“But Mom, all of my friends have it.”
Kids and teens have made statements like this to their parents for decades. Not so long ago, “it” might have meant a pair of shoes or permission to go to a party. These days, it’s more likely to refer to a social media app.
This is a key dilemma for parents today: Should they let their kids use social media?
You’ve probably already seen the headlines about the startling rise in teen depression and self-harm that coincided with the rise of social media. We also know that the more hours a day a teen spends on social media, the more likely it is he or she will be depressed, and that young adults who cut back on social media (vs. those who don’t) are happier. I covered that research in iGen (2017) and updated it in Generations (2023). But, especially as Generations has a broader focus on how technology impacts all generations, I wasn’t able to dig extensively into the most recent data on teens and social media. That’s what I will do here, with analyses not published anywhere else.
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