It’s as important for advertisers to reach the right people as it is to make an appealing ad, so they have developed many different ways of targeting ads effectively. Online advertising lets marketers match different ads with individual users. This section looks at how that’s done and how it affects kids’ privacy.
"Given the opportunity, young people do care about issues relating to the harnessing and use of their information online. They want to know what information is being taken from them, and why. They want companies to be more open about how data is being used."
While parents may find certain representations of violence wholly appropriate for young people, there’s a wide continuum of content that exists online and in the media. Anything from a cartoon cat having an anvil comically dropped on his head to video images of real-life injuries and deaths can be accessed online by children and youth.
Cyberbullying can be addressed under civil law or criminal law, based on the situation.
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The commercial features and distribution models of the movie, traditional television, streaming video and online video industries each exert an influence on the type of content produced, how it's crafted and how audiences engage with it.
One of the oldest adages in marketing is “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I don’t know which half.” It’s as important for advertisers to reach the right people as it is to make an appealing ad, so they have developed many different ways of targeting ads effectively. Online advertising lets marketers match different ads with individual users. This section looks at how that’s done and how it affects kids’ privacy.
MediaSmarts’ research shows that on average, Canadian youth spend 1-2 hours per day using digital devices each weekday (not counting time spent using them for schoolwork) and more than three hours per weekend day. Average weekday screen time, therefore, falls just within the range recommended by the Canadian Pediatric Society’s Digital Health Task Force, though weekend screen time does not. Other research has found that more than a third (37 percent) of Canadian youth exceeded screen time recommendations in 2023. There are often significant differences, though, between how much time we think we’re spending on media and how much time we actually spend.
The internet has become a prime means of communication worldwide and this unprecedented global reach – combined with the difficulty in tracking communications – makes it an ideal tool for extremists to repackage old hatred, raise funds and recruit members. As the internet has grown and changed, hate groups and movements have adapted, creating websites, forums and social network profiles, becoming active in spaces such as online games and even creating parallel versions of services such as Twitter, YouTube and GoFundMe.