Social Media - Blog Post 3

As technology evolves, younger children get access to devices and applications and develop abilities to navigate these with no problem whatsoever. According to an article published in Semana.com, a local Colombian publication, Tim Cook recently confessed that even though he has no children, he is setting up limits on his 12 year old nephew regarding social media usage. There are studies that say that teenagers exposed to these platforms have twice as more chances to become sad individuals aside from generating addiction.

According to record, more than 5 million Facebook users are ages 10 and/or below, and even though most social networks have a minimum age range to open accounts near 14 years of age, children lie in order to gain access. This has led to several Silicon Valley gurus to prohibit social media and even computers to their children, or at least restrict access. According to the article, people like Steve Jobs, and Bill Gats prohibit the usage of computers to their children and foment the usage of books instead. Per the article, studies have been made to identify a proper time usage for social media. Steven Aldrich, from GoDaddy Inc has established limits to his 16 year old son Jackson and questions his decisions as to all the information he decides to publish and upload on social media.

In general, several psychologists suggest that parents should educate themselves as to the proper usage of social media for children in order to determine the right amount of time and usage. Today, we live in an era of overstimulation and information that may eventually backfire with any child. I personally believe that the evolution of social media is imminent and children of all ages will be more and more exposed to these environments. As their parents limit their time on these platforms, it means that they have less exposure to content. However, it is certain that this content has been accessed at younger ages than before.

Technology is evolving and becoming part of everyone’s lives. Digital content and media are being filtered and broadcasted via applications on a more regular basis. The more kids and children of all ages are exposed to social media or apps, the more access they will have to content. This is a double edge weapon that may be used for psycho development, but at the same time, may result in negative repercussions for certain individuals. There is still a huge responsibility component from parents and adults, especially in an environment where devices become more and more prominent at younger ages.

Source: http://www.semana.com/vida-moderna/articulo/que-hacer-con-los-jovenes-en-facebook/554923