Since the origin of social networks at the end of the 20th century, their evolution has been enormous: their uses for different purposes, user profiles and the types of content shared have been changing over the years and, believe it or not, even decades.
Similarly, the social networks most used have also changed, with notable differences according to various factors such as country, gender and, of course, age group.
In this respect, the debate on the use of these networks and their relationship with the protection of minors has always been a delicate subject to deal with.
For this reason, we are going to analyse and publicise Telefónica’s position on this matter, called Building a safe digital environment for minors, for 2025.
Impact of social networks on minors
This interesting document identifies and analyses three main problems linked to the influence and impact of social networks on children.
Publication by relatives
According to the study ‘Online “Sharenting”: The Dangers of Posting Sensitive Information About Children on Social Media’, three out of four European minors have had some kind of presence on social networks before the age of two. This figure rises to 92% in the case of the United States.
The publication of videos and/or images by family members often takes place without those posting being fully aware of the possible implications.
This type of material, for example, can be used to obtain some kind of financial compensation after deceiving the family or to generate sexual content that may subsequently end up distributed and hosted on illicit websites.
Expectations generated by influencers
A concept closely related to the emergence of social networks is undoubtedly that of the social media influencer.
The perception that is usually held of these content creators with huge communities on different networks is that they are highly successful people from both a social and an economic-labour perspective.
For these reasons, minors may tend to idolise these professionals as role models and imitate their lifestyles.
The fact that part of the income of influencers is generated through advertising agreements can lead some minors to enter into a consumerist dynamic in which they think that by acquiring certain services or products they will be able to meet certain expectations.
Addiction to networks
Although the problem of social media addiction is not exclusive to minors, it is true that this group is particularly susceptible since the reward systems in their brains develop prior to self-control or the postponement of gratification.
Likewise, the fact that the algorithms of social networks show content adapted to the interests of the person browsing generates a continuous expectation of content to their taste, provoking an immediate ‘reward’.
To these issues we should also add, as a risk for addiction, the infinite scrolling of content, which leads to the perception that we are facing an ocean of unlimited content.
How to achieve a safe digital environment for children
From this Telefónica position, a series of proposals are presented to help generate a safe digital environment for minors. Let’s take a look at them.
Ethical code for social media platforms
The proposal for a Code of Ethics to lay the foundations for a series of good practices such as notifying users of usage time – based on what experts consider -, slowing down update rates or eliminating video previews in feed posts arises under the premise and knowledge that they will be in the hands of the companies themselves.
Awareness campaigns
Bringing society closer to an awareness of the potential risks to which minors are sometimes exposed in digital environments can be a useful tool for educating those who are not aware of these situations.
Therefore, the promotion of a more responsible use of social networks can increase the level of commitment of a part of the population through, for example, the promotion of an effective use of age labelling or being careful that the content marked for minors is appropriate.
These awareness campaigns can work from different perspectives: both in terms of the minors themselves and their environments, whether school or family.
Raising awareness among minors
With regard to raising awareness among children themselves, Telefónica advocates joint collaboration between agents of the digital ecosystem such as the operator itself together with educational centres.
This task of raising awareness should focus on making them aware of the importance of maintaining a balance between the digital and physical worlds, as well as specific awareness of the potential risks of social networks, and the promotion of a critical and responsible use of them.
Raising awareness in the environment
With regard to the environment, as we have mentioned before, both school and family, from this position we advocate raising awareness about sharenting – sharing information about minors – from the public sector in collaboration with other agents in the digital ecosystem.
