YellowGrade
Your Kids Don’t Need Social Media

Sept. 27, 2021, 11:44 a.m.

(Medium) Facebook is waking up to what some of us knew all alongPhoto by dole777 on UnsplashFacebook’s head-slapping, obvious decision to press pause on the development of Instagram for Kids is not just the right move, it’s an important seeming admission that social media isn’t for everyone.The announcement comes months after Facebook announced it was working on experiences specifically designed for Tweens (11–13). That bit was folded into a blog post about the difficulty of keeping underage (under 13) kids off their services. As Facebook noted, it’s easy to lie online about your age (yup, online, nobody knows — still — if you’re a dog). The social media giant was just starting to use artificial intelligence to protect younger users (those between 13 and 18) from inappropriate content and contact from adults on their platforms.It was a sign that Facebook was already well aware of the tension building up between attracting more young people (13 and older) to these platforms while keeping them safe. This is what made t…

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