You’ve read the title of this blog and you’re probably thinking...
What in the world are these people thinking? Why would I let my young child on social media early in their lives? It’s toxic, can be detrimental to mental health and has no real value unless you’re promoting something as a business.
Wrong.
We hate to be so forward in casting your perception of social media adrift so quickly but we want to spend some time showing you, as the parent of a young child, why it may be worth considering allowing your child to be present on social media from a young age.
Now, we’re not telling you to give your eight-year-old a Twitter account and let them run wild but we want to shed some light on a few positives of social media for young children to show you that Facebook, Twitter and other social media are not just doom and gloom all the time – they can actually provide good value for your child now that will set them up well for the future.
1. Social Media Builds Connections
Especially during the pandemic but even generally, how often does your child have the opportunity to go outside and socialize?
Social media is a great tool through which to compensate for the lack of in-person connection your child is getting right now during the pandemic. Interacting via social networks can help your child maintain physically distant family relationships as well as build and maintain relationships with friends that you can still monitor if need be.
2. Social Media Can Be Relaxing
Rarely do we truly consider the stress and angst that our children experience every day. It may be different than the stress we deal with as adults, but that does not make it any less valid.
Social media can be a simple and effective way to alleviate the stress your child feels by serving as either a method of distraction or an avenue for social support for them – providing your child with an outlet through which they can freely express themselves to other people.
3. Social Media Helps Us Stay Informed
Has your child ever tried to get in between a conversation you were having with another adult and then gotten frustrated at your denial – asking “why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Social media would negate this problem by giving your child a way to stay up-to-date on news events, the latest in entertainment etc. In other words, allowing your kids to be present on social media from a young age enables them to become informed people while also experiencing all the aforementioned benefits of social media.
Now that you’ve read our three reasons your child may benefit from being present on social media from a young age, we want to end this blog off by going back to something we said at the beginning – “the future”.
We’ve talked all blog long about the present-day utility of social media but, as we’re sure you understand, social media will only become an even greater part of our lives and your child’s future as time goes on.
There’s a great likelihood that your child will use social media professionally to some capacity, and we at Explorer Hop believe we can help you and your child set up for success to that effect through our Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing program, and our Social Media Marketing - Facebook, Instagram and TikTok course.
We don’t believe that you can say social media marketing knowledge is anything but fundamental to your child’s future, so we have created both a generic fundamentals course and a course surrounding specific platforms to help your child get a head-start in understanding the vast and intricate world of social media!
Check out our website for this program and more, then sign up for one of our programs today!