The positive influence of social media on kids
Social media has become a huge part of kid’s social and everyday lives. Social media is everywhere, and it is almost ‘weird’ not to be active on it. We all know that social media can be dangerous, but can it also positively influence kids? The answer is yes!
Expressing themselves
Social media gives introverted kids the opportunity to open up. Social media can give them a safe feeling and give them a confidence boost. It helps them to interact with others and makes it much easier to start a conversation. It is also a good way to meet other kids who also have difficulty making friends. Kids are communicating and interacting more than ever. Social media gives children the opportunity to build relationships with peers. But also to feel welcome and to be a part of something bigger. The feeling of belonging to a network can help in building a child’s self-belief and confidence. Kids will also learn to express their emotions online and to show virtual empathy to others. Social media gives kids a voice.
Inspiration and creativity
Social media is a huge source of inspiration. That’s why kids love to watch kidfluencers. They inspire them to play with certain toys or to tinker. Social media gives kids also the opportunity to be creative. Online gaming and social media nowadays, it’s hard to keep them apart. Kids use games to be creative, for example, using their imaging to build their own worlds. Using YouTube and Twitch as a source of inspiration. They watch other players, online, kids can learn new things and new people to look up to. TikTok is super popular with kids. They love making up their own dances or funny videos. Having a place to share their creativity is a good thing.
The future
Kids these days start to explore social media at a young age. This also means later on, they will be very skilled, and social media will no longer have any secrets for them. Kids feel at home in the virtual world. Internet and social media will only become more and more popular. Social media can help improve cognitive abilities, like problem-solving skills, comprehension, critical thinking, and memory. For example, they learn to discern which information is useful and which is not critically.
It is important to see the opportunity that social media offers. Kids need to learn how to work with social media safely. Wanting to protect them by keeping them away from it isn’t the solution. If you use social media ‘the right’ way, it can do a lot of good.
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