Those that are Omg about social media,

[PenelopeJoanSterling]

Long before time there was things called books and librarys, and a thing called reading fever which is akin in someway to social media addiction but for when books were first released i believe it was , i guess my point is why are some news articles saying about omg how will people handle not having social media, but then why not just go back to books ? afterall society was not built with modern internet

I keep telling people this but they won't listen.

Well, a couple of points:

No, I don't trust many sites and I won't trust social media sites. I value my anonymity.

I'm careful which companies I share my address, name, credit card and dob with - and nothing has my biometric data

It's a way for govt to force through digital ID infrastructure and its use will rapidly expand.

When the Internet became a thing, before social media, there were reports that the online world was good for reading. Prior to this Tv was accessible 24/7, often absolute rubbish. I remember talk of how it was making kids stupid because it was passive. I don't think there will be a huge shift back to reading but there will be some.

There will be more mainstream TV watching. I also predict there will be mainstream TV channels that will now broadcast videos of kids opening gifts or teenagers doing challenges, or 'get ready with me' videos YouTube style. Its supply demand isnt it. But at least it won't be targeted specifically at the user and feeding an algorithm.

They can’t. But changing the law sends out a clear message and will hugely reduce the numbers of children using SM, and gives parents the backing to enforce without seeming unreasonable.

It’s the way the world is going…

'Books, like TV for smart people ' quote from Walk in the Woods...I guess add Internet for modern audience.

"The internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had."
— Eric Schmidt

My mother did too once and responded lol to someone texting to say their husband was dying.

OMFG I am ROTFLMAO at how old we all are 😁

PMSL

lol

And it's taken this to block it? Excellent parenting skills!

Only if we let it.

As a parent of young children I’m very pleased because it takes the pressure off and will make a more level playing field. But I have noticed that people who are anti the ban tend to have older children, who may have already let their children have it… so to consider that they maybe didn’t make the right decision is difficult (and hence they go very hard as to why social media is not a problem). Attitudes are changing.

I see access to children on social media as a greater issue than most things, and although I am also very against digital id, after reading many books and studies on the topic.. thinking of my own experiences.. early content I used to see (pro Ana sites, videos of disturbing content shared at school etc) I am extremely glad the ban is happening. My parents were also excellent parents, I achieved very well, and was largely a good kid. Recognising the harms in terms of mental health, addiction, cognitive development and WHY social media is not appropriate for children is about MORE than ‘good parenting’. If it’s not suitable, damaging and dangerous (studies overwhelmingly say it is) tech companies and platforms should not be profiting from children. And that’s all children, not just the ones with good parents with excellent parenting skills.

Why is it a sneaky way into digital ID?

im guessing its when you offer digital id to everyone and they say no, so then you alter different aspects so it all ends up the same results as if it was digital id but its not called that even though the results are the same,

What’s the issue with this digital id thing people keep going on about ? Surely if you have a passport the government know absolutely everything about you anyway considering you have to give so much information to apply for one

But it isn't linked to your health records (which would be a different thread), your shopping habits, political views or anything else.

Because you can have both, it doesn’t need to be one without the other. I’m an English lit lecturer, I’ve dedicated my life to studying and teaching literature. I can read for hours every day but still spend time online, I have the autonomy to choose how to spend my time. I also want to extend that autonomy to which apps my children access.

Because the very nature of Social Media is that it’s highly addictive! So we have to acknowledge that they’ll be a transition period when teens who’ve become accustomed to it will find it very difficult. To think that someone who’s been glued to TikTok for years is suddenly going to immerse themselves in in a paperback novel is unrealistic!

I support the ban by the way.

On the whole I support the ban.

But sadly it won't make my dc read more. They can read, but just don't enjoy it and never have - despite my best efforts ever since they were babies. Ds used to enjoy being read to at least, but dd never has. I've been a proper book worm all my life, so I have no idea how this has happened.

I think it should be by school year rather than age. Totally relating to my own dc but she’s an end of August birthday and her whole group of friends are September/october so I worry about her being excluded from the group because she’s not on snapchat and the rest are. Sounds minor but that matters to teens.

I’ve tightly controlled social media and have rules in place that have worked well for us. I only allowed 14yo twins (15 in August) TikTok last weekend because school promoted it as a bloody revision tool for GCSEs. Makes it hard to parent and deny them that - apparently it’s great 🙄 but I know few of their friends have any rules in place so I get why the government stepped in.

The ban is the best thing that has happened for our young people. Older people (mumsnetters) fretting about some hypothetical digital ID... Come spend some time in my college and see the state of our young people. Anxious to the point of being unable to enter classrooms, lacking basic skills such as initiating conversation, constant overwhelm, such limited attention span that they can no longer sit through a lesson, bullying, misogyny... The list goes on and on and on.

Social media is devastating our society. We owe it to our kids to protect them and to protect our society. If your biggest worry about this is 'digital ID', well you're privileged. Our kids have bigger and more immediate worries, and our government has done right to protect them

I doubt Facebook will be asking people who joined in 2013 for digital id...

It's like you haven't met Facebook 😆