At a Glance
- Two ways social media companies make money
- How social media platforms “use your data”
- Teaching children about social media business models
How Social Media Companies Turn Kids Into a Product: The Cost of Social Media
Protect against social media exploitation
By Joseph Pratt
Gabb Family Resources
All children need the adults in their life to understand the real dangers of social media to mental, emotional, and physical health.
Most social media companies actively exploit our kids by encouraging destructive habits, fostering screen addiction, and using their personal information for profit.
An investigative team of journalists from The Wall Street Journal tested TikTok’s algorithms by creating and automating “dozens of fake accounts registered as 13-year-olds.” These bots were programmed to explore teen interests and also to scroll through “For You” video feeds, just like a real child might do on the platform.
In lightening-quick response time, these platforms put videos into these feeds encouraging minors to view “endless spools of content about sex and drugs.”
Because TikTok can discover our kids’ “hidden interests and emotions” quickly and efficiently, they can be driven toward increasingly destructive content (Barry et al., 2021).
Clearly, social media can be used as a weapon against our kids and can pose a real threat to their mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
