CNN host and professor of marketing at NYU, Scott Galloway has declared he’d rather give his teenage son weed and alcohol than an Instagram or Snap account.
Galloway has long been one of B&T’s favourite industry mavericks, and he always has something interesting to say – though you may not always agree with him.
Naturally, he didn’t disappoint when Galloway, who is never backwards in coming forwards, appeared on CNN News, where he said: “As a parent, I would rather give my fourteen-year-old son a bottle of Jack Daniels and marijuana than an Instagram or snap account.”
Galloway went on to explain that he did not think it was healthy for teenagers to have access to such visual platforms.
Galloway said: “A platform that is dominated by young women or girls really, who put up an image of themselves and await from comments from their peer group or total strangers.
“The basic premise is a little uncomfortable, and there’s been a lot of evidence that now shows, that self-harm and teen suicide has exploded, especially among girls since social hit mobile, when Facebook acquired Instagram.”
This interview with @profgalloway is eye opening. I’m not a mother but I do work in social media; hopeful for a future with more regulation for teens and younger. As a marketer we want to sell, but it shouldn’t come at the price of destroying our youth https://t.co/taPkzmnf9G
— Sonia Elyss (@SoniaElyss) December 6, 2021
Galloway was responding to Facebook whistler blower, Frances Haugen’s allegations that Instagram is “dangerous,” for teenagers, a sentiment Galloway seems to agree with.
However, it is worth noting that Instagram has just launched, the Take A Break Feature. in Australia and NZ – which aims to help people take a break from the app.
Instagram is also developing new features to make Instagram safer for teens. Earlier this year, Instagram began defaulting teens into private accounts when they signed up for Instagram, and we stopped adults from being able to DM teens who don’t follow them.
Shortly it’ll also stop people from tagging or mentioning teens that don’t follow them and the social media giant is working on creating a new experience to nudge teens towards different topics if they’ve been dwelling on one topic for a long time.
Meta will also be launching a tool fot parents and guardians early next year to help them get more involved in their teen’s experiences on Instagram.
All these changes are clearly directed at creating a safer space for teenagers online, but will they be enough to appease Galloway, well that remains to be seen.
