Don’t ban my kids from social media, they wouldn’t exist without it
A ban on social media won’t address the problems kids face online, nor will it claw back lost advertising revenue for legacy publishers, according to Keep Left’s Tim Lele.
As a father of three, including two young girls, I understand the deep concerns parents have about their kids’ online safety and the potential harms of social media.
Yet, I also believe my amazing children wouldn’t be here without the benefits of social media. That’s because I married my high school sweetheart – a romance sparked not by smooth-talking teen charisma, but through the wonders of MSN Messenger.
Yes, that primitive form of social media powered by early ’00s dial-up internet. It was a place where I could be myself, where I could communicate honestly and build a connection with someone that wouldn’t happen on the school grounds.
Fast forward to today, and the conversation has shifted. Social media is an evil menace poisoning our young people.
What an out of touch, one sided view of this issue. Contrarian for clicks it seems.
The parents are up against social media companies who employ thousands of engineers, data scientists and analysts, behavioural psychologists, neuroscientists, UX/UI designers and content strategists who are building these platforms with multi-million dollar R&D budgets with the aim of maximising the time spent on platform by the user and to keep them hooked. I don’t think pointing the finger at the parents is right when this is what they are up against.
The mechanism’s used on social media platforms to keep users engaged is the same as used within the gambling industry, the difference being you have to be 18 to gamble in AU.
Good try.
But referencing Martin Luther in the 1500’s is less than convincing.
Pleased to hear your three ‘amazing children’ remain unaffected by the perils of social media.But it’s hardly a convincing sample.
Reads like someone trying to get a PR contract with the DigI.
To compare MSN messenger with modern social media apps and algorithms is absurd and shows a complete lack of understanding of the power of these platforms, as does the old ‘we’ve always had bullying, misinformation, and predatory behaviour… it’s not the social media companies that are the problem’ argument.
What ever happened to parental control?
Interesting company name.
Good on you for putting your opinion out there, it takes bravery to put your name on any statement.
But I disagree with the first point that the narrative was pivotal point in the ban and it went against mountains of statistics. This statement “A single tragic story can overshadow mountains of statistics or expert opinions” doesn’t make sense.
The statistics clearly show social media is terrible for kids: it increases self-harm, feelings of depression, eating disorders and suicidal ideation. The narrative just brought these horrible facts to life, it didn’t go against some consensus that social media is somehow good for kids.
So why not let 10-year-olds drive cars Tim?