In their own words: What young people wish they'd known about social media
Kids constantly hear about the downsides of social media from the adults in their lives, often in the form of dire warnings and commands
It's dangerous. It's addictive. Get off your phone.
Kids constantly hear about the downsides of social media from the adults in their lives, often in the form of dire warnings and commands. But these adults did not grow up with social media themselves.
They didn't get a phone handed to them as toddlers, just to keep them quiet in a restaurant. They didn't join TikTok's predecessor Musica.ly and do silly dances before they even learned to read. They didn't have their schools shut down in a global pandemic, their connections to friends and peers relegated to phone and computer screens.
Kids coming of age with social media are forging ahead in a whole new world. And now that they are getting older, they have some advice for their younger peers.