2. Digital native or digital immigrant?
Digital resident or
digital visitor
3b Young people and Social Media
3. What is Social Media?
“Social media are web-based
communication tools that
enable people to interact with
each other by both sharing
and consuming information.”
www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-media-explaining-
the-big-trend-3486616
3b Young people and Social Media
4. Top apps & sites
and what they do
• Facebook - 2.9 bn
• YouTube - 2.2 bn
• Instagram - 2 bn
• WhatsApp - 2 bn
• TikTok - 1 bn
• Snapchat - 538 m
• Twitter - 217 m
(Monthly active users)
3b Young people and Social Media
5. How and why are they used?
Connectivity
Curiosity
Streaming content
Entertainment
Sharing content
Make money
Eliminate boredom
Time fillers - habit
FOMO (Fear of missing out)
Testing boundaries
Identity formation
Secret sharing
Away from parents
For ‘likes’
To be noticed
Boasting l showing off
Security blanket
Opinion gathering
News
Learning / education
Relationships
Good and bad
Coping strategy
Scrapbook / memories
Selfies - putting yourself out there
24/7
Organising
Parents posting their children
Companies influencing and advertising
Political influence
Echo chamber - algorithms
6. Dangers and fears
Data harvesting
Influence elections
Negative digital fingerprint
Exposure to inappropriate content
Unconscious manipulation
Echo chamber
Cyber-bullying
Identity theft
Digital divide
Location whereabouts
Addiction / dependency
Illegal activity
Huge bills
Inability to relate in the offline world
Unknown ‘friends’
Fake news
Lose touch with the real world
8. Possibilities and opportunities
Connection
Contribution to the world
Career opportunities - income
ESports
Communication (with you too)
Learning
Literature, culture, music
Media
Identity formation
Political involvement
Help sites
Global interaction
Equality
Entertainment
Develop creativity and interests
9. Action points
Get educated
Learn the sites
Understand the dangers and
opportunities
Teach safe practice
Maintain strong relationships
Regular conversations about online
and offline activity
Build trust and share your own
examples
Model and encourage healthy offline
activities
Safeguarding and boundary setting
10. Caring for young people - inc. mentoring
Reporting abuse
Talk with parents
Encourage young people to delete apps
When things go wrong
3b Young people and Social Media
11. Final thoughts
Relationship, relationship, relationship
Digital literacy
No more “They know more about it than I do”
Be a good role model
How can we use it safely?
Resources (get the handout!)
3b Young people and Social Media
12. Resources:
Raising Children in a Digital Age – Bex Lewis
http://ceop.police.uk
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety
https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/14plus/resources-for-parents
https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/11-13
http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk
http://www.saferinternet.org.uk
http://www.childnet.com
3b Young people and Social Media
13. Further resources:
Screenagers
youtube.com/watch?v=ymb_s9baYV0
Social Media Revolution 2022
youtube.com/watch?v=9ZmT7puLjqI
What is the internet doing to our brains?
youtube.com/watch?v=cKaWJ72x1rI
Dangers of social media
youtube.com/watch?v=6jMhMVEjEQg
Youth For Christ Gen Z: Digital Generation report -
indd.adobe.com/view/3a85c3c5-6c36-46fa-897e-
0099bcdceca6
Social Media Dangers Documentary — Childhood 2.0
youtube.com/watch?v=He3IJJhFy-I (1hrs 28mins)
3b Young people and Social Media
You have heard… Digital natives / immigrants – assumes all young people know what they’re doing. NOT TRUE. Better to say – Digital residents or digital visitors. (White, 2011) Most young people only know a few sites.
11:20 Top apps / sites – and what they do…
You have heard… Digital natives / immigrants – assumes all young people know what they’re doing. NOT TRUE. Better to say – Digital residents or digital visitors. (White, 2011) Most young people only know a few sites.
11:20 Top apps / sites – and what they do…
11:20 Top apps / sites – and what they do
Facebook (11 yrs old, for 25-34yr olds, too many adults, overcrowded, privacy issues, popularity contest – ‘likes’, like me! Teens have 300 friends average.)
Twitter (micro blogging, hashtag, half of users don’t tweet – just read, celebs, following, DMs, teens have 79 followers average)
YouTube (how-to videos, second biggest search engine – everyone can be a video-star)
Snapchat (picture messaging – pictures deleted after 10 seconds – although could be captured, 13-20 year olds, 70% female)
Instagram (owned by Facebook, picture/video sharing – photos with filters)
WhatsApp (messaging service between two people – not public, no followers. Bought by Facebook for $19bn, voice-calling soon to be added – death of the landline?)
