3-230 - Post, Snap, Chat: Psychological, Structural, and Functional Contributions to Adolescents’ Social Media Use

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Social media (SM) is critical to modern adolescents’ relationships. Most youths now use multiple platforms and applications, as their varying structures and features afford specific personal and social benefits. Research has documented individual motives and characteristics predicting SM engagement (e.g., self-expression, relationship maintenance, narcissism, social comparison), and also how interactions with peers (e.g., feedback on ‘posts’) shape online behavior. The interdependent nature of these individual and social influences is often overlooked, however. In research spanning three continents, this symposium explores combinations of intrapersonal and interpersonal predictors that shape youths’ SM adoption, behavior, and related emotions.

Paper 1 uses semi-structured interviews to examine how adolescents’ personal values and peer interactions guide SM initiation, mastery, and ‘posting’ behavior. Paper 2 presents qualitative research exploring adolescents’ reasons for using a variety of SM platforms, and how particular features are used to advance specific social goals. Paper 3 presents longitudinal evidence that narcissistic adolescents’ impulsive behavior and purposeful attention-seeking increase when they experience social rejection and both of these processes predict potentially problematic SM behavior. Paper 4 shows that late adolescents’ stronger social comparison motives predict increased viewing of others’ SM content, and both of these factors are linked to stronger feelings of envy.

This symposium features diverse theoretical perspectives, populations, and methodologies aimed at examining how individual and social factors intersect to predict youths’ social media use. The subsequent discussion focuses on the myriad ways that this technology can support adolescents’ psychosocial development, and where caution must be exercised to avoid problematic use.

Sub Unit

• Technology, Media & Child Development

Chair

• Skyler Hawk, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Individual Presentations

• Cheerleaders, Guides, and Judges: Peers’ Roles in Early Adolescents’ Entry into Social Media Interactions - Presenting Author: B. Bradford Brown, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Angela Calvin, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• The Right Tool to Fit the Job: Adolescents’ Selective Use of Social Media in Peer Interactions - Presenting Author: Stephanie M Reich, University of California, Irvine; Joanna Yau, University of California, Irvine

• No “Selfie”-Control: Does Rejection-Related Impulsivity Account for Narcissistic Adolescents’ Social Media Behavior? - Presenting Author: Skyler Hawk, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Regina J. J. M. van den Eijnden, Utrecht University; Tom F. M. ter Bogt, Centre for Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

• Social Comparison Orientation Predicts Users’ Passive Social Media Use and Related Envy - Presenting Author: Jin-Liang Wang, Center for Mental Health Education, Department of Psychology, Southwest University