Saying Goodbye to Social Media

   Chances have it that one day while scrolling through your Instagram reels, you’ve stumbled across a 12-year-old doing a TikTok dance, receiving over 37k views; or you’ve come downstairs for dinner, but instead of seeing your 14-year-old sister happily awaiting you at the table, you find her snapping her new crush. Over the last few years, the age of social media users has significantly decreased, making once adult dominated platforms overpopulated with young adolescents, teens, tweens, and even kids. With this rise of young users, there has also been a rise in cyber bullying, the spread of harmful disinformation, and online predators.  

   Many believe that with this rise of potentially harmful consequences towards social media users, we need to be more careful on who is permitted on the app. Specifically, many suggest that we need to be careful with minors as they are most vulnerable, and subject to these harms. This argument has inspired HB 1, a bill that aims to create stricter guidelines for residents of Florida, ensuring that only those 16 years and older are permitted on social media apps. If this bill successfully passes, we will see changes on campus, as most freshmen and sophomores will be restricted on what social media they can have, altering the way our panthers communicate and share about their life, but also potentially protecting them from said harms. 

By: Madison Duarte

Credits:

https://m.flsenate.gov/session/bill/2024/1/billtext/filed/pdf