Children and social media don't mix

"The constant flow of great news we see on Facebook only represents the top 10 per cent of things that happen to other people. It shouldn't be used as the background for evaluating our own lives."

Social media – let's not limit this to Facebook – also have other effects on our minds and moods.

A leading British psychiatrist claimed last year that children as young as five are developing borderline autistic-like behaviour, because of digital engagement. A growing use of tablets and other interactive screen devices has diminished their capacity to read subtle facial signals present in normal human conversation.

Meanwhile, the impact of online bullying and trolling have revealed that negative emotions expressed online are at least as impacting as those shared face-to-face. In fact, their impact may be greater because they lack the context provided by facial signals, tones of voice and so on.

It's instructive to look at the recent popularity of the emoticon. This little hieroglyphic device didn't exist in its present form when social media first invaded the Cloud. Now, many adults who once claimed that this was all just kids' stuff have become artisans in the sending of pictographic messages.

Let's consider for a moment why we feel the need of emojis. What purpose do they serve? Surely they're just a blunt instrument for people who're too lazy to find the right form of words, with all their inbuilt specificity.

Actually, emoticons offer much more than a cheap shorthand alternative to words. They are important because in the age of text-driven, remote social media, we need a way to express the emotion we intend. This is something language alone doesn't always allow – especially if we're limited to a mere 140 characters.

Emojis have become a convenient substitute for the waving of a hand, the raising of an eyebrow or the suggestion of a smile or frown.

They're the only way we can raise or lower our voices to make or respond to a point, when our faces aren't seen and our voices aren't heard.

As adults, we have felt the negative impact of social media as an often emotionless - or at least emotionally confusing - form of communication. We've tried to invent new ways around it.

None of us enjoys being misunderstood. Nor do we care to feel threatened by the words of others, who may or may not intend their messages to be understood as we're interpreting them.

If the emotional impact of using social media is significant for adults, how much more so is it likely to be among children?

The technology and specific platforms are not the problem; our engagement with them is. We need to discipline the digital in our own lives and help children learn that the digital is something that should serve but not define them.