Instagram is a social posturing platform. Kids compare themselves. We already acknowledge that kids have not yet developed a strong sense of protecting themselv

Instagram is a social posturing platform. Kids compare themselves. We already acknowledge that kids have not yet developed a strong sense of protecting themselves. Including against soft influence, which is why advertising for children is highly regulated in most countries. “Social” platforms are next level and much better at exploiting attention than classical advertising. I feel like in lieu of hard evidence, which naturally comes with a very high bar in social science, the safest path is to stay the hell away from excessive social comparison 24/7. This is, in my experience, medium-to-very unhealthy even for most adults (see exhibit A - LinkedIn). When you have an adversary that openly deploys recommendation systems optimized for engagement, it’s not rocket science to connect the dots. Sure, I guess there’s a theoretical chance it’s correlation. But as a parent today, are you gonna take that risk with your child’s childhood? I would definitely do everything I can to guide my children away from social comparison. I stopped using people-oriented social media years ago, for my own sake. Most of the SV elite keeps their children off that crap, even though they are have high-status potential in “succeeding” in this mindless game.