Welcomes to the Exchange newsletter.
Hey there!
Kelly is still out on maternity leave, so it's Maria Boden here - Senior Producer of The Exchange.
I'm a rare find when it comes to social media. I'm not on Facebook, Instagram (yes I know they're the same company), Snap, TikTok and whatever else millennials use. I will admit that I am on Twitter, but I use that strictly for news purposes and to promote the show (The Exchange weekdays at 1PM ET!). If I ever leave the news business, I will also leave Twitter.
The decision to not be on social media wasn't a conscious one at first. Facebook launched when I was in college and I just had no time and I didn't care to see a picture of my friends' cousins' neighbors dog. Many years later, my general thesis hasn't changed - I have no time or much interest. There are also lots of times when I am forwarded a post or a comment and I'm reminded of another reason I don't do it - I would at some point lose it at something and end up going off on a rant about it on the internet and get myself in lots of trouble.
There is one downfall to not being "social" - I sometimes miss out. There have been events I have not been invited to or inside jokes I don't understand or someone's ridiculous new venture I'm unaware of.
So why do I bring this up? My kids.
While I've still got plenty of time to go, I will be one of the many parents who will be raising two boys in the social age. I don't know what Facebook, Snap, Instagram or Twitter will look like in another 5 years but I can guarantee you there will definitely be social media. How do you walk the line between letting them be a part of a larger world where friends essentially post their entire lives and protecting them the perils of social media (and there are many). Are you depriving them of building friendships and making it hard to for them to belong? Or are you merely convincing yourself that you are protecting them - hoping that in the end they will read more, be outside more and not up until 1am endlessly scrolling.
The same applies to video games. My son is young but he's already coming home asking me what Fortinite is and why he hasn't played Minecraft. The reason - you're six years old! So even this young, he's complaining about not understanding what his friend is telling him at lunch - what happens at 13?
I have years to go before I set rules in my own house about social media. Do I use my own biased views to make a decision or do I accept that the world children experience and the way they communicate is quite different from my own childhood?
We know that many big tech CEOs have said they impose time limits on "screen time" for their children. But just food for thought - Evan Spiegel, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey - have yet to see the impact of their products on their own children yet (they're all pretty young). It will be interesting to see what rules they set up when it comes to social media and their families.
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