What is Social Media

According to Juszczyk, Stanisław, Social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,

Tiktok, YouTube, and the like) as well as the places where they function are more
complex in terms of the code, icon, symbol, construction and function. Social media also
refer to the contemporary models of economic and social systems. They can be
described as comprising all web-based and mobile networks which offer a free access
with interactive connection. The unrestricted access (the free connectivity) allows a
single user to browse, comment on and modernise the content for other users in
different parts of the network and communicate with other users about this medium or
the presented content. The Internet is regarded rather as a new social environment,
social network, space of global communication, educational and scientific space, or a
space for leisure activities, such as playing computer games with other users. In the
popular communication functions of the Internet such as e-mail, instant messaging,
blogs, chat, and bulletin boards, adolescents are basically constructing their own
environments. Hence, cultural theories, such as those from linguistic anthropology or
conversational analysis that emphasise coconstruction become very relevant (Duranti,
1977). Thus we see the Internet as a new cultural tool, or, better, as a cultural tool kit,
because it is shared, norms are developed, and these norms, e.g. communication
norms (Greenfield & Subrahmanyam, 2003) are transmitted to new generations of
users, even as the new users, greater access, and technological innovation create new
norms. The Internet is a tool kit because it is an infinite series of applications, each with
its own use.
Juszczyk, Stanisław: Fields of Impact of Social Media on Youth – Methodological
Implications
Available at: https://booksc.org/book/62549986/b4d894

According to Lauren E. Sherman, a psychologist, social media affects social-skill

development and interpersonal interactions. Frequently, these concerns manifest
themselves in questions about the effect of social media on the developing brain.
Nonetheless, few studies have examined neural mechanisms underlying any kind of
social-media use (Choudhury & McKinney, 2013; Mills, 2014). The neural correlates of
social-media use are particularly important to understand in the context of adolescence,
and not only because adolescents are enthusiastic users. Adolescence is especially
important for social cognitive development; it is theorized to be a sensitive period during
which young people are uniquely attuned to the complexities of interpersonal
relationships (Baird, 2012; Blakemore & Mills, 2014). Subcortical regions functionally
associated with emotion processing and reward undergo considerable changes and
reorganization during puberty (Brenhouse & Andersen, 2011; Sisk & Foster, 2004).
Sherman, L. E., Payton, A. A., Hernandez, L. M., Greenfield, P. M., Dapretto, M.:
The Power of the Like in Adolescence: Effects of Peer Influence on Neural and
Behavioral Responses to Social Media
Available at: https://booksc.org/book/54415335/68ae50

Social Media Engagement During Adolescence

Much of the research on social media involvement has focused on youths aged 12 and
above (e.g., Lenhart, Duggan, Perrin, Stepler, Rainie, & Parker, 2015; Madden et al.,
2013); however, usage of technology and the internet begins much earlier. Indeed,
some research suggests that children as young as two years old can interact naturally
with devices (e.g., a tablet) without instruction (Geist, 2012), and a series of large-scale
surveys conducted in the United Kingdom discovered that 31% of children under the
age of five have access to their own tablet within their home (Kucirkova, Littleton, &
Kyparissiadis, 2018). Although young children use technology, the internet is largely
used for educational or non-social enjoyment purposes. For example, some of the most
popular internet activities among children were games (e.g., Angry Birds, Minecraft),
watching YouTube videos, listening to music, or learning software; few primary school
students use social media (Chaudron et al., 2015; Hutchison, Woodward, & Colwell,
2016; Livingstone, Mascheroni, Dreier, Chaudron, & Lagae, 2015). Social media use,
on the other hand, begins to rise throughout early adolescence. Ninety-five percent of
kids aged 13 to 17 have access to a smartphone, and nearly half of those polled
claimed they are online "very constantly" (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). Lauricella and
colleagues (2014) discovered a similar growing age pattern in device ownership, daily
texts sent/received, and total internet use. Almost three-quarters (76%) of teenagers
aged 13-17 use social media (Lenhart et al., 2015), while 13-18-year-olds do not
(Lenhart et al., 2015), while 13-18-year-olds spent an average of 1 hour and 7 minutes
each day on social media 7 days a week (Uhls, Ellison, & Subrahmanyam, 2017).
Overall, social media use becomes highly prevalent after the transition from childhood
to adolescence.

