Many people on social media come off different than how they do in real life. Social media has become a place to show off who you want to be seen as and to express yourself. Whether you use your platform to inform, entertain, create, study; everything you see and/or hear is true. It leaves us wondering who social media is really targeted for? Is it targeted towards adults, teenagers, or young kids? Children shouldn’t even have access to social media.

Let’s think about how social media has grown into this big commodity where not many people can live without it. When you were in elementary school did you have an iPhone? Most likely not. It’s crazy seeing new generations using electronic devices of their own. Before kids are even going into middle school, they already know about inappropriate topics that shouldn’t even be exposed to a kid’s mind. These kids learn about these topics through social media—some apps include Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. Of course, it is up to the parents to decide if their kid is mature enough or able to use these apps, but children will hear about a topic and be interested in it’s meaning.
 

From a parents perspective, they may not know what is on these apps and what their kids could be looking at. At a young age, you will believe almost everything you hear just simply because you don’t know any better. Most of the time, kids hear things from their parents or guardians, but nowadays they’re getting information from older siblings, friends, and most importantly social media. Depending on what apps they have access to, it could really confuse a younger kid into thinking everything is true. But there are some ups and downs to children having access to social media. 

Some benefits social media could give to someone at a young age are creative expression, ability to connect with friends, entertainment, and many more. Most kids use social media as an entertainment purpose, but today’s entertainment isn’t necessarily appropriate for a young kid to be viewing. Parents interpret social media in many different ways—some might refuse to let their kids have access to it and others might not. Social media also gives kids a chance to express themselves and make money for it. Although there are some safety issues while using social media so young, as long as there is any kind of parental supervision, then there is no problem with a child on social media. It’s a dream for most to make big money on a large platform while also having fun. 

Though social media has its upsides, there are also just as many disadvantages too. Having access to social media is risky for children. They may not know what certain things mean and what they are watching. The chances of your kid learning something inappropriate off of apps like these are very high. Any person can contact them, and not knowing any better, they might not understand the messages they are receiving. Cyber bullying and location tracking are also known problems people find with social media.