(WXYZ) — For many of us, social media is a fact of life, but for teens, it's almost a necessity.
A new report from Pew Research says 77% of teens use YouTube every day, 58% use TikTok on a daily basis, and about half of teens are daily users of Instagram or Snapchat.
Given the concern about the harmful impacts of social media, the American Psychological Association came out with new recommendations for teen social media use.
Just like driver's education, the recommendations calls for social media training for safe, healthy use of apps like TikTok and Instagram.
Devin Walker, 19, uses social media to promote her work as a lock and twist artists. She said it can be helpful, but it can also be wild.
"Online, you can see everything. Nothing is set off for age groups. You could see you could type up anything to see anything," she said.
That concern is highlighted in new recommendations from the American Psychological Association. They suggest tailoring social media use and access based on developmental capabilities.
Dr. Sarah Domoff is a clinical psychologist and associate professor At Central Michigan University. Her work is cited in the new recommendations. She suggests taking safety tips from analog life into the digital world with social media training.
"You learn how to drive, how to be safe on the road and so forth before we give them access to a car," Domoff said.
So, before schools give out laptops, make sure students and parents are aware of safety and privacy concerns, where they can get help, appropriate digital citizenship and media literacy.
"When we give them the products or the technology, they have some skills before kind of throwing them into the wild," Domoff said.
The recommendations make it clear - social media is neither inherently good nor bad. It’s a great way for teens to connect with friends or show their creative side. But social media can amplify harmful messages for kids with underlying risk factors - like depression or body image issues.
"I'm most concerned when it comes to the social-emotional difficulties, for those youth who already may be at risk and really be able to catch them before they get caught up in social media," Domoff said.
Some of the new recommendations include:
- Monitoring use for younger kids
- Avoiding impacts on sleep and physical activity
- Limiting beauty and appearance-related content
- Minimizing self-harm content, including restrictive eating, purging and excessive exercise.
"Saying, 'we're not going to take these all away from you, but we want you to have the skills to be able to use social media in a way that doesn't promote harm,'" Domoff said.
"Monitor them not like, you know, take their phones, because taking their phones will make them resent them," Walker said.
The goal is balance. Balancing the positive aspects of social media with the potential for harm. Balancing social media use with the need for physical activity and the sleep needed for growing minds and bodies.
These guidelines are for parents but also for institutions like schools that give students laptops and Chromebook that students use to access social media.
Domoff also sent over additional links, which you can see below, for tips.
Log Off Movement
American Psychological Association's social media literacy and parent tips
Common Sense Media
