We Need to Talk About What Streaming Is Doing to Our Young People

We Need to Talk About What Streaming is Doing to our Young People

I think we need to stop playing around with this.

Something is happening to people in the streaming world, and I'm not just talking about music streaming. I'm talking about TikTok Live, Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, gaming streams, podcasts, livestreams—all of it.

People are tired.

And some of these young people are not just tired. They're anxious. They're depressed. They're comparing themselves to everybody. They're scared they're falling behind before they've even had a chance to figure out who the hell they are.

I spend enough time around artists, creators and young people to see it.

Everybody is performing now.

That's the part I don't think we talk about enough.

You're not just living your life anymore. You're supposed to document it.

Turn the camera on.

Post something.

Go live.

Check the views.

Check the comments.

Check the followers.

Why didn't this video move?

Why did hers get 100,000 views and mine got 400?

Why isn't anybody watching me?

Maybe I'm ugly.

Maybe I'm boring.

Maybe my music isn't good.

Maybe nobody likes me.

That's a dangerous conversation for a grown adult to have with themselves.

Now imagine being 14.

These Numbers Start Feeling Like Your Worth

I've watched people have a whole good day ruined because something didn't perform well online.

Think about that.

Nothing actually happened to them.

Their family still loves them. They're still talented. Their bills might even be paid. They may have had a perfectly productive day.

But that video didn't move.

Now they're upset.

That's where these platforms can really get in your head.

Views start feeling like approval.

Followers start feeling like popularity.

Comments start feeling like acceptance.

Going viral starts feeling like success.

And when the numbers aren't there, people start thinking something is wrong with them.

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with them.

They're trying to measure human value with analytics.

You can't do that.

Streamers Are Feeling It Too

The people on the other side of the screen aren't always doing great either.

Streaming looks easy when you're watching somebody else do it.

Turn on the camera. Talk. Play a game. Play music. Make people laugh. Collect some money.

That's not always what it feels like when you're the person doing it.

You've got to stay interesting.

Keep talking.

Keep posting.

Keep people engaged.

Watch your numbers.

Deal with trolls.

Read people insulting your face, your body, your voice, your relationship, your kids, your music, your clothes and sometimes your entire existence.

Then turn around the next day and do it again.

One study of full-time livestreamers found burnout in about 31% of the people studied. That's one study in China, so I'm not going to pretend it represents every creator everywhere, but the larger point shouldn't surprise anybody: livestreaming can become real work, with real stress attached to it.

And there is another problem.

There's almost no separation anymore.

Your job is on your phone.

Your audience is on your phone.

Your friends are on your phone.

Your critics are on your phone.

Your money is on your phone.

Your validation is on your phone.

So when exactly do you leave work?

You don't.

That's the problem.

Our Kids Are Watching This

This is the part that worries me more than anything.

Young people are watching adults build entire identities around attention.

Then we're shocked when the kids do the same thing.

They're watching people get famous for being loud.

They're watching arguments become content.

They're watching relationships become content.

Mental breakdowns become content.

Private family problems become content.

People crying becomes content.

Trauma becomes content.

Everything becomes something to post.

And then we hand a child a phone and say, "Be responsible."

Responsible according to what?

Look at what we've shown them.

The federal government is treating harmful screen use among children as a serious public-health issue. In May 2026, HHS reported that adolescents can spend seven to nine hours a day on entertainment screens, with many using devices right before bed. The government's guidance points to warning signs including irritability when devices are removed, hiding online behavior, pulling away from offline activities and repeatedly trying—and failing—to cut back.

That's not me saying every kid with an iPhone has a mental-health problem.

They don't.

Technology isn't automatically evil.

But acting like nothing is happening isn't helping either.

And Please Stop Telling Kids to Just "Get Off the Internet"

That isn't enough.

The internet is part of their world.

This is where they communicate.

This is where they find music.

This is where they learn.

This is where they watch entertainment.

This is where some of them find communities they can't find in their neighborhoods.

So telling a teenager, "Just don't use social media," isn't much of a strategy.

We need to teach them how to use it without letting it use them.

That's different.

Talk to them about what algorithms actually do.

Explain that platforms are designed to hold attention.

Teach them that the number underneath a video is not a grade on their life.

Talk about filters.

Talk about fake lifestyles.

