Social Media has been a very prominent tool in our society today. It has influenced us to buy products, change our appearance or even change our way of living to fit into a specific aesthetic.
The impact that influencers have on younger generations creates a false sense of belief in these younger children. Children seeing their favorite celebrities or influencers do particular things makes it easier for them to think that it’s okay to do those particular things.
Social media has led to children not being children anymore and has made them feel comfortable enough to indulge in things relating to older women like excessive skincare and even makeup.
Other generations like Millennials and Gen Z had the ability to be children and do certain things that children do such as play with toys, watch certain TV shows and not be so absorbed with the internet.
Gen Alpha are often referred to as the iPad kids or Sephora kids. Which has been displayed as an issue that needs to be addressed.
At the start of 2024, there has been a surge of young women on TikTok who have had a storytime about these tweens being rude or entitled to having these skincare or makeup products. The topic has created discourse about how children are not children anymore and how their parents should be more active in what they consume on social media.
Since the debacle on social media, the company Drunk Elephant has seen a surge in sales.
Oftentimes, we overlook these children engaging in these activities because it has become so normalized in society to be this way. Social media along with influencers have made it so easy for children to even access these outlets.
Younger children are more impressionable when it comes to knowing who they are and are easily influenced to do things they see their idols doing.
Their parents should be more attentive to what their children consume and how constantly consuming social media can result in other issues in the future like anxiety, depression or possibly self-harm.
Whether that be limiting their screen time or deleting their social media altogether there should be a limit to their child’s consumption of social media.
Also, children should not be able to access these social media outlets without the proper supervision from their parents or putting a limit on what they can consume for a period of time.
How children behave has to do with how their parents are raising them. It needs to be changed based on what their parents deem as acceptable.
Although, times have changed and we have become more tech savvy and social media has become more accessible to the public. Children should be able to still be children and not constantly feel the need to be older than what they are.
