Keith’s note: According to this settlement META just settled a $17 billion lawsuit with some online rules for younger users. This was inevitable. As NASA expands its use of social media, it must now give very careful and strategic consideration to new constrains on reaching a younger audience – the Artemis Generation..
NASA likes to announce its large online stats and impressive reach – but its more than numbers. Its about crafting messages to different audiences in an adaptive way that actually reaches them and delivers the desired information with a feedback channel. The bullhorn approach only works to a point. These emerging changes will skew that approach.
These settlements come with limits on usage. What happens if a rocket launch happens during the off-limit times for teens? What happens if a NASA YouTube video is longer than 15 minutes? What if you want to track satellites or use apps to share what you see in the night sky hours during night time blocks?
NASA still needs to reach, inform, and inspire the Artemis Generation amidst an ever-shifting online environment. I hope NASA OCOMM understand this. I know Jared Isaacman does. If NASA can reprogram a 1970s era computer in interstellar space on the Voyager twins then NASA can find the right self-adjusting comms channels to stay in purposeful contact with all Americans.
“Attorney General Jay Jones Announces a $17 Billion Landmark Settlement with Meta with $353 Million Guaranteed for Virginia” “The proposed settlement requires Meta to implement a series of safety features on Instagram and Facebook, including:
- A hard cap on daily time limits and “Productive Pauses” for children: for its two platforms, Instagram and Facebook, a combined two-hour daily time limit with mandatory pauses after 15 minutes of continuous use, and additional pauses at 60 and 90 minutes to interrupt endless scrolling. “Nighttime blocks” restricting children’s access from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- Limited school-time access for children, eliminating push notifications on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year.
- Robust age assurance measures to more effectively verify the age of young users.
- Safer, age-appropriate content controls, including stronger safeguards against bullying, content promoting eating disorders, and content related to suicide and self-harm.
- Stronger, more user-friendly parental controls.
- Limits on social comparison features, including beauty filters and visible “like” counts, which have been consistently linked to poor mental health outcomes in children and teens.
- Both the implementation and efficacy of the features will be regularly assessed by an independent auditor and the settling states.”
