Teens work hard to appear interesting on social media:
study
Teens work very hard to create a
favourable online image by carefully selecting which photos, activities and
links to post on Facebook and Instagram, a study has found. Content that makes
them appear interesting, well-liked and attractive to their friends and peers
is a primary goal for adolescents when deciding what to share in digital
spaces, researchers said.
These social media channels allow
individuals time to craft and edit posts and, unlike offline situations, offer
teens the chance to consider - even strategise about - how they want to present
themselves online. Researchers found that for girls, the effort to construct a
favourable image can involve lengthy deliberation and advice from confidantes. The
process of posting pictures is particularly time-consuming and can be a joint
endeavour among friends - ensuring that only the most flattering photos,
filters and captions are selected.
Girls also actively enlist their
friends to comment on and like their posts in an attempt to boost their
popularity index, with especially savvy Instagram and Facebook users being
active during peak social media traffic hours in order to maximise their number
of likes. Boys in the study did not ask pals for feedback or to like their
posts.
"Their social rules for online
interaction require a higher level of sensitivity than do those for in-person
communication," she said. "Even interesting and positive posts can be
interpreted negatively. For example, sharing about college admissions could
come across as pretentious and prideful," she added. The study included 51
Southern California adolescents - 27 females and 24 males - between the ages of
12 and 18.
19.02.2018
The more you learn, the less you
fear
Julian Barnes
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