The influence of social media on the child's psyche

Problems with concentration, sleepiness, fear of missing the most important events, low self-esteem ... These are just a few of the many symptoms of excessive Internet use and social media dangers that affect both us adults - and our children. 

What psychological needs might be behind using social media? And at the same time, how negative it can be influence of the media on society - not only adults, but also children who develop under their wings. In the article we will try to present the topic social media i threats, what they pose for both children and their parents.

Social media and the child

The influence of social media on society has been discussed for a long time. What about the kids? From the study EU Kids Online, which collected data from children from 25 European countries, it appears that:

Inappropriate eating habits or under-sleep, resulting from constant Internet browsing (which is also influenced by the existence of social media) is present in almost 20 percent of Polish teenagers. As many as 30 percent of them, without access to the Internet, feel discomfort. Conversely, 35 percent admitted that their Internet surfing behavior was adversely affecting their relationship with family or friends.

What does this data mean? Later in this article, we will discuss how social media can affect children and the risks it can bring.  

The impact of social media on society

Universal access to a computer, phone or tablet makes social media an important part of the relationship by which both adults and children regulate their emotions. It doesn't help that electronic equipment is at our fingertips. Having such an opportunity also has a huge impact on the emotional development of children themselves.

Doctor Philip Zimbardo points to the existence of a new form of addiction to strong emotions brought about by access to many opportunities created by new technologies, including the pace at which we can enter the world of computer games and feel the adrenaline that accompanies them.

Social media, that is: Facebook i TokTok and the child

Connecting with peers and developing interests together becomes very important, especially during the school period for children. At this age, children usually get a smartphone from their parents to stay connected with. However, we must be aware that access to a modern phone will allow a child to discover its new functionalities, which are also tested by their peers. Why is Facebook and a school-age child as its user now an increasingly common phenomenon? Is TikTok and a few-year-old child a good combination?

The dynamic increase in the popularity of communication via the Internet has been recorded since the late 90s. It was then that the first e-mail boxes and simple chats were created. Over time, instant messengers, such as gadu-gadu, have become fashionable, and now their place is taken by social networks, such as Facebook or TikTok.

Social media and the childwhat are we dealing with? 

Currently, social media is the main source of telephone contact with peers for a child. They allow you to share photos, pictures, links as well as create funny videos or photos (eg TikTok or Snapchat), as well as track the activity of a wide circle of friends.

Besides that, kids may want to keep on the internet traditional social contacts, also outside the network (e.g. with friends or classmates), they willingly participate in groups that exist only on the Internet (clans of online players, users of social forums, blogs, groups of youtubers, etc.).

Social media: threats

Focused on gaining acceptance by the peer group of children, showing a willingness to constantly be up-to-date and in contact with other children may give the impression that they need the phone non stop. Social media, and especially its abuse, can pose many threats.

One of them may be getting used to quickly reducing the state of uncertainty and receiving a reward, the so-called gratification for the brain that is easily accessible and fast. By sharing digital content - created photos, pictures, videos, a child can feel creative at first, showing others his possibilities to create internet content. This content will be appreciated by likes, hearts or distribution to other network users, which is what its creator cares about.

Parent closed in the net

More and more research is focused on quality of parental care, related to parents' access to technology and indirect effects on the development of their children.

A social media abusing parent is a less committed parent, demonstrating less verbal and non-verbal interactions with their child (Radesky et al., 2015), and less attention to their children (Lemish et al., 2019). In addition, it has been shown that a parent focused on monitoring online content may be more hostile to the child (Gutievvez and Ventura, 2021) and have a lower quality of relationship with the child.

sharing a social media: threats

An interesting and at the same time dangerous phenomenon is the so-called "sharenting". This is nothing but the phenomenon of thoughtless and excessive sharing on the web by parents, especially on social media, of photos and videos presenting children and their behavior (a combination of the words "share", i.e. share, share and "parent", i.e. parent ).

More and more studies also show that children of parents who are overly involved in sharing their image, show hyperactivity, problems with attention and emotional regulation (Paulain et al., 2019), as well as the problems of externalization and internalization (Sundquist et al., 2020).

Źródła:

The Polish EU Kids Online 2018 study, UAM Scientific Publishers, https://fundacja.orange.pl/files/user_files/EU_Kids_Online_2019_v2.pdf (the Orange Foundation is a partner of this study);
Educational materials of the We give the children strength, "Excessive use of the computer and the Internet by children and adolescents: Problem, prevention, therapy" https://edukacja.fdds.pl/course/view.php?id=366.