The purpose of this study was to explore how middle school principals stay current with social media used by young adolescents. This study also explored middle school principals' developmentally responsive practices that guide young adolescent use of social media. Although middle school principals may believe their practices to be effective, these practices may not effectively guide young adolescent use of social media. If middle school principals use developmentally responsive practices and effectively guide young adolescent use of social media, then more research must be conducted to understand why such practices are successful and how more middle school principals can implement the same practices in their own schools. The methodological design of this study applied qualitative methods of research. Purposeful selection was used in the selected setting, which was the five counties of the Hudson Valley region of New York. Twelve middle school principals were interviewed and their responses were recorded, transcribed and coded using research software. Five public school districts were randomly selected for artifact analysis. The theoretical framework through which the data were analyzed was Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Some key findings of this study were that fewer principals have their own social media profiles as principal and that middle school principals may state the importance of teaching and modeling for young adolescents but do not demonstrate its importance through written communication. Another key finding was Instagram as the preferred social media platform of young adolescents, but current research diverges from this finding in that social media platforms, such as Snapchat and TikTok, may be preferred by young adolescents. Future research is recommended to optimally inform the practice of middle school principals, public school districts, and policymakers regarding young adolescent use of social media. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]