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ERIC Number: EJ1424425
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-May
Pages: 32
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0743-5584
EISSN: EISSN-1552-6895
Exploring the "Social" in Social Media: Adolescent Relatedness--Thwarted "and" Supported
Monique West; Simon Rice; Dianne Vella-Brodrick
Journal of Adolescent Research, v39 n3 p539-570 2024
The pervasiveness of social media in adolescents' lives has important implications for their relationships. Considering today's adolescents have grown up with social media, research capturing their unique perspectives of how social media impacts their relationships is needed to increase understanding and help guide behaviors that nurture social-connectedness. Utilizing multiple qualitative methods, this study explores adolescents' perspectives of how their social media use impacts their relationships. The sample comprised 36, Year 9 students aged 15 years from four metropolitan schools in Melbourne, Australia. All participants completed a rich picture mapping activity and focus group discussions. To gain deeper understandings, a sub-sample of 11 adolescents participated in subsequent one-on-one interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis generated two overarching themes (1) developing and strengthening relationships and (2) diminishing relationships. Sub-themes included; making new friends, maintaining relationships, deepening connections, enhancing belonging, rifts and strains, and anti-social behavior. Findings revealed nuanced insights into "how" and "why" adolescents believe social media impacts relationships. Adolescents explained that social media transforms interactions through amplifying and intensifying relational experiences resulting in both beneficial and detrimental outcomes for their relationships. Cultivating the positive aspects of adolescents' social media use whilst mitigating the negative is important toward supporting relatedness and fostering wellbeing.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 9; High Schools; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A