This Children’s Commissioner for England report on the effects of social media on 8-to-12-year-olds examines the way children use social media and its effects on their wellbeing.
Life in 'likes’ highlights how younger children are using social media platforms that are designed for older children/adults.
The research states that while 8-10s use social media in a playful, creative way – often to play games – this changes significantly as children’s social circles expand as they grow older.
This report shows that many Year 7 children are finding social media hard to manage and becoming over-dependent on ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ for social validation.
They are also adapting their offline behaviour to fit an online image, and becoming increasingly anxious about ‘keeping up appearances’ as they get older.
You can download the report from the Children's Commissioner for England website.