“My fear is that this is only gonna get greater,” Joe Rogan had said exactly a year ago when talking about social media. With a world functioning more in the digital realm than in reality, the UFC color commentator’s fears were not unfounded. And now, looks like, that alternate reality has even permeated the walls of the Rogan household—pulling his daughters down along with it. But before we get to that..

Let’s look at some worrying stats. As per a Statista survey from 2019, 90 percent of adults in the country between 18-22 said they were addicted to social media. Now, why exactly does it pose a problem? Unfortunately, young adults often blur the lines between sharing and over-sharing. As per a 2023 research study done by psychologist Reza Shabahan, teens who shared more about their personal life on social media were at higher risk of developing anxiety and attention-seeking tendencies. An interesting term also came up known as “sadfishing” or “negative online sharing with the goal of seeking sympathy” leading to similar side-effects.

Interestingly, over-sharing comes in many forms: Updating your friends about your life, and literally telling the world where you are at all times. Case in point: Snapchat’s Snap Map, that has been linked to increased stalking instances and predatory behavior. According to UK’s The Children’s Society, there has been an 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children in the last five years. What’s more worrying? A staggering 73% of cases occurred on Snapchat or Meta. Apart from that, another report states how, in adolescent girls, overuse of social media is also related to cyberbullying-related depression, body image issues, eating disorders, low self-esteem, and poor sleep quality. No wonder Rogan is ticked off by what he’s witnessing at home.

On a March 6 episode of the Joe Rogan podcast (Episode #2286), the 57-year-old sat down for a conversation with former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown. At one point in the conversation, when the duo were discussing national security, Rogan noticed his guest using his phone. Promptly, the podcaster asked, “What are you doing over there? Snapchat? What’s going on?” To this, Brown responded, “No, I was just texting…,” when the host cut him off again, enquiring, “You don’t use Snapchat, do you?” 

“No, I don’t do Snapchat,” the retired NFL veteran responded, when Rogan revealed how that particular platform has taken over his children. “My kids don’t even text…they just snap their friends. They’re in the middle of the movie theater or something…they’re like…make a weird face, send it to their friends. What are you doing? This is a weird way to communicate.”

Another thing that Rogan found interesting with $14 billion in market capitalization was the Snap Map.“Kids are just all in addicted to Snapchat…Another thing that’s weird…is they all have a Snap Map, so they know where they all are. They’re all like, “Oh, she’s with him. That fu——- bi—-. You see where all your friends are. Like you got a map of all friends…it’s weird, man. They’re all little surveillance experts,” Joe Rogan further mentioned. 

Having said that, for the unversed: Rogan has three daughters. Kayja, who is in her mid-20s, and a budding musical artist. Additionally, Lola and Rosy were born in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Understandable why the father is so worried.

So, of course, this wasn’t the first time Rogan stood against children over-using social media. With children comparing themselves with social media influencers, things were becoming quite concerning for the next generations… 

Joe Rogan expresses concern over children using social media

During his conversation with the neuroscientist Dr. Debra Soh on episode #2082 of the JRE, Rogan weighed in on how dangerous social media was for children. Well, the concern was for the kids comparing themselves with influencers who had put multiple filters to look good. He said, “Doing all these things with apps that are not representative of most biological human beings. And…that’s what Jonathan Haidt talked about. That it’s causing all this self-harm and disdain. It’s like, it’s a weird place we’re in that’s never been really traversed before with human society as far as we know.”

In another episode of the JRE, the UFC color commentator pointed out that children shouldn’t develop in front of the world. He claimed that it was “an insane amount of pressure.” Rogan backed his claims by saying that growing up in front of a world that wasn’t manageable at all wasn’t natural. In the end, he believed that it would blow the children’s hardware. Meaning, the children would have a hard time fitting in with the world. 

What are your thoughts on children getting addicted to social media? Do you agree with Rogan and think that communicating through Snapchat is weird? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.