Poster #240 - Middle-school Students’ Grasp of How Photos Travel through the Internet and Associated Risks

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Technology, Media & Child Development

Integrative Statement

Background: Middle-school students often demonstrate considerable grasp of risks associated with Internet usage, including cyberbullying, online predators, and age-inappropriate content (Livingstone, Bober, & Helsper, 2005; Livingstone & Sefton-Green, 2016), yet their technical descriptions of the Internet appear simplistic (Yan, 2005, 2006, 2009). We investigated middle-school students’ understanding of the Internet through their descriptions of the process and potential risks associated with online photo-sharing. This scenario was chosen because younger teens are frequent users of social media platforms that rely heavily on photo-sharing (e.g., Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook) (Lenhart, 2015).

Methods and Results: Middle-school students from a rural US community (N = 78, 56.4% female; M age = 13 years; 4 months, range 11;6–15;5) completed two activities related to online photo-sharing. First, they were asked to draw a picture illustrating how a photograph travels through the Internet when it is shared online and explain their drawing; see Table 1 for coding. Participants who provided a technical description most often referred to the “cloud” and described a process of file transmission via waves, WiFi, satellites, computer code, and/or air. Alternatively, a substantial number of participants described the path of the photograph as a social transmission chain involving repeated sharing; other participants referred to blasting the photo to the world. The remaining participants gave limited descriptions of uploading a file or connections between two devices. Notably, youth who reported high social-media use were less likely to offer technical descriptions than peers reporting low social-media use, χ2(1, N=73)=3.93, p =.048. Responses did not vary by gender.

Second, participants listened to a vignette about a student who shares an embarrassing photo of a friend online after an argument. The student later deletes the photo after they make up. Participants were asked about associated risks; see Table 2 for coding. Participants most often mentioned other people taking a screenshot of the photo and reposting it and other ways of spreading it around. They also frequently referred to the possibility of an online predator getting the photo and using it to find the student, and the potential for the photo to be altered and/or used for purposes of bullying and revenge. A minority referred to potential problems with authorities (e.g., school or police) or to loss of friends and mental health. Stated risks did not vary by gender, social media use, or drawings/explanations of photo-sharing.

Discussion: Middle-school students’ conceptualizations of the Internet reflect a constellation of social affordances and technological features. Our findings indicate that technical understanding of online photo-sharing may be hindered by social-media use, suggesting that online experiences alone do not necessarily result in greater understanding of the Internet (Hammond & Rogers, 2007). In contrast, stated risks were unrelated to social-media use, but often seemed to reflect grown-ups’ concerns for children’s safety (Uhls, 2015). Further work is needed to explore how technical and social aspects of the Internet are acquired and interconnected.

Authors

• Kasey L. Powers, Mercy College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jessica Elena Brodsky, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
  Presenting Author

• Patricia J. Brooks, College of Staten Island and The Graduate Center CUNY
  Non-Presenting Author