Children and young people encounter many different people, lifestyles and opinions on TikTok, Instagram and the like. Social media can make diversity visible and open up new perspectives. At the same time, there is also discrimination, exclusion and stereotypical images of beauty and roles. Young people can be influenced by biased social media feeds and influencers with a wide reach – often without even realizing it. In this article, we show you what you can look out for and how you can support your child in using social media in a more diverse and conscious way.
Social media offers people the opportunity to become visible and stand up for their causes. So-called “Sinnfluencer*innen” (a portmanteau of “Sinn” and “Influencer*innen”) draw attention online to barriers in everyday life, for example, or campaign against racism, environmental pollution or queer hostility.
At the same time, people who experience discrimination in everyday life are often also affected by insults, exclusion or hatred online. This can go as far as hate speech or cyberbullying. Platforms themselves can also exclude people – sometimes unintentionally. This happens, for example, when services are not barrier-free. For example, read-aloud functions, subtitles or image descriptions are important for people who cannot see well or have difficulty reading.
It can also be problematic if content on topics such as disability, LGBTQIA+ or politics is automatically filtered out by the algorithm. Certain posts are then not visible to some users. In the past, there have been such cases on TikTok, among others; after criticism, they were withdrawn.
We often encounter similar images of genders, families and bodies on social media platforms. In some cases, very common or even extreme role models are conveyed. This is already evident in the choice of topics: Accounts on fashion, beauty, decoration or nutrition are often run by girls and women. On the other hand, topics such as technology, weight training or finance are mainly posted by men. This can influence young people: Anyone who spends a lot of time on social media often encounters stereotypical role models there, according to a study by the MaLisa Foundation. This can influence how young people think about gender roles. Other perspectives and more diverse images can often only be found if you search for them specifically – for example via hashtags such as #bodypositivity.
Influencers in particular can contribute to stereotypical images of beauty and roles. Many successful female influencers appear slim and long-haired. Influencers often present themselves as sporty and muscular. Influencers are important role models for many young people. They are guided by their appearance, poses, facial expressions and gestures. For example, certain selfie poses are typical, such as when the hand appears to be casually resting in the hair.
Young people who follow influencers often compare themselves more with their appearance. In order to match their own images to the posts of their role models, they often use filters and tricks and focus on classic beauty standards such as large breasts for girls and broad shoulders for boys.
Ask your child who they follow on social media and what fascinates them about the content. Find out about current influencers, for example at FLIMMO. Look together for alternatives away from conventional role models. It is important not to devalue your child’s favorite influencers. These idols can be very important to your child. Instead, look at different accounts together and talk about them: Who is shown there? What body images, lifestyles and opinions are shown? There is a lot of content on social media that makes diversity visible. However, you often only find it when you search for it specifically. Examples of Instagram are:
Hashtags such as #inclusion, #diversity, #blackvoicesmatter or #mentalhealth can also help to discover more diverse content. If you and your child follow such accounts, your own feed will also gradually change.
