There is no denying the power of social media these days,
but a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has shocking
news: in just one year, social media companies made over $11 billion in U.S.
advertising revenue from children. Findings like these show how powerful and
popular these platforms are among younger people. They also bring up important
social questions about advertising to children.
The study looked at a lot of different things. It used
information from the U.S. Census, polls from Common Sense Media and Pew
Research, and findings from eMarketer (now Insider Intelligence) and the
parental control app Qustodio. This complex study showed that kids spend a
crazy amount of time on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,
TikTok, and Twitter (formerly known as X). Researchers could get an idea of how
much money ads from kids bring in by creating a model based on this data.
This news is especially scary because of the ongoing
arguments about how social media affects the mental health of teens and young
adults. Personalized algorithms on these platforms can make kids use them too
much, which could make mental health problems worse.
Because of this, states like New York and Utah are thinking
about passing laws that would limit how much time kids can spend on social
media. Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook, is also being sued
by several states that say it has something to do with the mental health
problem among teens and young adults.
The lead author of the study, Harvard professor Bryn Austin,
stresses that social media sites don't do a good job of self-regulatory. Even
though these platforms say they are taking steps to protect young users, they
have strong financial reasons to put off taking real action. This isn't just
happening on social media; promoting to kids has been a problem for a long
time, whether it's online, on TV, or even in schools. But online ads are
different because they are focused and the lines between ads and content aren't
always clear.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has pointed out that
children are easy targets for advertising because their ability to think
critically and control their impulses is not fully formed yet. This
vulnerability is even stronger when ads are part of social networks, backed by
famous people, or paired with personalized content.
Because of these worries, the Federal Trade Commission wants
to change the rules that say how online businesses can track kids and show them
ads. Some of these changes are that focused ads for kids under 13 will no
longer show up by default, and push alerts will be limited.
The Harvard report also breaks down the money made from ads
by device and age group. When it comes to income from people 12 and younger,
YouTube is the leader. Instagram and Facebook are next. For people ages 13 to
17, Instagram is the best app. TikTok and YouTube come in second and third. A
lot of the money that Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram make from ads
comes from people under 18.
Businesses and marketers who use social media to reach their
customers need this knowledge more than anything else. Understanding how these
platforms work can help you make more reasonable and effective marketing plans.
It's important to think about these things if you want to use social media
marketing, especially through an SMM group.
An SMM group can help you find your way around the
complicated world of social media advertising. It makes it easier to run social
media ads, see how they're doing, and make changes to tactics right away.
Businesses can make sure their social media efforts are as responsible and
effective as possible by using an SMM panel.
If you want to improve your social media profile, Great SMM
has a variety of SMM services that can help you with your marketing. Our
platform is made to help you get the most out of social media in a smart and
responsible way. Check out our services at Great SMM right now to take your
social media marketing to the next level.