Introduction
The influence of social media on children has been widely studied, and the public holds differing opinions on whether to allow children to use social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. However, the impact of social media on children is not yet fully understood. Why, in some cases, do the media promote children’s well-being and development, while in other cases, they exacerbate their socialization and mental health? This question remains open, and those who pay attention to it are influential people who can influence children’s relationships with society. They must accept responsibility for this influence and strive to mitigate the destabilizing effects of the media on the psyches of children and adolescents.
Influencers’ Responsibility in Shaping Children’s Media Exposure
The amount of information received through the media is vast, encompassing both valuable and harmful information, which children at different stages of development may interpret in varying ways. Influencers are responsible for creating and integrating content into social media platforms. The autonomy of children and adolescents varies, making it challenging to determine the benefits of the media they consume.
Influencers have enough power to change what content they create and for whom they create it. Are topics related to alcohol or drugs helpful to young children? Children’s content creators should avoid discussing such topics in their videos.
Handriks et al. (2020) note that the publication of alcohol can increase alcoholism among adolescents. The authors note that modifying the behavior of influencers can yield positive outcomes among children. This is one way to regulate the information children receive and prevent them from becoming prematurely interested in forbidden or harmful substances. The effects of influencers on children’s minds are apparent, and this group of people should be careful about their goals on social media.
Promoting Moderation and Reducing Information Overload
Moderation in the use of social media is an essential aspect that children need to pay attention to. However, when they enter information spaces, children get lost and consume so much information that scrolling through news feeds or watching useless videos becomes a chore. The routine is addictive, and many kids cannot eat a meal without video accompaniment from their favorite content creator.
Influencers can use their accounts to draw children’s attention to critical issues and highlight the need for informational rest and recess. They can keep children from information noise, which is the amount of data that can harm children. The quality of children’s communication will diminish if their minds are cluttered with unnecessary videos, and moderate use of social media will help maintain communication in actual society. Influencers are the group that can explain to children the usefulness of interruptions and content analysis, thereby preserving their ability to interact with their classmates and friends.
Influencers’ Role in Age-Appropriate Platforms and Ethical Marketing
Influencers are not only those who create content, but also those who contribute to the decisions of app developers, including understanding why a particular social network might be needed, its prospects in the current media space, and its distribution across different age groups. Influential people can lobby developers to create age-restricted apps. Although the positive effects of media are openly discussed in society, individual apps can still be an excellent option for keeping children engaged in the media space and avoiding unnecessary or harmful information.
Developers of apps should be more concerned about their impact on children’s psyches, and influencers should promote safe apps on social media. Veirman et al. (2019) note that there is also a marketing influence expressed in the use of children to promote adult products. This raises the question of whether all influencers are safe and reliable sources of information and whether they are using children’s views for personal gain.
Privacy, Digital Safety, and Media Literacy for Children
Safety issues fall under the responsibility of influencers, imposing on them a responsibility to care about privacy. Children cannot always determine the safety of the site they visit, and it is up to the influencers to explain how to use media safely. Whatever VPNs or other methods children use, the information footprint remains, and influencers should increase pressure on privacy settings.
At the very least, educational sessions and open lessons teaching about phone and media security settings can be helpful for kids who have not yet understood cookies or secure connections over WAPs. Data from unsafe sites will affect children’s psyche, as it may contain information about negative phenomena that is too early to know at ages 7-8. Influential people can influence children’s choice to refuse or continue using data from suspicious sites.
Conclusion
Summing up, it is necessary to note the apparent truth: influential people can positively or negatively influence the stability of children’s psyche and behavior. They mediate direct effects by supplying content of a different nature; it is not always necessary for children, but it will be helpful. In addition, influencers shape social media behavior by setting an example, and many children follow their favorite bloggers around the clock.
Security of networks and moderate organic use of apps with children’s content is another sphere of influencers’ influence. Influencers’ responsibility to children’s psyches becomes even more apparent when identifying problems with how to consume content and determining its usefulness. Consequently, influencers need to be more stringent and set the tone if society strives for media safety for children.
References
Handriks, H., Wilmsen, D., Dalen, W. v., & Gebhardt, W. A. (2020). Picture me drinking: Alcohol-related posts by Instagram influencers popular among adolescents and young adults. The Frontiers in Psychology.
Veirman, M. D., Hudders, L., & Nelson, M. R. (2019). What is influencer marketing and how does it target children? A review and direction for future research. The Frontiers in Psychology.