A recent study looked at the effects of social media on minors, and the situation is not very bright.
2025 will certainly be an important year for TikTok, since this year it may be decided whether the platform can continue to operate in the United States or not. Although the supreme court there is mainly investigating whether the company poses a national security risk and whether its operation violates freedom of speech in the context of the case, according to a new research, another aspect may also arise.
Unfortunately, since the dawn of the media, it has been a question of what effect it has on the developing personality of children. With the advent of smartphones and social media, millions of contents have become accessible to anyone and anywhere. The Academic Pediatrics the latest research published on a scientific platform shows that TikTok and its peers have a very harmful effect on children.
The researchers conducted the research with the participation of 10,000 children between the ages of 10 and 15. The questions related to the use of the platforms TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, among others. According to this, 61 percent of the respondents said that TikTok is the most popular social media application. We would like to note here that the Chinese video sharing service is officially over the age of 13, but this rarely prevents younger children from signing up.
A quarter of children reported that they think about social media very often and the same number mentioned that they use it because it helps them forget about their problems. 17 percent believe they use these platforms too much but can’t stop, and 11 percent say they have a detrimental effect on their academic results.
Referring to previous studies, the research also drew attention to the fact that social media has a bad effect on the body image of minors, addiction and depression can also develop due to their use.
“Lawmakers must view TikTok as a systemic social media problem and take effective action to protect children online.”
– writes Jason Nagata, a physician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, who is the lead author of the study.
As a conclusion of the research, the experts mention that they see it as an effective measure if the platforms are forced to apply stricter age control, incorporate more extensive parental control tools into their services and tighten the protection of personal data.
Source: www.pcwplus.hu
