48% of Teenage Girls Receive Unwelcome Advances Through Messaging Apps

Instant messaging has completely and utterly transformed the face of the world because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up facilitating speedy communication. However, it is also seen as a bit of a double edged sword with all things having been considered and taken into account. For example, a recent survey conducted by Common Sense Media revealed that as many as 48% of teenage girls in the US got unsolicited messages through these apps.

46% said the same about TikTok, whereas YouTube is marginally better although it too had 30% of teenage girl users receiving unwelcome advances through messages. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 45% of the teenage girls said that they are addicted to TikTok, which might make this problem even worse than might have been the case otherwise.

It bears mentioning that many of the girls included are between the ages of 11 and 15. This seems to suggest that predators and child groomers are attempting to take advantage of instant messaging apps as well as various social media platforms to find victims. Many of these teenage girls are unable to remove themselves from the apps that are putting them in harm’s way due to the aforementioned issue of addiction which doesn’t seem to be getting better anytime soon.

What’s more, Instagram turned out to be the worst app of all. 58% of adolescent girls on the platform said that they received unexpected messages that made them feel uncomfortable, with Snapchat following at a close second with 57%. In spite of the fact that this is the case, Instagram was cited as addictive by just 33% of girls, with Snapchat receiving 37%.

All in all, the problems of social media addiction and unwelcome solicitations seem to go hand in hand. It will be interesting to see how this impacts policy surrounding social media and screen time in the future, although the responsibility ultimately lies with the parents to do the right thing to the best of their abilities.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World