Digital Cases: Young People's Engagement With Social Media and Its Impacts on Their Health and Well-Being

• In Event: How Do Social Media Impact Young People’s Health and Well-Being?

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
International evidence suggests that young people are increasingly turning to social media for health-related information (Kim, 2016; McDool et al., 2016; Swist et al., 2015; Wartella et al., 2016) and there is confusion and uncertainty about how this behaviour impacts upon young people’s health and wellbeing (Arseniev-Koehler et al., 2016; Dunlop et al., 2016; Hausmann et al., 2017). Most research has focussed on the role of social media within patient interventions (Hausmann et al., 2017) and/or the capabilities of social media to address risky behaviours; for example, smoking or alcoholism (Dunlop et al., 2016; Stevens et al., 2016), obesity (Quelly et al., 2016) or mental health (Frith, 2017; Kim, 2016). The existing evidence-base is therefore limited in its capacity to identify the types of health-related material young people access and co-produce on daily basis, and the risk-related impacts for their health and wellbeing. This paper will present empirically rich, digital and evidence based case studies on the impact of social media on young people’s health and wellbeing. The research questions guiding this paper are:
• What public health-related information is/isn’t accessed by young people through social media?
• What health-related information do young people attend to and use to inform their behaviours?
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical constructs of public pedagogies (Giroux, 2004) informed data collection and analysis. Grounded in the work of Dewey (1916) and Giroux (2004), public pedagogies appreciates that learning is not confined to formal education sites and spaces, and that learning is an on-going democratic experience, influenced by popular media and culture (Sandlin et al., 2011).

Data Sources, evidence, objects or materials
Data were drawn from participatory research with over 1500 young people (age 13-19), funded by the Wellcome Trust and Society for Educational Studies. In 10 UK schools, data were drawn from: 478 questionnaires, 53 digital pin boards (using Pinterest), 36 focus group interviews and a survey (n=942). Case studies were constructed using the public pedagogy framework that informed an analysis of the relationship between: (i) the meanings ascribed to social media material accessed, attended to and produced, and (ii) young people’s attendance to particular digital spaces (content, spaces, expressions, functions). The case studies represent 5 themes: connectivity, relatability, peer endorsement, peer pressure, and fake news.

Scholarly Significance
With clear national drives to improve healthy lifestyles behaviours, reduce levels of obesity in children, address mental health challenges and promote safe and secure online environments, this paper addresses a broad spectrum of areas, all of which have been noted as an urgent topic of concern at national and international levels (DoH and NHS England, 2015; Frith, 2017; UKCISS, 2017; UNESCO, 2015). The new evidence presented in this paper provides contextually and culturally relevant insights inton the contemporary risks and opportunities for health promotion in young people, and the implications of young people’s health-related learning for formal spaces of education, such as HPE.

Authors

• Victoria Anne Goodyear, University of Birmingham

• Kathleen M. Armour, University of Birmingham

• Hannah Elizabeth Wood, University of Birmingham