Social Networking & AdolescentsAn analysis of how social networking sites (SNS) affect the quality of adolescent peer relationships

I.D. 200741276

What are social network sites?• They are a specific type of social media, based

off of Web 2.0• Defined as

▫“a dedicated website or other application which enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments messages, images, etc” (Oxford Dictionary)

• Examples include:▫Facebook▫Twitter▫MySpace

Facebook timeline – an example of a common SNS used by teenagers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzPEPfJHfKU

SNS Usage•SNS emerged only a few short years ago in

1998 with the launch of SixDegrees.com (Boyd & Ellison, 2008)

•Since then the usage has grown exponentially, expanding into the teenage demographics▫Over 500 million people worldwide have an

account▫13% of Facebook users in the UK are between

the ages of 13-17▫22% of teenagers log into their favourite SNS

more than 10 times a day (O’Keeffe et al, 2011)

Is spending this amount of time on SNS healthy for the development of adolescent peer relationships?I will present both sides of the argument and then let you decide

Yes, SNS enhances the quality of teenage peer

relationships

Reasons why:

•Supplements face-to-face relationships

•Expands social capital

•Relieves social anxiety

Supplements face-to-face relationships

Supplements face-to-face relationships

•10-20 years ago teenagers used the telephone to communicate with their friends when they were apart

•Now, sites like SNS provide a replacement for this

•They allow teens to remain in touch with their offline friends, even when they are not together physically

Supplements face-to-face relationships

•According to the co-construction model, online and offline worlds are psychologically related (Subrahmanyam et al, 2008)

•They are inseparable processes•It makes sense then, that the majority of

teens would use SNS to remain in touch with offline friends

Supplements face-to-face relationships

•As already mentioned, most youth use SNS in order to maintain existing relationships

•80% of youth said they use it to communicate with people in their offline world (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008)

•Most common forms of activities are:▫Making plans▫Gossiping/catching up

Supplements face-to-face relationships

•Can help to strengthen long distance relationships▫How?

It does not matter if you are in different time zones, making communication easier

Allows you to keep in touch via messages and pictures

Supplements face-to-face relationships

•Teenagers believe that SNS have improved the quality of their relationship with their friends▫In fact, the 2001 Pew Internet and

American Life Project study found that 46% of teenage respondents believed the quality of their friendships did improve because of SNS (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008)

Expands social capital

Expands social capital

•What is social capital?▫Definition: “the idea that one derives

benefits though their network of relationships” (Ahn, 2011)

▫This can include things such as: Receiving advice Getting access to information Receiving social support

Expands social capital•These connections allow for bonding, which

results in an increase in relationship strength•There are various activities on SNS such as

Facebook that allow for an increase in social capital, including:▫Status updates▫Uploading photos▫Commenting on friends’ posts▫Playing games with one another▫Sharing interests (Ahn, 2012)

Expands social capital

•Also allows teens to make connections with others that they may not have been able to make in their offline world▫How? They can easily find out about friends

who have common interests and can also meet new friends who are in their extended social network

Relieves social anxiety

Relieves social anxiety

•The thought of communicating face-to-face can be very traumatizing for some individuals

•Social anxiety can be very crippling during the teenage years because one of the life tasks in this age group is to form friendships

•SNS provides an alternative outlet for these individuals to socialize

Relieves social anxiety

•In a 2002 study on teens aged 10-17:▫25% reported forming casual online

friendships

•In a 2006 study on teens:▫They determined that introverts form

friendships online in order to compensate for their poorer social skills

▫This lead to greater self-disclosure(Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008)

Relieves social anxiety

•Teens feel that online communication is more effective for self-disclosure (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008)▫This allows them to open up and become

closer to others▫Once this original bond has been formed, it

makes face-to-face communication easier for those with social anxiety

No, SNS hinders the quality of teenage peer

relationships

Reasons why:

•Sexual victimization

•Cyberbulling

•Lower quality communication

Sexual victimization

Sexual victimization

•What is sexual victimization?