11:25 How are they used?
11:25 How are they used?
Connectivity - Importance of social media for friendships
Texts most popular, then mobile calls (before social media / emails)
Testing boundaries (what can I get away with?)
Identity formation (teenage – who am I? including sexuality)
Secret sharing
Hidden from parents (outgrown the home – value life outside the house)
Like me (insecurity, lack of affection in the home?)
Opinion gathering (experiment, pictures from changing rooms)
News (tweets, facebook, links)
Learning – educational (homework, just browsing)
Build / maintain / experiment with relationships – near and far (without ever intending to meet up)
Good people do good things with the internet, bad people do bad things
Get through hard times – share with others
Celebrate / mark good times – create memories
Scrapbook of life - journal
24/7
Online/offline (Hand in hand – to us, the online world is an add-on)
Security blanket – staying connected – socially essential
Organising (Meet up with friends, London riots, and the clean up – good and bad)
Parents put their children online (90% of 2 year olds have an online history)
11:30 What are the dangers/fears?
11:30 What are the dangers/fears?
Negative digital fingerprints (content you don’t want your future employers seeing, quotes/pictures you don’t want revisiting you in later life, sexting)
Exposure (porn, inappropriate content) – not equipped to handle this. Need educating.
Cyber-bullying (comments, tags, reported suicides)
Identity theft (pictures and personal details)
Digital divide (those without)
Location whereabouts (don’t check in at home - burglary, offline dangers)
Addiction / dependency – can’t do without it (What do you model? Are you addicted?)
Illegal activity (downloading music, video, plagiarism, copyright)
Huge bills (apps and going over monthly allowance)
Inability to relate in offline world – death of conversation (always on the phone – meal time etc)
Unknown ‘friends’ (could be dangerous people, grooming)
There is a lot of focus on the extreme – news headlines (scaremongering). Safeguarding reps share horror stories. There is an element of risk, but is there more risk here than other ‘normal’ activities? Teach safety online, rather than avoid it.
The pedophile in the park…
The pedophile in the park can be avoided by some sensible guidelines… he can be avoided online in the same way. Don’t stop walking through the park, don’t stop going online. Risk doesn’t equal harm. Be careful to engage positively online.
Don’t let your children miss out because of your fears.
11:35 What are the possibilities?
11:35 What are the possibilities?
Contribution to the world (creativity and knowledge)
Great for communication (with parents and others)
Learning (interactive)
Literature, culture, music, media
Explore identity – increases confidence
Find friends with the same interests (globally)
Political involvement
Help sites (teenage issues / problems)
Global interaction
Equality (disabled can be equal online – equal community (not poor area) appearance, geography, special needs)
Entertainment – relaxation
Facebook = Community in your pocket – help yp move school/house – take your friends with you, create new friends. How many communities are represented in your friends? (13! = School, WLBC, DHR, St Mike’s, CMS, family, Diocese, All Saints, SCTC, St John’s Notts, DYO network, Youth workers, friends around the world…)
To create – we must play. Play involves risk – risk of failure. We need a sense of adventure, or we become sterilized and deadened.
Try something new… get educated
11:45 What should we do? (Action points)
11:45 What should we do?
Get educated (read up, and get online) – teach your children how to use the internet. Am I happy for my parents to see this? Or other people at school, or see it on the front page of a newspaper?
Build strong relationships – stay involved
Have regular conversations about online interactions (good and bad)
Model and encourage other ways of conversation, offline relationships. Clubs that encourage interaction and physical activity
Safeguarding / boundary setting – limited time, places (not bedroom), passwords, access to devices, change with child’s development (when is it right to have a smartphone/tablet with open access?) Go on the individual, not their age
Internet providers can place safe browsing restrictions
11:50 When things go wrong
11:50 When things go wrong
Caring for your children – help them put things right where possible
Report abuse – contact UK Safer Internet (www.saferinternet.org.uk) to help get content taken down
Talk with other parents about what you can do together. Enforced good safety among friendship groups
Delete apps that have access to your details
11:55 Final thoughts / summary
11:55 Final thoughts / summary
Digital literacy – our children need to be critical, constructive and confident inhabitants.
Don’t be satisfied with, “They know more about it than I do!”
Make sure you don’t expect behaviour from your children that you are not practicing yourself
If you don’t know where they are in the offline world – you won’t know where they go online.
Resources and videos online…
