We were thrilled to be part of both the New South Wales and South Australia Social Media Summits recently, where young voices took centre stage in shaping the future of social media use.
The summit brought together experts, policymakers, academics, young people, and community voices to discuss the positive and negative impacts of social media on people’s lives and how the government can best support digital wellbeing.
Thanks to the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP), young people aged 12 to 24 had the opportunity to put forward their ideas on how to plan for safer social media use in partnership with the NSW and SA Government.
In New South Wales, one of the highlights was hearing directly from the young people about the challenges they face online - like cyberbullying, misinformation, and hate speech - and their ideas for solutions. Ellen - one of batyr's Lived Experience Storytellers and Youth Advisory Council member - was among those who shared insights on how social media can be a force for good when used responsibly.
The young participants called for greater transparency, early education about digital literacy, and the need to embrace the positive aspects of social media while being mindful of its pitfalls. We also heard from Billy, a Youth Advisory Council alumnus from ACYP, who reminded us that intergenerational collaboration is key to ensuring social media becomes a safer, more supportive space for everyone. His call for education, adaptation, and proactive initiatives resonated with everyone in the room.
In South Australia, much of the summit was focused around hearing from experts, government officials, and panels of people with lived experience or other expertise on the topic of social media use for young people. We were also able to hear from a Teen Parliament Panel of 4 young people aged 15-20 who shared their perspectives as young people with lived experience of online harassment and mental health challenges.
At batyr, we believe in the power of young people and their lived experience. These summits were a powerful reminder that we can’t effectively create meaningful policy change without involving young people in the decisions about them. We will continue to amplify young people’s voices through our National Youth Advisory Group, Youth Advocacy Lead and network of lived experience storytellers, ensuring young perspectives shape decisions that affect their digital lives.
It was an inspiring couple of days at both summits, filled with hope and actionable ideas. We are proud to represent the stories of young people and continue to advocate for solutions that actively listen to and involve the experiences of young people, hold platforms to account and make social media safer for all.
You can read our joint statement alongside Orygen, headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation, ReachOut, Beyond Blue, and the Black Dog Institute here.
If you or someone you know are having a tough time, please call one of these crisis support hotlines, where there'll be someone on the other end of the phone to listen at any time:
For online or face-to-face support, head to our Get Support page, which has details of heaps of different services.