Which social media app is safest for kids?
Bad news, parents.
None of the social media platforms are completely safe or appropriate for teens. Whether it’s Snapchat, TikTok or Instagram, they all have issues.
Specifically, here are the harms on social media ranked by severity in 2022.
Cyberbullying - Snapchat is the worst, followed by Discord and Instagram.
Sexual content - Kik, Tumblr and Twitter are the worst.
Suicidal ideation and depression, the worst are Discord, Snapchat and Instagram.
Body image and severe dieting issues, it’s Instagram, Snapchat and Discord.
Hate speech - it’s Spotify (those lyrics!), Snapchat and Instagram.
Violence - it’s Snapchat, Instagram and Reddit.
(See this 2022 Summary for more information.)
Features that are not safe
Disappearing messages - Although Snapchat was the original disappearing message app, now most apps kids are using have a version of disappearing messages. This makes it virtually impossible for law enforcement and school officials to unwind who did what, after the fact in serious situations.
No age verification to join an app - A child doesn’t need to prove they’re 13 years old to make an account, even though platforms say users need to be 13.
Explicit content, photos and videos - Images and content with violence, gore or nudity are not hidden or blurred out for minors.
Comments - Comments can be cruel, bullying, hate speech, either from “friends” or strangers.
Data mining - Platforms are collecting thousands of data points about our kids, targeting them later with ads and content.
Reported accounts or posts that violate a platform’s terms of service - The reporting process is not effective and many times accounts and posts are not taken down, even when they violate a company’s terms of service.
Parental controls - Parents need to set up their own account and be tech-savvy to set up the parental controls offered, which are weak and ineffective. Also, teens 13+ years old can “opt-out” of parental controls, even when their parents still want them.
Good news - There has been lots of focus on the safety and health impacts of social media on teens lately and that’s a good thing. Change is coming!
The US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy believes 13 is too young to participate in social media because kids are still “developing their identity.”
“I believe that 13 is too early … It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children,” Murthy said.
President Biden called out social media companies for a second year in a row in his State of the Union Address, asking Congress for bipartisan support to hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they’re running on children for profit and the harms they cause.
There is bipartisan support for bills that protect kids under 16 years old - more on this soon.
Recommendations
Wait until your child is at least 13 years old before allowing one social media account (also, it’s the law - don’t let them do it earlier) and going slowly, with one account at a time. Your child should understand that part of getting an account is that you will be checking it regularly and browsing together. (Block all downloads from your child’s phone with Screen Time or Google Family Link so they’ll ask you when they want an new app.)
Set up in-app parental controls and safety features as soon as an app is downloaded.
Install the app Bark - a subscription that can help alert you to potential issues with its parental alerts for inappropriate content.