Mixing Network Analysis and Qualitative Approaches in Identifying Adolescents’ Online Communication Strategies

• In Event: Innovations in Social Network Methods for Examining the Role of Peer Processes in Youth Development

Abstract

This presentation explores the methodological benefits of combining social network analysis (SNA) and qualitative research in order to: 1) inform and identify novel mechanisms of diffusion, 2) capture the role of social context, and 3) highlight new dimensions and considerations surrounding child development. This study employs a sequential mixed-method design to examine the communication strategies of 54 high school students within a private online Facebook group. First, in-depth qualitative interviews were solicited from adolescents occupying central and peripheral positions within the network, identifying emerging communication strategies. Second, online posts were quantitatively coded across an array of communication strategies informed by the qualitative interviews. Third, SNA was utilized to explore associations between coded communication strategies and network positionality (i.e., degree centrality, and betweenness).

One-third of internet users are children or adolescents (Berman & Albright, 2017). While research highlights the social developmental benefits of adolescent participation on social networking sites (Kornbluh, 2019;Vossen & Valkenburg, 2016), it is limited in examining how adolescents express themselves online in order to reap these potential rewards. This inquiry is even more critical in the midst of a global pandemic in which social networking sites have become primary settings for children and adolescents to engage their peers. In the context of this study, 94% of students agreed to participate with 53% reporting themselves as male. In regards to race and ethnicity, 36.4% of the participants identified as Hispanic or Latino(a), 32.7% as Asian, 12.7% as Black or African American, and 7.3% as White. Communication strategies were identified through interviews with adolescent Facebook users (N = 12), and coding Facebook data (N = 271 comments/posts). Three themes emerged from the qualitative data regarding tactics adolescents applied concerning effective online communication strategies: 1) level of relevancy (the extent to which the post related to their personal lives), 2) use of dialogical questions (the extent to which participants utilized engaging questions to solicit a response), and 3) social media savviness (the extent to which participants utilized images to convey information).

Random permutation regression analysis was performed on all 2,862 possible dyadic relationships within the online Facebook group. Results indicated that those who demonstrated high performance levels in social media savviness and dialogic questions rated higher in degree centrality within the online community (T = 4.90, p< .05; T = 15.03, p< .05). Additionally, participants who applied dialogic questions held significantly higher scores in network betweenness (T = 1.78, p< .05). Implications are discussed surrounding methodological designs and future research.

Authors

• Mariah Kornbluh, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Sherry Bell, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  Non-Presenting Author