Social Media and Adolescent Health (2024) / Chapter Skim
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3 Potential Benefits of Social Media
3 Potential Benefits of Social Media
Pages 71-90
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From page 71... ...
Meta-analyses linking social media use to depression and overuse, as well as those on social capital, social connectedness, and social comparison cite evidence of publication bias in their results (Cunningham et al., 2021; Liu 71
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These very design elements of social media platforms intersect with the adolescent developmental experience in ways that influence their social media use. Academic researchers and public discussion have directed considerable attention to understanding these intersections, contributing to a narrative that social media harms people by undermining relationships, cultivating superficiality, increasing anxiety and depression, and inhibiting the ability to concentrate and sustain attention.
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From page 73... ...
Adolescent self-reports paint a similar picture. Figure 3-1 shows results of a recent Pew Research survey showing that over 90 percent of a nationally representative sample of teens aged 13 to 17 years find social media to have a positive or neutral effect on them (Anderson et al., 2022)
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From page 74... ...
Understanding why youth use social media can help us understand how to tap into mechanisms to maximize their potential benefits. These reasons include learning, entertainment, relaxation, connection, stress relief, and a normal adolescent tendency to seek out varied and novel experiences (Anderson et al., 2022; Hancock et al., 2022)
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Social Capital and Social Connectedness One of the most obvious potential benefits of social media is its power to connect friends and family. Adolescents report communication with family and friends as the most common and important functions of using social media (Allen et al., 2014)
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. Instrumental Support The social connections that young people build online can translate into instrumental support, a type of assistance that helps people meet tangible needs (Schultz et al., 2022)
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. Combating Isolation Social media can be valuable to adolescents who otherwise may feel excluded or lack offline support, including patients with rare diseases or disabilities, and those who struggle with obesity or mental illness, or come from marginalized groups such as LGBTQ+ young people (Chassiakos et al., 2016)
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. For people suffering from serious mental illness, the support of peers online is especially valuable, especially peers who can relate to the challenges of coping with mental health problems (Naslund et al., 2016)
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Survey research among middle school students has found social media forums to be useful in collaboration on science and engineering projects, which may be part of an iterative, collaborative learning process (Won et al., 2015)
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. Online fanfiction communities can be important for informal learning, a place for young people to build literacy skills and support the same skills in others, all while building supportive social connections (Shang et al., 2021)
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A 2016 Pew Research survey found that 60 percent of parents check their children's social media profiles and about the same percentage check their browsing history (Anderson, 2016)
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The social connectedness and community building discussed earlier in this chapter also have ramifications for offline civic activity. The Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, for example, has used social media to exponentially expand her reach, informing adolescents around the world about a school strike for climate change, which eventually grew into a global environmental movement (Kurz and Jahng, 2022)
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UNICEF data suggest that between 43 and 64 percent of children and teens in 11 countries look for news online, and that young people who engage in political discussions online are more likely to participate in the political process offline (Cho et al., 2020)
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2023. Bridging social capital through the use of social networking sites: A systematic literature review.
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2021. Adolescent civic engagement: Lessons from Black Lives Matter.
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Paper presented at the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, Portland, Oregon. Evans, S., D
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Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 25:407-415. Hadjipanayis, A., E
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2016. A meta-analysis of social networking online and social capital.
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2014. Growing up wired: Social networking sites and adolescent psychosocial development.
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2022. Relationship between online social support and adoles cents' mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
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