social media: kids & teens

1Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch | [email protected]

SOCIAL MEDIA: KIDS & TEENSANNE OELDORF-HIRSCH

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMMUNICATION

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT

[email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]


TOP SOCIAL MEDIA APPS

1.79 billion monthly active users66% use it every day

600 million monthly active users300 million daily active users

301 million monthly active users150 million daily active users

317 million users100 million daily active users

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http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/


•Go-to social networking site for connecting and sharing content

•Most teens are still here, but not how they communicate with friends

• Family in this space makes it more of a directory/way to contact someone• Context collapse (too much network overlap)

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•Photo sharing app (selfies!)

•All about the “likes”

•Photos are public by default• Privacy concerns

• Harassment concerns

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•Photo-based chats with friends

•For the photos that aren’t good enough for Instagram

•Risky use can develop because photos “disappear” after 10 seconds (but don’t really disappear)• Sexting concerns

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•Microblogging site for real-time status updates

•All tweets are public by default• But teens may “hide” here from family who

are only on Facebook

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72/1/17 7Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch | [email protected]

SOCIAL MEDIA USED BY CHILDREN & TEENS

• 88% teens 13-17 have access to a smartphone• Texting a primary mode

of communication

• 92% of teens report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online “almost constantly

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“RULES OF SOCIAL MEDIA”• Have lots of followers.• Have more followers than people you follow.• But don’t look like you’re trying to get followers by hashtagging too much, etc.• Don’t serial post. (“You only want to post one Instagram a day.”)• If you do post multiple things per day, they’d better be amazing. (“You can post multiple

tweets a day, but they can’t be stupid or not interesting.”)• If you game the system, don’t get caught. (“She [my friend] probably has 20 fake

accounts where she goes and likes her own pictures.”)• Remove photos that don’t get enough likes.• Be witty. (“Cute and clever captions are important. People judge you if they’re weird.”)• Time your posts for optimal like-getting. (“There’s a lot of social pressure to get likes, so

you have to post it at the right time of day. You don’t want to post it during school when people don’t have their phone.”)

• Facebook is for photos that weren’t good enough for Instagram.[Survey of 5,000 13-24 females, 2014]

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http://time.com/3067694/weheartit-teen-girls-bullying-instagram/



KEY ISSUES WITH KIDS & TEENS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Content / Privacy / Control

Cyberbullying

Effects on mood, self-esteem, frienships, behavior

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CONTENT / PRIVACY / CONTROL

•Privacy• Very important to teens

• But very different notion of “privacy” than adults have

• Social media are “private” places to get away from school, parents

• Kids/teens may not be aware of or understand bigger privacy issues

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•Terms of Service:• On most sites children need to be 13 to be

allowed on site• Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

• But younger children often sign up regardless• E.g., ~50% of those under 13 use Facebook

• Parents break privacy rules too

• No one reads the terms of service

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https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule


PARENTS, TEENS AND DIGITAL MONITORING

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http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/01/07/parents-teens-and-digital-monitoring/




•What to do?• Understand Terms of Service and Privacy

Policies for social media sites/apps

• Terms of Service; Didn’t Read: tosdr.org/• Summarizes major sites’ terms, highlights

protections and risks

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https://tosdr.org/


CYBERBULLYING

• When a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones.• It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been

instigated by a minor against another minor.

• Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyber-harassment or cyberstalking.

• Adult cyber-harassment or cyberstalking is NEVER called cyberbullying.

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http://stopcyberbullying.org/



CYBERBULLYING

•Direct attacks•Messages sent to kids directly

•Cyberbullying by proxy• Using others to bully the victim• Can be very technical, e.g., hacking into account

to get user banned

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CYBERBULLYING

Survey of 5,000 13-24 females (2014)

Cyberbullying happened to this many users:

•Facebook: 66%

•Twitter: 19%

•Instagram: 9%

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RESEARCH: CYBERBULLYING

•Affordances of technology (e.g., lack of social-emotional cues) lead to moral disengagement1

•School/classroom structure plays an important role2,3

•Cyberbullying can be mutual3

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1Runions, et al., 2015; 2Festl, et al., 2015; 3Herman, et al., 2015; 4Wegge, et al., 2014


RESEARCH: CYBERVICTIMS

•Only 33% of victims tell an adult1

•94% of cyberbully victims also targeted in at least some other form of bullying2

•Social networking site use3 and text messaging4 associated with increased risk of being cyberbullied

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1Kessel Schneider, et al., 2015; 2Beran, 2015; 3Sampasa-Kanyinga, et al., 2015; 4Rice, et al., 2015


RESEARCH: CYBERBULLIES

• Cyberbullies: High popularity goals, low peer acceptance1

• Risk factors for being a cyberbully2

• Previous attitudes about cyberbullying, previous cyberbullying behavior, anonymity

• 5 types of cyberbullies3

• Sociable cyberbully, Lonely cyberbully, Narcissistic cyberbully, Sadistic cyberbully, Morally-driven cyberbully

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1Romero, et al., 2016; 2Bartlett, 2015; 3Kyriacou, 2016


MEASURING, STUDYING, UNDERSTANDING CYBERBULLYING

Palladino, B. E., Nocentini, A., & Menesini, E. (2015). Psychometric Properties of the Florence CyberBullying-CyberVictimization Scales. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 18(2), 112-119.

