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A significant part of childhood relies on privacy. It aids in the development of emotions, identities, and gives children the freedom to experiment. Our recent shift to digital lives reminds me of our discussion about the importance of bedrooms in childhood. As Lincoln (2012) discusses, the bedroom provides a break from the pressures of growing up. The fear of privacy invasion comes from a child’s family members, such as their parents or siblings, entering their room without permission. However, the influx of social media use removes that privacy from the public. For example, a few decades ago, a bedroom would be a completely private space where a child was free from their peers’ opinions and the only socialization in the space would be with those who were permitted. Social media has become a new type of "invader" in the minds of children and creates the idea of a "glass room." Social media routinely bombards children and youths with opinions, criticism, and pressure to conform which removes the essential private, personal space needed throughout development.

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Increased social media presence not only impacts the youths with phones and those online themselves, but they may be posted social media without consent. In certain sections of social media apps, such as the MomTok section of TikTok, parents will post their children online in various different contexts. Some content is made on parenting help, examples of issues with raising children, etc. However along with this educational content, sexualization of children has been laced throughout this content, either from the child’s parents themselves or spread out of context through explicit websites. Parents making this kind of content may post their children in revealing clothing, have them say compromising or inappropriate phrases, or film them with phallic objects. Additionally, this concept can follow into teen years through sexting: the idea that personal values and popularity have shifted to be based on what your body looks like and what you are willing to share (Ringrose et al., 2013). Overall, social media may have content that is helpful or uplifting for youths, however there is always the risk of sexualization when accessed by them.

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The influence of internet and social media access from a younger age expands a child's social network. Before this technological aspect was added to childhood, children and youth’s network would be from school or extracurricular activities and would be based in a small geographical area, such as a town or county. Now children’s networks can span out across countries and the world. Although this expanded network may connect children with more friends, those who are not on social media may miss out on some of this socialization (Gangneux, 2019). “Fear of Missing Out” on social media creates a sense of fear within youths as they may not be able to keep in touch with their friends, be a part of popular social media trends, or have the same amount of access to this resource that their peers may have.

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Throughout childhood, many youths end up getting their first jobs and begin to learn how to balance school work as well as extracurricular activities. With social media as a new element of life, there is another commitment that they must have to learn how to work for and balance with the rest of their obligations. Working for followers and likes, while consistently uploading on your timeline can cause depression-related mental health issues (Hartas, 2019). The link between social media and these symptoms can be caused by the pressure of comparison and lack of socialization.

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Managing privacy is an element of life that youths struggle with, especially in their smaller networks, such as with school peers. The introduction of social media and the internet to younger age groups allows their personal information to be spread incredibly easily, but the same cannot be said about removing it. This information may also be added to children's "digital footprint.” Depending on the specifics of the information, such as unsavory statements or problematic posts, this footprint may decrease the probability of them being hired (Koidl, 2018).

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The constant use of social media exposes youths to new "flaws" that they may have not noticed before. Specifically through viral trends, such as the jawline trend that became popular on TikTok that Gill mentions (Gill, 2023). These trends point out new insecurities and can sometimes encourage harmful behaviors in the youths that consume this content.

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Gangneux, J. (2019) ‘Logged in or locked in? Young adults’ negotiations of social media platforms and their features’, Journal of Youth Studies, 22(8), pp. 1053–1067. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2018.1562539.

Gill, R. (2023). Perfect. Polity Press.

Guimetti, G, Kowalski, R. (2022). 'Cyberbullying via social media and well-being,' Current Opinion in Psychology.

Hartas, D. (2019) ‘The social context of adolescent mental health and wellbeing: parents, friends and social media’, Research Papers in Education, 36(5), pp. 542–560. doi: 10.1080/02671522.2019.1697734.

Koidl, Kevin, et al. (2018) 'The BigFoot Initiative: An Investigation of Digital Footprint Awareness in Social Media,' ACM Other Conferences.

Lincoln, S. and Robards, B. (2016) ‘Editing the project of the self: sustained Facebook use and growing up online’, Journal of Youth Studies, 20(4), pp. 518–531. doi: 10.1080/13676261.2016.1241869.

Ringrose, J, Harvey, L, Gill, R & Livingstone, S. (2013) 'Teen girls, sexual double standards and 'sexting': Gendered value in digital image exchange', Feminist Theory, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 305-323.

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Bullying has become a source of anxiety throughout the past couple decades, however the popularity of social media may only increase this issue through cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is posting or sharing harmful or negative comments about another individual. The internet allows perpetrators to inflict harm on a larger range of people, even those who they do not know. As a result, children may display suicidal behaviors or actions. In some cases, the victim of cyberbullying may retaliate by bullying them back and may eventually bully another causing a cycle of abuse (Giumetti et al., 2022). Social media platforms that are popular with youths, such as TikTok and Instagram, offer a direct view into their lives and make them vulnerable to harassment.

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Social media addiction is an addiction that is often overlooked. Most people talk about children's addictions to their phones specifically, but social media may be the harmful element of this addiction. Apps such as TikTok and Instagram offer short clips, around six to ten seconds, which can wither down the attention spans of children and adults alike. Personally I have had experiences with this, despite getting social media later in life then youths would today, and struggled with spending longer on these apps than my other obligations. The ease of obtaining content in these apps can cause a person to stay on the app for hours a day just scrolling through their feed.