What Age Should Kids Have Social Media?

What age your kids should have social media is perhaps the defining question of modern parenthood. It’s particularly pressing considering that Meta was recently found liable for contributing to young users’ mental health issues and for failing to protect children from predators on their platform. 

Fellow parents, I wish I could give you a concrete number, but the reality is that there’s no universal right answer. What I can do is walk you through how to make a decision that’s best for your child. 

How to decide what age your kids should have social media

Here are a few factors to consider when deciding when to introduce your child to social media:

What is the legal minimum age for social media?

There’s currently no federal minimum age to use social media in the United States, but a patchwork of state laws is rapidly emerging. Congress is considering a bill that prohibits social media platforms from knowingly allowing users under 13. 

As the U.S. weighs legislation, it’s worth considering Australia’s recent ban on social media for kids under 16. Despite the threat of hefty fines, Australia says major social media companies aren’t fully complying with the new law. 

What minimum age do social media platforms require?

Most social media platforms require users to be 13. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs online collection of personal information from children under 13, so most platforms comply by banning younger users. In reality, though, age-verification measures on social media platforms are typically quite basic, and kids can usually bypass it.

What is your child’s maturity level?

When it comes to the impact of social media on the brain, research shows that age matters. 

• Between ages 10 and 12, the brain changes in ways that make social rewards (such as likes, comments, and DMs on social media) much more gratifying. The inconsistency of the timing of these rewards can lead users to check social media more frequently. 
• The prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate emotional responses to social rewards, doesn’t fully develop until adulthood, leaving adolescents more susceptible to social media’s influence on the brain. 
• Even a few years make a difference: brain activity related to social media is more pronounced for 12- 13-year-olds than it is for kids aged 15-16. 

But maturity is more than just age. You should also consider your child’s:

• Ability to handle criticism, rejection, peer pressure, and negative interactions without extreme distress
• Self-regulation skills
• Ability to read social cues
• Impulse control
• Ability to follow general safety rules
• Intellectual development
• Ability to comprehend risk

How do they manage other digital content?

How your child interacts with other content online offers clues to how they’ll handle social media. Ask yourself:  

• Do they understand safety considerations like online privacy?
• How well do they follow existing screen time rules?
• Do they have an especially hard time disengaging from continuously stimulating media like video games? (If so, they may be more vulnerable to endless social media scrolling.)

Expert recommendations on the best age for social media

Just as there’s no one right answer on what age kids should have social media, there’s no single consensus among experts. Instead, consider these trusted perspectives: 

• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends 13 as the minimum age for social media. They’re clear that this doesn’t mean every 13-year-old is ready, though. 
• The American Psychological Association (APA) doesn’t cite a specific minimum age for social media. Instead, they suggest assessing the maturity of the child and say that using social media in ways that promote healthy socialization should be prioritized. 
• The Child Mind Institute suggests there are benefits to letting kids use social media in middle school because parents are more involved in guiding and supervising them at this age, so kids can build skills to use it safely as they get more independent. 

BrightCanary is the only child monitoring app recognized by the American Psychological Association’s APA Labs Digital Badge program. Learn more about this designation.

How to help your child use social media safely at any age

When you do introduce your child to social media, here’s how to do so safely: 

Introduce one platform at at time

Start slow. Let them have an account on just one social media site at first, and make sure you set any available parental controls on the platform. Here are our guides for parental controls on Instagram and YouTube. 

Wait until they’ve proven they can be responsible before you add more. 

Monitor their use

No matter what age you decide to let your child use social media, monitoring them from day one is essential. To effectively monitor your child on social media: 

• Do regular check-ins. Sit with your child and look at their feed together. Ask them what interests them, give them space to share, and discuss anything concerning that you see. 
• Use a monitoring app. BrightCanary monitors everything your child types across all social media platforms. The app gives you insight into their activity and sends you real-time alerts if the system detects any red flags. 

Final word: What age should kids have social media? 

There’s no single answer to when kids should have social media, although most experts suggest waiting until at least 13. When considering what’s right for your child, look at things like their maturity level, their ability to follow safety rules, and how they handle other digital media. When your child does start using social media, introduce one platform at a time and monitor their online activity. 

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Stranger Danger in the Digital Realm: Talking to Your Kids About Online Predators Social Media Monitoring 101: How to Monitor Your Child’s Accounts What Parents Should Know About Instagram’s New Close Friends Feature Is Reddit Safe for Kids?