Teens get candid about growing up on social media in new FX/Hulu doc
'Social Studies' follows teens through a school year and examines their online lives
LOS ANGELES -- Instagram. TikTok. Snapchat. Discord. There are so many social media sites and so many ways for kids to see the world, and themselves. And it's not always good.
A new docuseries called "Social Studies" takes an in-depth look at social media and how it's reshaped how children grow up.
Director Lauren Greenfield spoke with On The Red Carpet about the project.
"There are about 25 kids that we follow, and they all have such interesting relationships to social media, and I feel like they're so insightful about what they say about it," Greenfield told George Pennacchio.
The five-part series was filmed in Los Angeles over the course of a school year and shows the influences this digital life can have on kids and could serve as a cautionary tale to parents.
"I think that few teenagers will be surprised by anything that they see or is said in this. And I think parents are going to be really educated. I think parents have no idea what's going on in this world, what kids are grappling with," Greenfield said.
Greenfield explained that teens today, the first generation of digital natives have it exponentially worse now because of this social media world.
"The things that they're dealing with about identity are what we always dealt with coming of age, the 'who am I?' But it's so hard to kind of find yourself when you're looking at others constantly," Greenfield said.
"Kids have always compared themselves to the people in their class, the people in their clique, the people in another clique. But imagine comparing yourself to the whole world of people, and some people that are not even real, that photoshopped their bodies, that perfect their images, that use a ring light before they come on their socials. And that's the pressure that kids are grappling with every day."
"Social Studies" premieres Friday on FX and streams the next day on Hulu. New episodes will drop weekly.
The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of FX, Hulu and this ABC station.
