Young adults’ reflections on their experiences of social media during adolescence

Abstract

Globally, social media use is on the rise. Initially, social media was targeted at young adults, however younger adolescents and children are now becoming active social media users. Due to social media users becoming younger and younger, the greater the likelihood that this user will be more susceptible to the adverse effects of social media use. Ensuring that young social media users are protected and safeguarded from the negative effects of social media, requires the involvement of all systems in the individual’s life, namely parents and teachers, peers and professionals, such as social workers. The goal of the study was to explore and describe young adults’ reflections on their experiences of social media use during adolescence. The study was qualitative in nature and formed part of a group research project. The research question was: “What are young adults’ reflections on their experiences of social media during adolescence?” To answer the research question, the researcher made use of a case study design, specifically the instrumental case study design. Ten participants were selected through the non-probability sampling methods of purposive and snowball sampling. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews, with the use of an interview schedule. The ecological systems theory underlined the study and was used to explore the participants’ reflections on their experiences of social media use during their adolescent years. From the data gathered, it was found that all participants started using social media during early adolescence. Participants shared positive and negative experiences with social media and online activities. Some of the negative experiences were cyberbullying and a negative influence on their mental health. Further, social media influenced their close personal relationships and created excessive conflict between peers. Social media however had positive effects on the adolescent, such as acquiring social skills and connecting them with communities that share the same hobbies and interests. The researcher recommends that parents and teachers should be more involved in their adolescent’s social media use and online activities. However, the large generational gap in technological advances between parents and adolescence implies a need for education. Educating parents and teachers on safe social media and internet use will enable them to support and protect young social media users who often do not yet have the capacity to distinguish between safe and unsafe social media use and online activities.