photo-opportunities and then messaging friends-and friends of friends-to demand "likes" for their online posts.

　　The report found that youngsters felt their friendships could be at risk if they did not respond to social media posts quickly, and around the clock.

　　Children aged 8 to 10 were "starting to feel happy" when others liked their posts. However, those in the 10 to 12 age group were "concerned with how many people like their posts", suggesting a "need" for social recognition that gets stronger the older they become.

　　Miss Longfield warned that a generation of children risked growing up "worried about their appearance and image as a result of the unrealistic lifestyles they follow on platforms, and increasingly anxious about switching off due to the constant demands of social media".

　　She said: "Children are using social media with family and friends and to play games when they are in primary school. But what starts as fun usage of apps turns into tremendous pressure in real social media interaction at secondary school."

　　As their world expanded, she said, children compared themselves to others online in a way that was "hugely damaging in terms of their self-identity, in terms of their confidence, but also in terms of their ability to develop themselves".

　　Miss Longfield added: "Then there is this push to connect-if you go offline, will you miss something, will you miss out, will you show that you don't care about those people you are following, all of those come together in a huge way at once."

　　"For children it is very, very difficult to cope with emotionally."The Children's Commissioner for England's study-Life in Likes-found that children as young as 8 were using social media platforms largely for play.

　　However, the research-involving eight groups of 32 children aged 8 to 12-suggested that as they headed toward their teens, they became increasingly anxious online.

By the time they started secondary school-at age 11-children were already far more aware of their image online and felt under huge pressure to ensure their posts were popular, the report found.