Social media refers to platforms that allow users to share information and content while interacting with each other.
You don’t need to actively use all of the platforms, but you do need to have an understanding of how children and young people in your care might use them.
It can be hard to keep up with the most popular apps that young people use and why they change. Connecting socially is important for the physical and emotional development of children in our care, but it’s important this is done safely.
The behaviours that drive young people’s social media use can be:
- Staying in touch with friends and keeping up to date with group conversations.
- Meeting new people and learning about current events.
- Trying the new app or platform everyone is talking about.
- Fear of missing out (FOMO) - if they aren’t online, they could miss something.
- Keeping track of what their favourite celebrity or influencer is posting.
- Expressing themselves creatively through music, dance and other performance.
- Posting the ‘perfect selfie’ to receive positive affirmation in the form of likes and comments.
- A desire to become an ‘influencer’.
You might use social media and already have an understanding of how it works, but generally, social media platforms have the following features:
Users display information/content about themselves for others to see.
Users share photos and videos with their friends/followers.
Users share posts and stories across platforms through social sharing buttons.
Users post videos and images on their profile for others to view for a limited amount of time.
Users add friends, join groups, and participate in chats and video calls.
Users send audio messages to their friends instead of text messaging.
Users communicate using private 1-2-1 chats and video calls with their friends or strangers.
Users broadcast live from their camera or screen to directly their followers.
Users create #HashTags to tag and track keywords. They can also use filters to edit photos/videos quickly.
Users are able to share their location with followers on their app, sometimes directly linking to Apple or Google maps.
Users express their reactions to other posts via emojis, likes, comments, or votes.