"We all know that grown-ups have the power - but those same grown-ups will be gifting their youngsters top-of-the range iPhones for Christmas"
"When social media exploded on to the scene in our household, it was a very different world."
"A long time ago, a website called Bebo was what any self-respecting teenager was on. It was a bit like Facebook Lite, without the crypto scams and Maga movement. Before the word "influencer" meant an actual job. It seemed like an exciting future, and for the digitally illiterate, a way for kids to help their parents print out things off the internet."
Grown-ups often retain authority while purchasing high-end smartphones for children, which accelerates youth access to social media and reshapes household digital life. The arrival of social platforms produced a different domestic environment and altered expectations around online presence. Earlier platforms such as Bebo served as simpler social hubs for teenagers and avoided later online phenomena like crypto scams and polarized movements. The term "influencer" later became a profession, but early digital interactions felt like an exciting future and provided practical help for digitally inexperienced parents relying on their children to navigate the internet.
Read at Independent
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