More and more children have been using social media lately. It is very easy for children to access social media, even without their parents knowing. All the children need is a smartphone, iPod, or tablet and they have access to every app in the App Store. This includes a variety of social media apps. I have noticed that many children don’t have Facebook, and if they do, their parents are most likely monitoring what they post. But, they do have even more apps that are more popular with a younger age group. Many of these apps have a 13-year-old or older age requirement, but the children seem to evade that easily. I have seen a lot of children under 13 on apps like Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. Those are the more popular apps that most everyone knows about. But, there are even more apps that draw in children that parents may not know much about.

The app called Musical.ly where people can lip-sync to their favorite songs and upload the videos is very popular among children. In fact, whenever I check in with the app to see what’s happening, I very rarely see anyone over the age of 16. Kids seem to be gaining fame due to the lip-sync videos they make on this app, and many of the videos are not age appropriate. The problem with this app is that children can lip-sync to basically any song. Many of the popular songs are not appropriate for children to be listening to. They include bad language and have inappropriate meanings. Watching some of the videos these kids upload makes me very uncomfortable. They see the popularity other people are getting from this app, think it’s easy and fun, and then follow whatever trends they think will help them get there. These children do not know when to stop and that these videos could potentially haunt them in the future. I know a lot of people see this as a harmless app, but it isn’t. Children who use this think that what they are doing is okay, and it’s not. They are making inappropriate videos for attention and they don’t care what kind of attention they are receiving. They will continue to make these videos until they are satisfied with how much attention they are getting. The dream now for many people is to gain fame through social media because it seems very simple and as if no talent is necessary. This is a dangerous path for children to go down because it will lead to them fishing for attention throughout the next few years of their lives and maybe even throughout their teenage years. On social media, people are more likely to run into negative attention than positive. There are many people on social media who join for the sole purpose of making other people feel bad and it can stay with the person forever. Children are exposed to all of this negative behavior and negative actions and that can influence them to act in this way as well.

Live broadcasting seems to be a popular thing amongst children and teens now as well. There are multiple apps in which you can broadcast live to anyone and everyone available now. On these apps, it is extremely difficult to know who is watching you. Anyone can join a broadcast and watch someone. Most of these apps have a 13+ age requirement, but it often goes ignored. I see young children broadcasting very often and they are unaware of their audience. It is very easy for someone to lie about his or her identity on apps like these, comment whatever they want, and get whatever information they want. I have noticed that children on this app are often too trusting. They will trust what anyone says because they don’t know any better. This is especially dangerous if the children are using these apps as a way to gain fame. They will most likely do whatever they can to get views and get the people watching them to follow or subscribe and continue to watch. These children want consistent viewers, and will do whatever they can to please them. This is a big problem. What they do during these broadcasts cannot really be stopped either, unless a parent is watching them as it is happening. Many children are talking with strangers in real time and there is no going back once the information is out there. They don’t think before they say it, they don’t see the harm behind it. The reality is that you never really know someone’s motives on social media. That is why it is not a safe place for children. They often don’t know that someone is lying to them in order to get closer to them. Everyone needs to be more aware of what is happening on social media.

Social media is not a toy, and I do not think it is the right place for children to be. Everyone, including adults, need to be careful about how they use social media. It’s not the place for children to be, posting whatever they feel like posting and revealing too much information about themselves and their personal lives. You never know who may see your posts or your content, it is easy for people to be tricked into trusting someone who seems nice enough and who knows exactly what to say to get what they want. Social media can be a trap. It is not always a safe place, especially not for children. Don’t get me wrong, I love social media, but I know my limits. I am careful with what I share, and do not overshare. I don’t go out of my way to share personal information with strangers and I try to keep a low profile on social media. I know how dangerous it can be and I don’t want to attract unwanted attention. If children had this same mindset, I would be okay with them using social media. However, I think there is a reason for age restrictions. In order to safely use social media, you need to understand it. I don’t think children are capable of fully understanding the dangers of social media. Because of this, they’ll post whatever they want. That is the problem. Children don’t know when enough is enough on social media.