Social media is a fancy environment that represents each opportunities and threats to young people, with self -expression and emotional support on the one hand and body protection, cyberbullying and addictive behavior on the opposite. This complexity underlines the challenge of regulating the social media use of teenagers, but additionally points to a different option to protect young people online: how social media platforms are designed.
The growing debate about social media within the teenagers has intensified, with the most recent political efforts within the United States just like the Children online security lawto guard young people from digital damage. These efforts reflect legitimate concerns. However, a broad restrictions on social media could also limit the benefits for young people and throw out the newborn with the showering water.
I’m a researcher who Studies online security and digital well -being. My Latest work With colleagues in the pc scientist Pamela Wisniewski'S Research laboratory for socio-technical interaction Underlines a critical point: social media is neither harmful nor completely advantageous. It is a tool that’s characterised by its design, the usage of teenagers and within the context of their experiences.
In other words, the consequences on social media are shaped by its Benefits – How platforms are designed and what you enable users to do or prevent them from. Some characteristics promote the connection, while other damage reinforces.
If society moves to practical solutions for online security, it is crucial to make use of evidence-based research on how these characteristics form the social media experiences of the teenagers and the way they could be redesigned Age that is suitable for young people. It can be vital to integrate the perspectives of the teenagers to find out which guidelines and design decisions needs to be made to guard young individuals with social media.
My colleagues and me Analyzed over 2,000 posts From teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 on an internet peer support platform. Young people openly discuss their experiences with popular social media platforms resembling Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Tiktok. Their voices underline a possible option to the front: concentration on safety through design – an approach that improves the platform features to be able to reinforce and alleviate the benefits. This approach respects the agency of young people and prioritized and prioritizes its digital well -being.
What young people say about social media
While the worst results of social media resembling cyberbullying or mental health are sometimes crises within the highlightOur research shows that the experiences of the teenagers are much more nuanced. Instead, platforms enable different results depending on the functions and design.
Young people describe negative experiences that affect social drama, cyberbullying and data protection violations. For example, Instagram was a deal with problems with body shame and self-esteem, which was driven on curated visual content by its emphasis. Facebook triggered complaints about data protection violations, resembling B. parents who share private information without the consent of teenagers. Snapchat exposed young interactions on account of his short -lived messaging, which promotes intimate but possibly unsafe connections.
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At the identical time, young people pushed that out Social media offers a room for supportInspiration and self -expression, especially when Offline rooms feel isolating. Young people used social media to take care of stress or seek for uplifting content.
Platforms resembling Snapchat and WhatsApp were vital rooms for the seek for connections that enable young people to construct relationships and find emotional support. Snapchat particularly was the purpose of contact for the promotion of close personal connections, while YouTube teenagers enabled them to advertise their creativity and identity by sharing videos.
Many praised Instagram and Snapchat for inspiration, distraction or emotional relief in stressful times. Young people also used social media to go looking for information, to contact YouTube and Twitter, to learn latest things, to review information or to repair technical problems.
These results underline a critical insight: platform design is very important. Features resembling algorithms, data protection controls and mechanisms for exchange of content directly shape the way in which teenagers experience social media. These results further query the perception of social media as a purely negative force. Instead, the experiences of the teenagers emphasize their double nature: an area for risks and opportunities.
Key to safer social media
The concept of services – design and features – helps to clarify why the experiences of teenagers differ across platforms and offer a option to a safer design. For example, Instagrams increase income resembling image approval and algorithmic content promoting social comparisonWhat results in bodyhabes and Problems with self -esteem. Snapchats income resembling short -lived messaging and visibility of “best friends”, the visibility of “best friends”, Promotion of private connections but can promote dangerous interactions. In the meantime, Youtube's yields resembling easy creation and discovery of content promote self -expression, but can contribute to this Time management fights Because of its limitless scroll design.
By understanding these platform -specific designs and features, it is feasible to alleviate risks without losing the benefits. For example, Facebook could enable an affordable level of parental monitoring of teenage accounts and at the identical time preserve privacy. Instagram could reduce the algorithmic support of harmful content. And Snapchat could improve the safety functions.
The Security through design The approach moves through the restriction of access to think about improving the platforms themselves. Through the more thoughtful redesign of social media functions, technology firms can enable young people to make use of these tools safely and sensibly. Political decision -makers can think about blaming social media firms for the consequences of their platforms and at the identical time promoting the digital rights of teenagers to be able to profit from the usage of social media.
Request safety security through design
It is very important for political decision -makers to acknowledge that the risks and rewards on social media coexist. Instead of considering social media as a monolith, political decision -makers can address the characteristics of social media platforms which might be almost certainly to cause damage. For example, platform firms could demand that they perform security audits or disclose algorithmic risks. These steps could promote safer design without limiting access.
By combating platform services and the introduction of security through design, digital spaces could be created, the teenagers protect against damage and at the identical time maintain the connection, creativity and support that allows social media. The tools for constructing a future by which teenagers can thrive are already available. They just must be designed higher.
image credit : theconversation.com