care about shows gratitude on something you posted, it can make you feel really happy. This feeling is similar to telling a joke and everyone laughs or telling a story about something you did and everyone is mesmerized.
TikTok
This social media platform dives head-first into entertainment and discovery. The app always wants you to find something new or laugh till you can't breathe.
TikTok's "algorithm" is second to none for suggesting content and keeping people entertained. It records the things you enjoy and shows you more of that content.
Facetuning games may sound like a foreign language, but all you need to know is that TikTok "introduced" this Snapchat filter mixed with an immersive augmented reality game. They are quite fun and interactive, which could serve as a fun and interactive way to express/get opinions.
If you or a younger person you know loves to make content instead of viewing it, TikTok's content creation feature is very intuitive and allows for some very funny videos. *If you do not want other people on the internet to view or comment these videos you can private videos so only the account can view them, turn off comments, and only share with friends as another option.
X
(Formally known as Twitter)
Twitter(X) is the main source of information on the internet right now. You can find the "trending" news around the world at ease to become informed live of many different events.
This platform is the best for searching for things. In almost every aspect, searching for anything on X is very intuitive, and you can get some very good information from the platform.
Adding onto the topic of searching, finding communities is also very easy and rewarding on X. As Instagram allows you to find pages that post content related to your interests, X has sprawling communities full of people eager to talk about one of your interests.
Things that different Social Media's don't do well
Disclaimer: !THIS SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE VERY SENSITIVE OR UNDER THE AGE OF 18!, and ALL of these social media platforms are known to be huge-time consumers, and they do just that, but they do it extremely effectively. It is IMPERATIVE that you set up boundaries with your children to monitor how much screen time they have per week and per month on all technological applications that they use.
Snapchat
Snapchat is very hard to control due to it's anonymous features and it promoting users to add every new friend. There are A LOT of porn accounts, and once you add someone you don't know (which is very probable because you cannot preview someone's account before you add it), you have a very high chance of getting sent many videos with "SE" (sexually explicit) content. Another big downside is that once you add one "SE" account, a lot more become recommended to you because "You have a mutual friend" and you will become flooded with more.
A double-edged sword for Snapchat that has become one of the most popular targets of cautionary parents is the filters. Many kids I grew up with would and will refuse a photo being taken of them unless there's a filter on it to make them look "better". This feature, if not monitored, can ruin one's self-image before it is even thought of.
Just as the like button can make you feel good, it can make you feel awful as well. We humans are sadly very jealous naturally, and if you know a certain someone who loves being the center of attention or wants to be famous, if they are on the app and they don't have as many likes as someone else, it will make them feel awful. It will send them spiraling into a pit of low self-confidence and people-pleasing that could lead to self-harm and other symptoms later.
Similarly to Snapchat, Instagram struggles heavily with the regulation of SE users. A twist on this is that on Instagram you do not have to be friends with a person for them to send a message. There is still the random accounts that will follow you and end up sending you unwanted "content", but there will also be a button with "requests" in your messaging section of the app. This can lead to many messages from a sugar mommy/daddy or an account with everything uncensored.
The Instagram commenting culture is much better than Twitter's, but it can still cause a lot of heartache for users if someone you thought was your friend makes a "joke" about one of your features or straight-up bullies you on every post.
TikTok
December 22, 2022. TikTok became flooded with SE content, specifically the new slideshow feature at the time. Many nefarious users found they could get past the security features that do not allow this content on the app if they put it into this format. Due to this occurrence being so close to Christmas, many of TikToks staff were sent home for the holidays, which allowed for a prolonged and excessive amount of "content" to be recommended whether you viewed those things or not.
As I stated before in the positives, this app is very entertaining. However, it can become addictive due to this as well. If you have a child with a neurodivergency or one that becomes "glued" to the TV or a YouTube video they have a very strong possibility of scrolling on TikToks for HOURS. I'm not talking about one or 2. My friends and I have taken up a fair share of six-hour-plus long sessions. Setting a hard time limit to use apps like this is essential to getting homework done.
X
(Formally known as Twitter)
Twitter(X) is the main source of information on the internet as I said before. This means that the spread of misinformation and information someone should not be informed of can happen very often. Anything from a childhood beloved person or creature "deep faked", drawn, or animated doing SE things in a video that has the world talking to a video from a cell phone of someone getting murdered.
Cyberbullying and arguing in particular, is something you have to deal with almost every time you use this application. The atmosphere overall is very toxic in the comment sections on X, to the point that it actually makes it slightly hard to access the comment sections. Once you learn how to do it though, it's very easy.
As other companies try to hide and shelter the "SE" accounts, X does not care. There is countless accounts promoting OnlyFans pages and "SE" content being posted that almost never gets taken down.
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