Social media use: What are adolescents communicating?

Abstract

Social media platforms provide users with access to constant communication through sharing thoughts, updating relationship statuses, posting comments, sharing pictures and videos, direct messaging, and viewing and reacting to information posted by those in their ever‐growing social networks. Even before the COVID‐19 pandemic, 97% of adolescents and 72% of adults in the United States reported using some form of social media (Anderson & Jiang, 2018), representing a pervasive shift in the ways that individuals experience their social environment. Particularly among those who are not themselves “digital natives” (individuals raised with pervasive technology), there has been much interest and often concern about adolescent experiences online, and how online interactions may uniquely impact self‐critical thoughts, interfere with emotional well‐being, or influence psychological distress. Is it all negative, or can social media provide growth and comfort, too? In an effort to answer these crucial questions, we need to know about the content and patterns of adolescent social media use.