Obviously, social media is a form of communication. However, compared to our offline lives, where we’re likely not talking to more than a few people at a time, being on social media can feel like yelling out to the whole entire world, where your words can be seen by anyone, everyone, and with many of whom have the ability to respond.
Of course, this isn’t the case for everyone, depending on which platform are being used and whether the accounts are public or private. These choices are all ideal ways to have as much of a positive social media experience as possible, but we want to take a step back for those accounts and times that you want to speak on a more public platform.
For those with more public accounts, it’s easy to engage with, well, everyone. For example, your child may find themselves in the comment section of TikToks or YouTube, or in the replies of Twitter threads or popular Instagram posts. They may even be initiating the public discussion by tweeting on their public account or putting up a discussion question on an Instagram story.
Social media can be a great outlet for those with social anxiety, giving those with it a space to talk more candidly and without worry about things like interpreting people’s reactions in real time. However, while public accounts can be beneficial to meet others without the pressure of having to respond right away or worrying that they’re judging you in that moment, it can also be harmful, because it can make users vulnerable to hate and troll comments, as well as tempting them to respond to hate comments on other people’s posts. The more people engage with negative interactions online, the more likely they are to feel anxious about how these interactions go, and they may end up internalizing some of the hurtful things that are said towards them, even by complete strangers.
Regardless if your child has private or public accounts, they should have the intent of interacting with those that they feel like would give them a more positive experience. While it may be tempting to bite back against a rude comment on a YouTube video, have them consider leaving a message of support instead for the person who originally posted the video. If someone they know is leaving hateful content on their FaceBook feed, but they don’t know them too well, instead of responding, they can mute or block them.
Social media interactions aren’t always going to be perfect, happy, or positive, but if your child can take control over what hey can to avoid the negative people instead of engaging with them, they’re likely to feel less anxiety about logging on and the content they’re putting up and interacting with.
Do you know who your child mostly talks to online? How would you approach a discussion about who they talk to and how these interactions go?