Pubertal Development and Social Media Engagement

Hormone activation theory suggests that the increase in reproductive hormones
associated with the onset of puberty activates motivational tendencies towards social
goals (Forbes & Dahl, 2010). An activation effect suggests that the onset of puberty will
“kick off” motivational tendencies towards social goals, so the effect should be most
visible in lower grade levels (e.g., sixth grade) when individual differences in pubertal
onset are still prominent. As adolescents grow older and begin to enter puberty, more
and more adolescents will have experienced the activating effect of pubertal hormones,
creating a leveling out effect of motivational tendencies towards social goals. Although
there are still individual differences in pubertal onset among older adolescents, overall it
follows that more adolescents in higher grade-levels (e.g., eighth grade) will have
experienced the activating effect of hormones compared to adolescents in lower
gradelevels (e.g., sixth grade). Social media engagement may be one such goal-driven
behavior adolescents use to achieve social goals. Consistent with Sullivan’s
interpersonal theory (1953), there is a reorientation of social goals that occurs as
individuals shift from childhood to adolescence. During adolescence, there is an
increase in the salience of goals (e.g., friendship, social status, acceptance) related to
peer relationships (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2010; Sullivan, 1953). Taken together, there
are more adolescents in higher grade-levels who have experienced the activating effect
of pubertal hormones, therefore older adolescents should experience stronger
motivations towards social goals, subsequently increasing goal-driven behaviors – such
as social media (Forbes & Dahl, 2010). Previous research supports this idea, finding
that social media use increases with age (Lauricella et al., 2014, Uhls et al., 2017).
Therefore, in line with both hormone activation theory (Forbes & Dahl, 2010) and
Sullivan’s interpersonal theory (Sullivan, 1953), I predict that older adolescents (eighth
graders) will report more social media engagement than younger adolescents (sixth
graders; hypothesis 1a). Similarly, there are gender differences in when puberty begins:
girls enter puberty around age 10-11 (sixth grade), while boys begin puberty around age
12-13 (eighth grade; Valkenberg et al., 2011). These differences in the onset of puberty
mean that girls’ activation towards social goals begins in sixth grade while most boys do
not experience activation until eighth grade. At any given point, girls will have
experienced more reproductive hormones than boys, suggesting that girls’ motivational
tendencies towards social goals should be greater than boys. Therefore, it follows that
the greater activation of motivational tendencies among girls should lead to girls having
greater social media engagement than boys as a strategy to achieve social goals. Past
research supports this idea, finding that girls use more social media than boys: half of
girls, compared to 39% of boys, reported near-constant online activity (Anderson &
Jiang, 2018), and adolescent girls were more engaged with, and spent more time on,
social media compared to boys (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). Therefore, I predict
that girls will engage in more social media use than boys (hypothesis 1b). Hormone
activation theory suggests that adolescents who are under the influence of reproductive
hormones once puberty begins will experience increased motivations towards social
goals and rewards (Forbes & Dahl, 2010). However, not all adolescents enter puberty at
the same: there are individual differences in pubertal development and the subsequent
exposure to reproductive hormones. At any given age, some adolescents 10 will have
entered puberty while others will have not. This also means that at any given age, early-
maturing adolescents who have entered puberty would have experienced the activation
of reproductive hormones whereas later-maturing adolescents have not. These
individual difference in pubertal status, and exposure to reproductive hormones, may
subsequently influence adolescents’ goal-driven behaviors. Once again, social media
engagement may function as a goal-driven behavior to help adolescents achieve their
social goals. One prominent goal of adolescence is increasing peer relationships
(Sullivan, 1953), and social media engagement provides myriad opportunities for peer
connections (Subrahmanam & Greenfield, 2008). Individual differences in pubertal
timing may therefore influence adolescents’ social media behaviors as early developers
who have been under the influence of reproductive hormones longer may be more
motivated to use social media to connect with peers. Some research has considered the
role of pubertal timing in social media engagement, finding that more physically mature