Thomas, H., Connor, J., & Scott, J. (2015). Integrating Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying: Challenges of Definition and Measurement in Adolescents - A Review. Educational Psychology Review, 27(1), 135-152.

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[CYBERBULLYING BIBLIOGRAPHY]Barlett, C. (2015). Predicting adolescent's cyberbullying behavior: A longitudinal risk analysis. Journal Of

Adolescence, 41(3), 86-95.Beran, T., Mishna, F., McInroy, L., & Shariff, S. (2015). Children's experiences of cyberbullying: A Canadian national

study. Children & Schools, 37(4), 207-214.Festl, R., Scharkow, M., & Quandt, T. (2015). The Individual or the Group: A Multilevel Analysis of Cyberbullying in School

Classes. Human Communication Research, 41(4), 535-556. doi:10.1111/hcre.12056Heirman, W., Angelopoulos, S., Wegge, D., Vandebosch, H., Eggermont, S., & Walrave, M. (2015). Cyberbullying-Entrenched

or Cyberbully-Free Classrooms? A Class Network and Class Composition Approach. Journal Of Computer-Mediated Communication, 20(3), 260-277. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12111

Kessel Schneider, S., O'Donnell, L., & Smith, E. (2015). Trends in Cyberbullying and School Bullying Victimization in a Regional Census of High School Students, 2006-2012. Journal Of School Health, 85(9), 611-620.

Kyriacou, C. (2016). A psychological typology of cyberbullies in schools. Psychology Of Education Review, 40(2), 24-27.Rice, E., Petering, R., Rhoades, H., Winetrobe, H., Goldbach, J., Plant, A., & ... Kordic, T. (2015). Cyberbullying Perpetration

and Victimization Among Middle-School Students. American Journal Of Public Health, 105(3), e66-e72.Romera, E. M., Cano, J., García-Fernández, C., & Ortega-Ruiz, R. (2016). Cyberbullying: Social Competence, Motivation and

Peer Relationships. Comunicar, 24(48), 71-79. doi:10.3916/C48-2016-07Runions, K. C., & Bak, M. (2015). Online Moral Disengagement, Cyberbullying, and Cyber-Aggression. Cyberpsychology,

Behavior & Social Networking, 18(7), 400-405.Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., & Hamilton, H. A. (2015). Use of Social Networking Sites and Risk of Cyberbullying Victimization: A

Population-Level Study of Adolescents. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 18(12), 704-710.Wegge, D., Vandebosch, H., & Eggermont, S. (2014). Who bullies whom online: A social network analysis of cyberbullying in

a school context. Communications: The European Journal Of Communication Research, 39(4), 415-433. doi:10.1515/commun-2014-0019

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RESOURCESAudio• This American Life. (2015, November, 27). Status update: Find the self in the selfie.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/573/status-update

Books• Bearden, S. (2016). Digital citizenship: A community-based approach. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage. • boyd, d. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven, CT:

Yale University Press• Ito, et al. (2010). Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out. Cambridge, MA:

MIT Press.

Websites• https://www.commonsensemedia.org/• http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/

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https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/573/status-update

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/


RESOURCES

Reports

• Anderson, M. (2016). Parents, teens and digital monitoring. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/01/07/parents-teens-and-digital-monitoring/

• Duggan, M., Lenhart, A., Lampe, C., & Ellison, N. B. (2015). Concerns about children, social media and technology use. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/07/16/concerns-about-children-social-media-and-technology-use/

• Pew Research Center. (2015). Teen voices: Dating in the digital age. http://www.pewinternet.org/online-romance/

• Rainie, L. (2014). 13 things to know about teens and technology. Pew Research Center. http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/07/23/13-things-to-know-about-teens-and-technology/

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http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/07/16/concerns-about-children-social-media-and-technology-use/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/07/16/concerns-about-children-social-media-and-technology-use/

http://www.pewinternet.org/online-romance/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/07/23/13-things-to-know-about-teens-and-technology/

http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/07/23/13-things-to-know-about-teens-and-technology/


TALKING TO KIDS & PARENTS ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA USE

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GENERAL TIPS

1. Do learn about current technologies• Net aware: guide to social networks kids use

• Download apps and join

• Friend some kids/teens in your family (but give them their space!)

