Social Media Kids and Adults

[meanie]

I only have FB and I don't post anything outside of the gardening group I follow. My kids (8 and 10) are not on any social media and won't be for a long time. We made it a rule to never post pictures of our kids online so that takes away a lot of the temptation.

I catch myself mindlessly scrolling sometimes and have to actively snap out of it and divert my attention elsewhere, it is so easy to get sucked in. I prefer going on YouTube and listening to music or stand up, and I love audio books. Having an alternative helps stay off of FB.

[niq]

I guess I am an "all things in moderation" person, even on social media.

A lot of middle and high school "social media" use seems to be keeping in touch with friends, and it's on Discord/WhatsApp, not FB or Instagram or Twitter or TikTok. I see some middle schoolers checking Instagram on their lunch break but it's all harmless stuff (they're on a school computer and it's during the school day, so "inappropriate use" would get them in trouble). If they have free time, they'd rather play the crappy games that the school can't block on their laptops (grr!).

msniq & I are both Very Online. It's worst at home between dinner and bedtime, and in the morning, when there are these weird 5-20 minute chunks of time with nothing to do. We're having a tough time finding structured activities that are the right length. Maybe as the kids get older and bedtime moves a bit that will get easier.

[waverly]

niq- I think moderation is key here because the studies I am reading are 5+ hours on social media and that obviously is going to be a problem for anyone. But if it were 30 minutes on social media, 2 hours of TV time, and 1 hour gaming maybe that would be slightly different, and of course better if they are spending less time. Some kids are upwards of 8 hours on devices assuming maybe summer break with those stats.

[niq]

Mar 28, 2024 12:59:41 GMT -5 waverly said:

niq - I think moderation is key here because the studies I am reading are 5+ hours on social media and that obviously is going to be a problem for anyone. But if it were 30 minutes on social media, 2 hours of TV time, and 1 hour gaming maybe that would be slightly different, and of course better if they are spending less time. Some kids are upwards of 8 hours on devices assuming maybe summer break with those stats.

I do think social media makes it easier to get into a real downward spiral of not socializing or not doing schoolwork and then feeling bad about it, and that's always something to watch out for.

A friend of mine likes to say that "modern technology means you're parenting on Hard Mode all the time instead of some of the time" and I think about that a lot. Our parents were worried about too much TV, too much time playing Nintendo, etc.

I *think* that the upper elementary and middle school years are the hardest. By high school I think friends and activities are more fun than screens (though "screens with friends" is still the most fun).

This is all separate from the Internet Nazi Problem and internet junk food. I've been surprised at how little the first one has been a thing for my kids, but there is a LOT of stuff out there that's just kinda low quality and I wish they'd consume higher quality stuff.

[waverly]

niq, Internet junk food has been one of the main issues here as well.

[erbear]

I love social media and so do my kids. I only really use Facebook (I have insta but I don't really know how to use it). My kids only have insta. I have parent controls on theirs (I can limit their time, though I am sure DD1 has a spam account -- she doesn't post on it but she definitely scrolls more than her allotted hour...).

I can't get it up to be jealous of other people's online lives. I know it's curated. I love looking at other people's vacation photos -- I find it inspiring.

[waverly]

Mar 29, 2024 10:11:29 GMT -5 erbear said:

I love social media and so do my kids. I only really use Facebook (I have insta but I don't really know how to use it). My kids only have insta. I have parent controls on theirs (I can limit their time, though I am sure DD1 has a spam account -- she doesn't post on it but she definitely scrolls more than her allotted hour...).

I can't get it up to be jealous of other people's online lives. I know it's curated. I love looking at other people's vacation photos -- I find it inspiring.

Maybe the better wording is overwhelmed when it’s summer and there are 50 vacation posts. I don’t have time to look through them all anyway. But I will try to reframe it as them pushing me to travel / inspiring and see if that helps. That is kind of why I am taking the trip we have planned because others went to similar locations. We had life circumstances that were both very positive and very negative which are now finished so I imagine it will be more even keeled going forward.