Social Media Flat Discussion of Youngs Reveals The Basic Issue

Recommendations that restrict the use of social media of young people or completely ban have become increasingly popular in political and academic circles in recent years. However, an analysis published by MIT Press emphasizes that such prohibitions do not bring solutions to the actual problem, and they ignore deeper, structural problems.

Authors indicate that basic problems are:

• The philosophy of design of social media platforms** — optimized to attract the attention of youngsters to maximum duration of use
• Data collection and privacy violations — lack of transparency on how companies use personal information
• The platform is not full of responsibility — there is no adequate editing and audit on the negative effects on teenagers
• In the absence of media literacy education — students not learning to analyze digital content critically
• Minority of social connection options in alternative areas — limiting offline social activities for teenagers

Although the forbidden approach looks like a comfortable solution in the short run, it can actually prevent young people to learn to make healthy decisions about the digital world. Instead, structural reforms such as transparency, stronger editing and media literacy training in the design of platforms are required.

The analysis suggests that the society’s efforts to protect young people from technology are getting away from the task of making them alive in a qualitative way. An effective solution requires a combination of educational, editing and design changes rather than ban.