The effect of social media and influencer shares on parents' perceptions of raising childrenthrough social learning

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of social media and influencer posts on parents' understanding of child rearing through social learning. In this study conducted in the field of Educational Sciences, the reflections of social media content on parental attitudes were addressed with a qualitative approach. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool in the study, and one-on-one interviews were conducted with a total of 50 parents. With the effects of social learning, individuals exhibit certain attitudes and behaviors in their own lives by observing the people they are influenced by. While these attitudes and behaviors sometimes contribute positively to the person's life, they sometimes have negative effects. According to the findings, it was observed that social media and influencer posts create psychological pressure on parents, especially the perception of "perfect parenting" is widespread, and this triggers negative feelings such as inadequacy and deficiency in parents. Although it was stated that the participants did not trust influencers, it was understood that such content was effective at an unconscious level. As a result of the study, it was revealed that social media not only affects parents, but also children indirectly. In this context, it is recommended that parents be more conscious in their use of social media and that the content producers followed are selected from experts in their fields.