[_AzMoo]

> What I don't understand is why parents don't take responsibility for reducing the contact with such harmful products.

It's critical mass. I didn't want my 13-year-old daughter on social media, because even 7 years ago we knew the harms. We were firm, and we kept her off it. The problem was that we were attempting to help her with her mental health, but when you're literally the only kid who didn't read the group chat from your friend group the night before, that does remarkable damage to your mental health. It cuts off an enormous part of their social life.

If the majority of kids weren't using it then it'd be easy, but because it's their primary form of communication, it's incredibly difficult.

[inigyou]

Do you think there could be explicitly child-friendly social media? I don't know how you'd get past the network effect, but could it work? Maybe adults would have to set up groups, and connections could only be established with Bluetooth or something to ensure physical proximity (yes you could cheat but you'd need weird hardware or software to do so).

Adults setting up groups would be so that you could have a group for "year 11 maths class" but not for "people who hate susan"

[_AzMoo]

It'd be fine if they were just using chat apps. It's not the communication that's the problem, or the bullying. That's going to happen regardless, and it's nothing new to online spaces. If anything, having online spaces available is helpful, because kids who are excluded at school are able to find places they fit in online. It's the algorithmic feeds and short-form video content. It's flooding their brains in their most formative time.

[inigyou]

I think being contacted by or contacting strangers is also a separate concern. Bullying is also a problem.

[wizzwizz4]

Strangers are fine. It's strangers in social contexts where strangers can do harm that's the problem. An unsupervised 8-year-old on Hacker News isn't going to get groomed; an 8-year-old on Snapchat might well be.

[inigyou]

That's because on HN everyone could see the grooming and call it out - there are no direct messages or private groups.