▫“Unwanted requests online to talk about sex, provide personal sexual information and/or do something sexual” (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2008)

Sexual victimization• Statistics

▫In the past year, 15% of youth aged 10-15 reported experiencing unwanted sexual solicitation online

▫However, only 4% of these incidences occurred on SNS (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2008)

▫Therefore, claims that SNS hosts an environment for sexual solicitation are not necessarily accurate

• Although the risk is still present, teens are less likely to experience unwanted sexual solicitations in SNS compared to other online sources such as instant messaging and chat rooms

Sexual victimization

•The belief that most perpetrators are middle aged men lying about their age is not necessarily true, at least in regards to SNS▫In fact, most incidences involve peers from

their offline worlds•95% of sex offenders are honest about

their age online (Smith et al, 2008)

Sexual victimization

•Adverse effects:▫SNS is instant – as soon as something is

posted everyone within a social network can see it

▫Therefore, being sexually victimized can be humiliating and traumatizing for the victim

▫If enough people see what has been posted, it can also subsequently lead to cyberbullying

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying• Definition:

▫“the deliberate use of digital media to communicate false, embarrassing or hostile information about another person” (O’Keeffe et al, 2011)

• Prevalence:▫ In this digital age, it is becoming almost as

prevalent as offline bullying▫ In a 2005 UK study, 20% of participants said they

had been a victim of cyberbullying (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008)

Cyberbullying• This can have profound psychological effects,

including but not limited to:▫Depression ▫Anxiety ▫ Isolation▫Suicide (O’Keefe et al, 2011)

• As a result of these negative psychological effects, teens may detach themselves from their offline worlds and discontinue communicating with their peers

Cyberbullying

•Who are the perpetrators?▫2/3 of victims know their cyberbully in their

offline world (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield, 2008)

▫This demonstrates that online and offline worlds are interconnected

▫If a teen is bullied online, it can negatively affect their offline social relationships. Reasons why are listed on the following slide

Cyberbullying

•Causes negative social effects, such as:▫Offline bullying

Some cyberbullies do it because they are too cowardly to face the victim without a veil of anonymity, however others are also traditional offline bullies

▫Social exclusion Peers may not want to be associated with the

victim of the bullying due to fear or embarrassment

Lower quality communication

Lower quality communication

•37% of Facebook users have over 100 friends (Wilson et al, 2009)▫The average teenager has even more

•But are they really “friends” with all these people? The answer seems to be: no▫Teens typically only communicate with a

small portion of their online friends▫In fact, the average teen makes no

communication with over 50% of their “friends” on Facebook (Wilson et al, 2009)

Lower quality communication

•Instead of actually talking with one another, SNS like Facebook provide teens with the ability to ‘like’ each others posts and photos▫This provides the illusion that they are

keeping in touch, but in reality they are not actually communicating with one another

Lower quality communication

•Fast-paced environment▫The main purpose of SNS is to allow you to

stay connected to others, but it is done in a relatively fast pace on the Internet

▫This may make it more difficult to have serious, in-depth conversations

▫Teens may not want to reveal too much in writing for fear that it may end up in the wrong hands later down the line, causing them distress

Verdict?

Verdict?

•Original thesis statement:▫“Is spending time on SNS healthy for the

development of adolescent peer relationships?”

•The author believes that social network sites do in fact provide a beneficial environment for the development of close peer relationships during adolescence

Verdict?•The pros of SNS far out weigh the cons in

regards to the healthy development of relationships during adolescence▫It allows for communication to occur, even

when teens are separated physically▫Those who suffer from social anxiety are able

to communicate with others and form meaningful friendships

▫Sexual victimization and cyberbullying are not as commonplace on SNS as the media may lead us to believe

Do you agree?

Bibliography• Ahn, J. (2011). The effect of social network sites on adolescents’ social and

academic . Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62(8), 1435-1445.

• Ahn, J. (2012): Teenagers’ Experiences With Social Network Sites: Relationships to Bridging and Bonding

• Social Capital, The Information Society: An International Journal, 28:2, 99-109

• Boyd, D., & Ellison, N. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230.

• Fanalyzer. (2013). Demographics date - Facebook UK. Fanalyzer. Retrieved April 28, 2013, from www.fanalyzer.uk/demographics.html

• O'Keeffe, G. S. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents and families. American Academy of Pediatrics, 127, 800-805.

Bibliography (continued)• Smith, P. K., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., Fisher, S., Russell, S., & Tippett, N.

(2008). Cyberbullying: Its Nature And Impact In Secondary School Pupils.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(4), 376-385.

• Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S., Waechter, N., & Espinoza, G. (2008). Online And Offline Social Networks: Use Of Social Networking Sites By Emerging Adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 420-433.

• Subrahmanyam., & Greenfield. (2008). Online Communication And Adolescent Relationships. The Future of Children,18(1), 119-146.

• Wilson, C., Boe, B., Sala, A., Puttaswamy, K., & Zhao, B. (2009). User interactions in social networks and their implications . Computer Science Department, University of California at Santa Barbara, 14.

• Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2008). How Risky Are Social Networking Sites? A Comparison Of Places Online Where Youth Sexual Solicitation And Harassment Occurs. Pediatrics, 121(2), e350-e357.