Talk about rented cars and rented houses and people pretending they're richer, happier and more successful than they really are.

Talk about sponsorships.

Talk about edited bodies.

Talk about AI.

Talk about people buying followers.

Talk about people manufacturing controversy because controversy gets engagement.

Give these kids some context.

Because if we don't explain the game, they'll think everything they're looking at is real.

Stop Making Every Talent a Business

This one might make some people mad.

Every talented child does not need a brand.

Sometimes a kid who can sing just needs to sing.

Sometimes the child who draws should be allowed to draw without opening an Etsy store.

Sometimes the teenager who can rap should be able to make a song without worrying about Spotify numbers.

Sometimes the kid who is funny doesn't need a YouTube channel.

Let them develop.

Let them suck at something.

Let them experiment.

Let them change their minds.

Let them make something nobody sees.

That is part of becoming creative.

When everything has to become content, creativity starts turning into labor way too early.

Then kids aren't asking:

Do I like doing this?

They're asking:

Did people like me doing this?

Those are two very different questions.

We Need to Teach Them How to Log Off Without Feeling Like They're Losing

Taking a break shouldn't feel like career suicide.

It shouldn't feel like everybody else is going to pass you because you didn't post for three days.

Adults need to model that too.

Put the phone down.

Have dinner.

Go somewhere without broadcasting where you are.

Enjoy something without proving you enjoyed it.

Make some memories that aren't content.

That sounds ridiculously simple.

It's not anymore.

Some young people have grown up in a world where almost every meaningful moment can immediately become public.

We need to teach them that privacy has value.

Boredom has value.

Quiet has value.

Rest has value.

Being unavailable has value.

And We Have to Pay Attention When Their Behavior Changes

This is where adults need to actually know the young people around us.

Not just check their phones.

Know them.

If the kid who normally comes downstairs suddenly never leaves the room, pay attention.

If they're up half the night online every night, pay attention.

If their mood completely depends on what happens online, pay attention.

If they're being bullied, talk about it.

If they're becoming obsessed with their appearance, talk about it.

If they're constantly comparing themselves to influencers, talk about it.

If they're scared to put the phone down because they think they're going to miss something, talk about it.

Don't immediately come at them with punishment.

Sometimes you have to find out what that phone is doing for them before you snatch it away.

Maybe that's where their friends are.

Maybe that's where they feel accepted.

Maybe something happened online they're scared to tell you about.

Ask.

And then actually listen.

The Surgeon General's guidance has warned for years that social media can bring both benefits and risks for young people, including problems involving social comparison, body image, sleep, anxiety and depression. It also makes an important point: different kids are affected differently.

That's why parenting this generation can't just be about rules.

It has to involve relationships.

Creators Have a Responsibility Too

If you're an adult creator and young people watch you, understand what you're showing them.

I'm not saying become fake.

I'm definitely not saying everybody has to become some perfect role model.

But be mindful.

If you're struggling, don't glamorize the breakdown.

If you're taking time off, say that.

If you have a team helping you create all that content, say that too.

If something took twenty takes, there's nothing wrong with admitting it.

Let young people see some reality behind the production.

Everybody doesn't wake up beautiful.

Everybody isn't rich.

Everybody isn't booked.

Everybody isn't happy every day.

And everybody with a million followers isn't mentally okay.

We Have to Put the Human Being Back in Front of the Screen

That's really where I'm at with all of this.

I love technology.

I love media.

I love what the internet has allowed independent people to build.

People who would never have gotten through the old gatekeepers now have audiences.

Artists can release their own music.

Kids can learn things their parents never had access to.

Creators can build actual businesses from their bedrooms.

That's powerful.

I'm not trying to take us backwards.

I'm saying we need to get smarter about where we're going.

Because there is still a human being holding that phone.

There's still a human being reading those comments.

There's still a human being wondering why nobody showed up to their livestream.

And sometimes that human being is 13 years old.

We cannot raise a generation that believes being seen is the same thing as being loved.

We cannot teach them that attention equals value.

And we definitely cannot allow an algorithm to be the loudest voice telling our children who they are.

Use the technology.

Enjoy it.

Create with it.

Build with it.

Make money with it.

But teach our young people something else too:

You have to know who you are when the camera is off.

Because eventually, it needs to be.

Jamilah N. Lawry / Nina Capone

Executive Director