There are so many healthy and productive uses of social media for young people.
I’m hardwired to see the positives in things and that includes social media.
So that brings us to the big question of the last few months: Should there be a ban on under 16 year olds using social media?
Following Australians ban under 16-year-olds, France is looking at banning 15-year-olds and under.
And in the last couple of days since I started writing this blog the UK has been debating it.
SHOULD THERE BE AN OUTRIGHT BAN ON UNDER 16 YEAR OLDS USING SOCIAL MEDIA – HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETER
From the outset I will say I come a point of bias – not as a marketer, but as someone of the generation that grew up without the internet or social media.
I spend more time on social media than the average 40 something year old because of the job, but I also know how to
- Switch off from tech by reading paperback books
- Turn my phone on do not disturb when with friends and family
- Do things to keep me away from phone in my spare time – running, live music, foreign language films on TV, swimming, cinema and more
As a business it makes no difference to myself whether under 16-year-olds use social media.
Most of my customers are aged 30-60 years old.
I would advise all ages do things that aren’t social media in their spare time and prioritise these habits
But on the ban
- Firstly, there needs to be strict enforcement across the world on under 13s. There is no real case for under 13s being on social media and parents / platforms should be stricter on this.
- Their needs to be stricter legal enforcement on trolling and illegal activity on social media. It shouldn’t be the wild west out there.
- I’m not a fan of an outright ban on social media – there needs to be 10x more education for adults, teachers, children. If teachers don’t use social media in the main because of their role – how can they ever advise young people on it.
- Social Media is neither good or bad – it’s how we use it that can be good or bad.
- All ages can use social media better. There needs to be more education, more positive content, more supportive content. The default shouldn’t be to be negative or destructive.
- A compromise rather than outright ban would be a tech restricted time limit of 1 hour per day for under 16s
10 Healthy and Productive Uses of Social Media for Young People
Social Media For Fitness Inspiration
There’s so much good entertaining fitness and exercise content out there on social media.
I used to be a fat kid and my only access to exercise was an old skool style PE teacher at school who forced me to do rugby each week.
I literally hated exercise as a result of these teachers.
Now I’m older I lost weight, found running and exercise 5 times a week.
Whether it’s running, gym rats, cycling or any types of sport under the sun, you can find your people who you like and be inspired to move more.
Naturally there’s some charlatans out there in the fitness and wellness fields, so if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
If in doubt ask a qualified personal trainer at your local gym.
Booktok On Social Media
Social Media encouraging people to read is a massive positive.
And I’m all for it.
In my day, it was rock & roll stars that led me to some of the best books I’ve ever read.
This generation is turning to social media.
Waterstones said it has benefited from the “increased popularity of both reading and physical bookshops, supported notably by social media”, which contributed to a 13% surge in sales last year.
More people reading is 100% a massive win for society.
Social Media For Education Content
Parents aren’t always the best place to give advice on school subjects.
And not all parents can afford 121 tuition.
So imagine if social media was the middle ground between this.
And it is.
Lots of tutoring firms and university students are building up great content banks designed to help people with GCSE and navigate specific subjects, revision or exams.
Laurie Knox is a great example of a teacher making a mark on social media and building audiences with educational and entertaining content.
If in doubt discuss anything you’re unsure of with a teacher at your school.
Social Media For World Affairs / News
How many 14–16-year-olds read a traditional paper newspaper?
Not many.
How many people are aware of world events?
A lot through social media.
The medium might have changed, but teenagers are keeping up to date with the world through social media in the way that 30-40 years ago teenagers might have glanced at the newspaper their mum or dad were reading.
It’s a good thing that people are aware of what’s going on in the world, but if I’m honest it’s this area of social media where it’s easy with a couple of clicks to go down a rabbit hole to extremism.
I grew up with legacy media and have worked for the BBC. Whilst traditional news doesn’t always get it right, I’d generally trust them more than @dave725892 on X with 13 followers.
Social Media For Careers Advice
If you follow myself on social media @altrinchamhq you get a pretty good idea of what life is like in the world of social media marketing.
The highs. The lows.
I did a post a couple of days ago which highlighted what I’d done in the 1st 2.5 days of 2026 and at the end most of the comments were “I feel exhausted just reading that list”.
If you’re 14-16 and have a rough idea of what you want to do when you’re older.
Connect with some professionals on LinkedIn
Follow some professionals on TikTok
Don’t just follow the ones that make it seem fun.
Follow the ones that show the reality of their career.
There are also lots of accounts with advice on university life / interview techniques / CV writing / public speaking and more.
Social Media For Learning Practical Life Skills
Do your children know how to cook 5 basic meals?
Do they know basics like changing a fuse?
Do they know how to do basic budgeting?
Whilst I know one dad who gave his teenage children the book “How To Win Friends and Influence People” when they were 16 … most parents just want to know their kids can master the basics themselves.
For many teenagers TikTok is the new YouTube for basic how to guides.
Information is at the touch of a button and as long as they have data or wifi they can get the basics.
There are many DofE accounts on social media showing great content to help with this
Social Media For Charity Support
I’ve seen lots of great charity campaigns by young people.
And being old when I say young people I mean anyone under 25.
One of the great examples is Henry Moores, a local lad in the North West, who has walked from Manchester to Ibiza and done various fitness challenges for charity.
This is just one story that broke through in the news and on social media, but there are lots of examples that don’t get reported.
Just young people who set up a TikTok, do a random challenge and suddenly raise thousands for charity.
Social Media For Family Business Support
We’ve all heard of Nepo babies – the children of famous people who make a name for themselves off the back of their family connections.
What I kind of love is when a relative unknown with a few thousand social media followers’ posts about their parents’ business and it goes viral.
Families supporting families.
I do feel more people should do this.
You could literally transform your mum / dad’s business because of it.
Content Creation Around Niche Interests
The whole world fell in love with Francis Bourgeois passion for trainspotting.
To the average person Trainspotting was pretty niche.
And social media allows you to create content around your niche and find your people.
Imagine if you live in a small suburban town and you love bird spotting, crocheting, jump rope and you feel like you’re the only person you know who does this. So, you start creating content around that niche and you suddenly find people like you who share the same interest. Suddenly you’re not alone. The world feels like a more welcoming place. The biggest benefit of it is this, but after a period of time you build up a big following and you monetize it. You are literally getting paid to do what you love.
Social Media For Switching Off
Teenagers are allowed to just chill out and switch off from real life.
Remember – you did it with Neighbours and Home & Away growing up.
You do it now with Coronation Street or some terrible reality TV show.
Those 20 minutes where you don’t have to worry about the stresses of real life are valid.
Let people have their fun.
CONCLUSION
As you can see from the above there are lots of positive healthy and productive uses of social media that people don’t talk about.
On educational content I’d always advice checking with a professional or adult you trust in real life.
And remember the not interested, block and report buttons on social media are your friends.
Use those buttons on social media to make your social media experience a better one.
As with anything, use social media with moderation – anything overused can turn into an addiction or problem.
Are there any healthy and productive uses of social media that we’ve missed out?
NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Looking for authentic ways to grow your social media
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Facebook
* TikTok
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
