Age is just a number — for social media
Some say social media is a gift to society? But is it really a gift for those who are still trying to understand their own world, never-mind this one.
The white ‘F’.
The white ghost.
The white bird.
These three unmistakable icons represent gateways into the impossibly large arena that is ‘social media’. The 21st century has seen our lives become dominated by the worlds hidden behind these (and other) three little squares; instantly accessible with one quick tap. It is never a speedy visit too; a quick scroll through ones timeline inevitably leads to the realisation that suddenly thirty minutes have floated away. All you have to show for it is a couple of likes and that according to a quick quiz, you belong in Slytherin house and your favourite bread is Kingsmill 50/50.
In all seriousness, social media can be a dangerous world. It is a world that can be accessed by anyone, of any age. Including children. To me, this is a huge problem. A problem that I believe is not being tackled and is being left to continue, with potentially disastrous consequences in extreme cases.
A quick scan of the Facebook terms and conditions section will inform you that, actually, users must be over the age of thirteen to have a profile. Instagram is the same. In fact, all the other major social media platforms have an age requirement of thirteen in order to create an account. Great news! At least there are foolproof blocks that stop youngsters getting onto social media and seeing, hearing and understanding content that they really shouldn’t.
Of course, as the old saying goes, rules are meant to be broken. No one in their right mind truly believes this spiel about age requirements and protection. In this situation these rules aren’t just broken; they are bulldozed out of the way by an army of youngsters desperate to access this exciting new realm. All it takes to bypass these requirements is a fake date of birth and you’re in. No proof of age. No evidence required. No checks. Nothing. Once the account is up and running, young people are free to roam the world of social media and there isn’t really anything that can be done. This is something that 99.9% of my generation has done, fact.
Now I’m not sitting here saying that everything on social media is dangerous or not good viewing for a young person; the most part of social media can be fun, engaging and actually a good learning platform, if used correctly. But, it can be a negative influence. Cyberbullying is a dark shadow that looms large over the towns of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, which is particularly prevalent among people of this age. This could be anything from negative comments on a person’s selfies, to comments on status updates. Or simply just straight up negativity to someones feelings expressed in a short 280 character tweet. All of this can be sometimes too much for a young person to experience.
We all know what the dangers of cyberbullying are and what the negativity can do to anyone, let alone younger people. The links to depression, mental illness, self-harm and suicide are clear and well documented. It’s highlighted at every level of life; I’ve sat through countless intervention sessions given by the local police or school pastoral care reminding us of the dangers of social media and the correct ways to act online in a safe way. And now we see television adverts (even on the BBC) asking parents to be aware about what their children are doing online. Why, you might ask, would these examples be needed, if there was an acceptable and strong guard actually stopping youngsters entering this world?
Young people around this age do not need to be exposed to this world; there is enough filling the heads of todays thirteen year olds before we even get to thinking about social media. But its those that are even younger that get on to the ladder that can be the real worry. A quick glance at my Facebook timeline gives a swearword count of sixteen; imagine the same timeline being read by someone half my age, then running over to their parents innocently asking ‘mummy/daddy, what does ‘shit’ mean?’ This is the exact awkward situation that no parents wish to find themselves in, but ironically, this exact same episode would be seen by many as a ‘meme’ and enjoyed for hilarity. Even though this is not a funny situation to most, to another, its hilarious. Here we find a microcosm for social media and the problems it can cause for the younger generation; one person’s horror is another person’s humour. No matter how sad, upsetting or downright embarrassing something is to one person, another will find hilarious and laugh about it.
For me, quite simply, social media should not be accessible to anyone below the age of thirteen. Facebook, Snapchat and the rest need to do more to stop these little geniuses (I say this because I was one, give me my deserved credit) evading their blocks and engaging with content that on the most part is clean, but with a noticeably negative underbelly. Actually while we’re here, get rid of those bloody quizzes too; they’re just plain dangerous to all.
