Adolescent development HC12

Adolescent development HC


The Role of Social Media in Adolescent Development - Dian de Vries

Social media
 Why do we use social media?
o Boredom and social processes

What are social media?
 Social media are websites and applications that enable users to create and share
content or to participate in social networking
 Examples: Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn

Social media vs. face-to-face communication
 We can also socialize face-to-face…

Goals of this lecture
 Offer you a framework to:
o Understand features of social media that differ from face-to-face
communication
o How and why these features lead to opportunities for psychosocial
development
 Give you examples of applying this framework to adolescents’ development of
intimacy, identity, and sexuality

Set-up
 Explanation of the framework
 Examples in the area of intimacy
 BREAK
 Examples in the area of identity
 Examples in the area of sexuality

Social media vs. face-to-face communication
 Online communication differs from face-to-face communication:
o Anonymity
o Asynchronicity
o Accessibility

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: anonymity
 Source anonymity  people not knowing who you are (writing a review)
o Some social media (chat rooms)
 Audiovisual anonymity  people put their online you can have more control on what
identity you show
o Most social media

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: asynchronicity
 Independent of place  you can communicate from all around the world
 Independent of time  you can react later

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: accessibility (you can follow alot of people)
 See many people (follow celebs)
 Be seen by many people (instafamous)

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: control over communication
 Due to anonymity, asynchronicity and accessibility social media offer control over:

, Adolescent development HC


o What you communicate to others
o When you communicate with others
o With who you communicate

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: control over communication
 Due to anonymity, asynchronicity and accessibility social media offer control over:
o What you communicate to others
 Selectively present only positive aspects of yourself and your life 
you decide what you display
 Editing pictures

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: control over communication
 Due to anonymity, asynchronicity and accessibility social media offer control over:
o When you communicate with others
 Think carefully before sharing or responding
 Decide when you want to respond

Social media vs. face-to-face communication: ontrol over communication
 Due to anonymity, asynchronicity and accessibility social media offer control over:
o With who you communicate

Social media vs. face-to-face communication  recap:
 Online communication differs from face-to-face communication:
o Anonymity
o Asynchronicity
o Accessibility
 These features make social media attractive because they offer control over
o What you communicate
o When you communicate
o Who you communicate with
 Next part:
o Examples of how these features and resulting control can have implications
for adolescents’ psychosocial development

Social media and development of intimacy (sense of belonging)
 (Anti)social media?
 Social media!
o Research often shows positive correlations between social media use and
quality of friendships (e.g., Antheunis, Schouten, & Krahmer, 2016)
o Why?
 One of the reasons is self-disclosure
 The other is co-precense

Social media and development of intimacy: self-disclosure
 Self-disclosure: disclosing intimate information about the self (secrets, feelings)
 Self-disclosure is a crucial in social relationships
o The right things in the right way
o At the right time
o To the right person
 Can be difficult, especially for adolescents, they are learning this.

Social media and development of intimacy: control over self-disclosure