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Risks and Benefits: Consequences of Social Media Use for Young People
Risks and Benefits: Consequences of Social Media Use for Young People
Abstract Submissions Closed
Wednesday, 24 February 2021: 09:00-10:30
Location:
RC34 Sociology of Youth (host committee)
Language: English
Session Type: Oral
15 years after Facebook got introduced, people of all ages use social media, but in several aspects it became most important to young people. In their early teenage years, being all equipped with smart phones, typically, they become intense users: they use a variety of social media applications and they use them actively many hours a day. Research found some positive as well as negative consequences: on the one hand, girls and boys develop skills and competences from social media use, it may contribute to their overall wellbeing and identity development and lead to increasing societal participation; on the other hand, intense use of social media may lead to addictive behavior, and exposure to (inappropriate) social media content and online interactions (e.g. hate speech) may negatively affect their social and psychological wellbeing, e.g. regarding self-esteem and body satisfaction, or lead to radicalization. In this (regular) session we will further explore risks and benefits by discussing new empirical results on young people’s online life words such as Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and interactive online games, taking into account also approaches of diversity. We will be particularly interested in which ways vulnerable groups such as young people from refugee/migration families or from families with lower SES might benefit from social media or might be more at risk. Other than social inequality, theoretical concepts might also refer to theories of self-socialization in media and peer cultures, or to transition theories (transition into a new life stage in the context of leisure).
Session Organizer: