In March,Buzzfeed reported that Facebook is designing a version of Instagram for kids under age 13.
Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app that's owned by Facebook, is currently limited to people over the age of 13. The new app seems to be intended as a solution to the problem of kids who lie about their age in order to create Instagram accounts. In a July 27statement, Pavni Diwanji, Facebook’sVP of Youth Products, said, “We believe that encouraging [tweens] to use an experience that is age appropriate and managed by parents is the right path.”
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, told Buzzfeed that the goal was to create a version of Instagram that gives parents “transparency or control.” It sounds like the idea is to protect kids. But not everyone is reassured. In April, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (since renamed Fairplay) sent aletter signed by more than 100 children’s advocates, both organizations and individuals, to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, urging him to nix the plan. There are several reasons so many people who care about kids are upset by the idea of younger children using social media. The letter writers cite multiple studies backing up their argument that,
Excessive screen media use and social media use is linked to a number of risks for children and adolescents, including obesity, lower psychological wellbeing, decreased happiness, decreased quality of sleep, increased risk of depression, and increases in suicide-related outcomes such as...
Read Full Story: https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/please-please-like-me-social-media-poses-unique-danger-to-kids-experts-say
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