girls may attempt to fulfill their social goals by seeking out mature or unconventional
peers (Skoog, Sorbring, & Bohlin, 2015). According to the peer socialization hypothesis,
early developing girls may feel disconnected from same-age peers, instead seeking out
developmentally equivalent peer networks (Magnusson, Stattin, & Allen, 1985; Skoog &
Stattin, 2014). Research supports this, finding the social networks of early developing
girls to contain peers who are chronologically older, male, and deviant compared to the
networks of on-time or later developing girls (e.g., Haynie, 2003; Magnusson et al.,
1985; Skoog & Stattin, 2014). Together, hormone activation theory (Forbes & Dahl,
2010) and the peer socialization hypothesis (Skoog & Stattin, 2014) suggest that early
developing girls may have 11 heightened motivations towards social goals, which may
manifest through association with more unconventional peer networks. Social media
engagement may provide access to unconventional peer networks, which may be
particularly appealing to early developers as a strategy for working towards social goals.
Therefore, it follows that early maturing girls would report more social media
engagement than their on-time or late developing peers. Only one study to date has
considered the role of pubertal timing in adolescent online self-disclosure. Skoog and
colleagues (2015) found that early developing seventh grade girls were more likely than
on-time developers to have a larger social media network and to disclose personal or
private information online. However, those differences disappeared in eighth grade. This
is consistent with hormone activation theory – once the rest of the peers enter puberty,
everyone’s rewards systems are activated, thus wiping out individual differences in
motivations towards social goals. These findings are consistent with other work showing
that online self-disclosure increased around the onset of puberty for both boys and girls,
suggesting the effects of pubertal timing on self-disclosure (Valkenberg et al., 2011).
Taken together, the conceptual framework and limited empirical evidence suggests that
early maturing girls will engage in more self-disclosure compared to their on-time or late
maturing peers. The published literature on pubertal timing and social media use only
involves adolescent girls. However, hormone activation theory suggests that the
activation of social goals associated with the hormones released upon entering puberty
should similarly influence boys’ social media engagement, but not until boys begin
puberty around ages 12-13. Valkenberg and colleagues (2011) found that patterns of
online disclosure on social media looked similar for boys and girls. However, the age at
which disclosure began to increase corresponded with the beginning of puberty: for
girls, the increase occurred at ages 10-11, for boys it occurred at ages 12-13.
Therefore, I predict that adolescents who enter puberty early compared to their peers
will report more social media engagement and that these patterns will be visible at times
which correspond with pubertal onset (eighth grade for boys; sixth grade for girls;
hypothesis 1c).

Jill M. Swirsky: SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT AMONG EARLY ADOLESCENTS:

MOTIVATIONAL AND ADJUSTMENT CORRELATES

Available at: https://scholarshare.temple.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12613/2495/

Swirsky_temple_0225E_13870.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Understanding the Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health

Research on social media and adolescent mental health has proliferated in recent years, with
many studies exploring whether more frequent use of social media is associated with various
mental health concerns, including depression, body image concerns and disordered eating, and
externalizing problems. In general, findings from these studies have been mixed, with many
revealing a small but significant negative effect of social media use on mental health. A growing
body of work now seeks to build on these studies with more nuanced investigations of how,
why, and for whom social media use may have positive or negative effects on youth
development. Social media comprises a vast array of digital tools, and thus characterizing its
overall effect on youth remains challenging. First, it is important to understand individual
strengths and vulnerabilities that may predispose certain adolescents to engage with and
respond to social media in adaptive or maladaptive ways. In addition, it is critical to identify how
specific social media behaviors or experiences may put adolescents at risk.

Jacqueline Nesi: The Impact of Social Media on Youth Mental Health: Challenges and
Opportunities
Available at: https://booksc.org/book/81414001/6cad3d

According to an article I have read from Ine Beyens,