Up to 60% of 8-11-year-olds have social media profiles (despite a minimum age of 13)
Can pre-teens be locked out when platforms keep leaving the door wide open?
Generation Alpha is complete! Now that our cohort is all present and correct - and with all due respect to the baby Gen Betas being born this past week - the real fun can begin :) In 2025, the oldest Alphas will turn 15; they’ll be spending, gaming and speaking their own internet-inspired dialect. The youngest will turn one, spending much of their time napping (hopefully), playing, and also communicating via indecipherable babble. It’s going to be a wild ride and I will be tracking it all as it unfolds.
Every fortnight I round up the most interesting and insightful writing about British Gen Alphas (born 2010-2024) from across the internet so you can stay bang up to speed on this emerging and fascinating cohort.
This time we’re talking: AI age checks, Alpha adaptability and young trans voices. Let’s go!
Facial recognition checks to stop under-13s using social media
By George Grylls for The Times
While it may not “take a genius to work out that children are going to lie about their age” - a direct quote from Ofcom's Head of Online Safety Policy, John Higham - it may take some pretty smart technology to clamp down on the problem. The regulator wants companies like TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat to use ‘highly accurate’ AI age checks (like facial recognition) to remove children's accounts from their sites. Though getting them to do any kind of check may be a good first step. Ofcom reports that less than 20% of kids on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat have ever been asked to verify their age - but that may change; under new rules starting this spring, Ofcom will be able to fine tech firms up to 10% of global turnover and jail executives for repeated failures to protect children online.
Understanding Generation Alpha: Key Takeaways For Business Leaders
By Gilda D'Incerti for Forbes
Okay, so excusing the fact that Forbes almost stole my Substack name here, this piece provides some broad business advice and an unusually upbeat outlook on Alphas’ potential. On this generation’s adaptability, D'Incerti writes “As I see it, the young people of Gen Alpha have only known dramatic change, which could help position them for success even when faced with unprecedented or tough obstacles.” Her advice on empowering Gen Alpha as future change-makers is to foster resilience through creating opportunities for early tech education, prioritise mental health and well-being, and create a culture of creativity and collaboration.
YouTube urged to promote 'high-quality' children's programmes
By Hafsa Khalil for BBC
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy wants video platforms like YouTube to feature "high-quality" children's content more prominently on their websites, arguing that kids may be missing out on the kind of programming that “helps inform [them] about the world" because, while it’s out there, it’s harder to find it on such channels compared to traditional TV. This Ofcom report shows that as YouTube has surged in popularity, TV watching has waned and that it’s one of the few platforms that Alphas across age brackets (in this report 3-17 years) consistently use - so the government’s new focus is certainly justified. If the “voluntary agreement” that the government wants to reach with streaming platforms could feature the complete eradication of CoCoMelon, I for one would be most grateful.
Disney Voice Actor Speaks Out After Her Character's Trans Storyline Is Cut From New Series
By Daniel Welsh for Huffington Post
Trans voice actor Chanel Stewart described herself as “disheartened” by the decision, saying: “From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to help empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard.” This comes at around the same time that the UK government announced an indefinite ban on puberty blockers for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria and highlights the increasingly fraught atmosphere for trans youth in the UK today in which they seem, to me, to be both more visible and more persecuted than in previous generations.
‘I’ve made £1,000 in my first business – and I’m only eight years old’
By Deborah Cicurel for The Telegraph
In a fine example of the Alpha entrepreneurial spirit that we've previously discussed, this piece profiles Archie Elliott who has worked out that he can buy jewellery, sweets, and toys in bulk from the likes of Temu or Amazon and flog them at markets for “three to four times the original cost.” Like Elliott, 78% of kids earned money in the past year, with 43% using technology to do so. Inspired by YouTubers like MrBeast and Quik Play, he says, “I want a lot of money, loads of businesses, and lots of people to know me.” Maybe a touch of Alpha main character energy in there, too?..
It’s my first newsletter of the year and I am bursting with ideas for Understanding Alphas in 2025 - but what would you like to see? Let me know!