Social Media Impact

I’m more concerned with the impact it all has on younger uninformed minds tbh such as 8 to 16 year olds.

I always wonder if the people touting themselves as "influencers" actually use the products/philosophies their pushing on a daily basis in their everyday life?

I can't honestly believe that Gwyneth Paltrow has faith in some of the Wellness tat she advertises.

Oreo

I’m more concerned with the impact it all has on younger uninformed minds tbh such as 8 to 16 year olds.

Well, that’s strictly parental responsibility now the new laws have been passed.

I understand your concerns, but these age groups can be protected and monitored at home and at school.

Those who are far more likely to be “influenced” and even “radicalised” are likely to be the older ones, who in turn then have access to all kinds of other things generally unavailable to younger people.

I completely understand people of the age group you mention can be groomed by sexual predators. However, sadly, particularly sexual grooming, is far more prevalent face-to-face and likely to be people these poor children already know, including family members.

Margs

I always wonder if the people touting themselves as "influencers" actually use the products/philosophies their pushing on a daily basis in their everyday life?

I can't honestly believe that Gwyneth Paltrow has faith in some of the Wellness tat she advertises.

Pretty sure she doesn’t.

But is far more than just endorsing a product I’m concerned about.

I’m more concerned about the use of AI on social media, spreading so Michael misinformation, tweaking and creating images that are not representative of the real person in the real situation they purport to show as factual - or openly a cruel attempt at humour, with no pretence that it is accurate. It’s not only young minds that may believe what they read as factually correct, we need only to compare right- and left-wing reporting in national media.

So far you can easily tell what pictures are AI I m sure there will be a time you won’t but for now most of the posts using AI are very obvious

The solution is to teach children to be critical of what they see and to be capable of deconstructing social media ads and understand what they are trying to do.

I reckon, I period a term from junior school up and one period every week of one term at 13,

It is no different to what most of us did with our own children when they were small, when watching tv adverts. Looking at them, talking about them and asking what the purpose of the adverts were and how they did it.

Social media is on an infinitely large scale and more complex, but the skills needed are still essentially the same and would not be time consuming to teach in school and could be subsumed into other lessons

I can’t agree with you Cossy the earlier that children absorb things on SM and the Internet the more likely they are to be influenced or radicalised.
The girls from Tower Hamlets that went off to be Jihadi brides were young.

It isn’t just sexual grooming btw Cossy it’s all sorts of things.
Parental responsibility ( cynical laugh) wouldn’t it be marvellous if all parents bothered with it.

Oreo

I can’t agree with you Cossy the earlier that children absorb things on SM and the Internet the more likely they are to be influenced or radicalised.
The girls from Tower Hamlets that went off to be Jihadi brides were young.

That’s OK. I’m happy to agree to disagree. However I do agree with you re those girls radicalised along with Begum. They were let down in every aspect,

Personally if I had children now I’d let them nowhere near social media, nor let them have a smartphone at primary school. However once they go to Secondary School and are in and out of friends homes it’s so much harder.

My only grandchild is in his first term of Secondary School and has his first phone. It’s full of parental controls and use of it, as with all his screen time, is strictly limited.

What I’m really concerned about online are these so called “influencers”. Those who follow the states, those who laud Daniel Thomas and Yaxley-Lennon.

Oreo

It isn’t just sexual grooming btw Cossy it’s all sorts of things.
Parental responsibility ( cynical laugh) wouldn’t it be marvellous if all parents bothered with it.

I’m very well aware it’s not limited to sexual grooming!

The genie is out of the bottle, SM and the Internet complete with all its influencers and assorted ills is here to stay.
18 and upwards, nobody can do anything about but for young ones there’s still a smidgen of hope.Something akin to what
Monica suggests and schools taking a tough stance on phones.

While I have no problem with content creation, I have some issues with influencers.

I define "content creation" as an umbrella term, and "influencer" as something specific within the umbrella of content creation. I have zero issues with someone sitting down to record a video for something specific, such as makeup tutorials, educational content, etc. Where I take issue is with turning every experience into potential content. If you're "doing it for the [Insta]Gram", are you really living? Or are you just focused on doing something for likes and comments? Moreover, do young people, especially, realize that they're not actually seeing real life; they're seeing a very carefully curated version of "life"? I think there is more value in seeking out genuine experiences and products you enjoy, and being honest with your family and close friends about your life and its challenges, than doing things to film content.

I think it had quite an influence on older folk too. I was surprised to read an acquaintance of mines post this morning. We ate similar age and background and she posted a rant about JK Rowling calling her a vile transphobe and despairing at the damage she has done.
I just see her as a popular author to be admired.