2. Do tell kids their technology use is something you are interested in and want to know more about

3. Don’t be secretive about getting at their tech use• (E.g., using monitoring software without their knowing)

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https://www.net-aware.org.uk/


HOW KIDS/TEENS DIFFER FROM ADULTS

More kids & teens are on social media than adults• And they spend more time on social media

Social media are a much bigger part of kids’ & teens’ lives• Self-expression, information, entertainment

Kids & teens are more impulsive online• Disclose first, then correct

Teens think of privacy differently• Don’t always understand complexities

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DEVELOPMENT & WELL-BEING

• Technology amplifies emotions1

•Mixed effects:2

• Increased self-esteem, social support, social capital, safe identity experimentation, opportunity for self-disclosure

• Increased exposure to harm, social isolation, depression, cyberbullying

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1Barth, F. D. (2015). Social media and adolescent development: Hazards, pitfalls and opportunities for growth. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), 201-208. doi:10.1007/s10615-014-0501-6

2Best, P., Manktelow, R., & Taylor, B. (2014). Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children And Youth Services Review, 4127-36. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.001

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10615-014-0501-6

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740914000693


BENEFITS OF KIDS/TEENS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Opportunities for community engagement through raising money for charity and volunteering for local events, including political and philanthropic events

2. Enhancement of individual and collective creativity through development and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors

3. Growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and gaming sites

4. Expansion of one's online connections through shared interests to include others from more diverse backgrounds

5. Fostering of one's individual identity and unique social skills

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O’Keeffe, G. S., & Clarke-Pearson, K. (2011). The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics, 127(4), 800-804. doi:10.1542/peds.2011-0054

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800


RISKS OF KIDS/TEENS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Cyberbullying & online harassment

2. Sexting• “sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages,

photographs, or images via cell phone, computer, or other digital devices.”

• 20% of teens have done this

3. Depression• When preteens and teens spend a great deal of time on social media

sites, such as Facebook, and begin to exhibit classic symptoms of depression

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ROLE OF CLINICIANS1. Advise parents to talk to their children and adolescents about their online use

and the specific issues that today's online kids face.

2. Advise parents to work on their own participation gap in their homes by becoming better educated about the many technologies their youngsters are using

3. Discuss with families the need for a family online-use plan that involves regular family meetings to discuss online topics and checks of privacy settings and online profiles for inappropriate posts. The emphasis should be on citizenship and healthy behavior and not punitive action, unless truly warranted

4. Discuss with parents the importance of supervising online activities via active participation and communication, as opposed to remote monitoring with a “net-nanny” program

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THREE POTENTIAL ISSUES

1. Privacy / content shared

2. Cyberbullying

3. Overuse / improper use

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PRIVACY

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qz.com

https://qz.com/878790/a-lawyer-rewrote-instagrams-terms-of-service-for-kids-now-you-can-understand-all-of-the-private-data-you-and-your-teen-are-giving-up-to-social-media

https://qz.com/878790/a-lawyer-rewrote-instagrams-terms-of-service-for-kids-now-you-can-understand-all-of-the-private-data-you-and-your-teen-are-giving-up-to-social-media/?utm_source=kwfb&kwp_0=317821

https://qz.com/878790/a-lawyer-rewrote-instagrams-terms-of-service-for-kids-now-you-can-understand-all-of-the-private-data-you-and-your-teen-are-giving-up-to-social-media/


TECH/PRIVACY QUESTIONS TO ASK

What is your favorite app?

What apps are your friends into right now?

How do you keep yourself safe online?

Are you concerned when others write something about you online that’s not true but others might think is true?

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CYBERBULLYING QUESTIONS TO ASK

Do you ever post hurtful updates on social media? Why?

Have you ever had to delete a post or comment written by someone else?

Would you feel comfortable telling an adult if an online interaction made you uncomfortable?

Do you feel like your friends would be supportive if you told them you were cyberbullied?

Does your school have a way to deal with cyberbullying?

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http://cyberbullying.org/questions-parents-should-ask-their-children-about-technology

http://cyberbullying.org/questions-parents-should-ask-their-children-about-technology


CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying laws to know about:• Covered in Connecticut, under the term

“Bullying and positive school climate”

• stopbullying.gov/laws/connecticut.html

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https://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/connecticut.html


RESTRICTING USE FOR PARENTS

What to tell parents about restricting use:• Create a family media plan

Guide parents to online resources:• commonsensemedia.org

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https://www.healthychildren.org/english/media/Pages/default.aspx#wizard

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/