Social Networking and Friendships in Adolescence

Catherine McGee

FCHD 3530

February 22, 2011

Susan Talley

Abstract

The intent of this study is to explore what type of content posted by adolescents and the interactions that take place within adolescent relationships on Facebook. Although Facebook continues to grow in popularity, with over half of teenagers online participating therein, little research has been done on Facebook communication within the context of adolescent relationship and identity development.

A survey will be distributed asking for information from adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18. This survey will investigate elements such as disclosure of personally identifiable information, how many of the “friends” teens have on Facebook are people they have actually met in person, how often they interact in person with these friends, and frequency of peer interaction outside of Facebook. Results will indicate adolescent Facebook use frequency. Implications for parental monitoring and intervention will be discussed as well as possible direction for future research. Adolescents' online profiles contain a great deal of personal, intimate, and publicly available information on a wide range of social issues pertinent to adolescence that contribute to the understanding of adolescent identity development and subsequent well-being.

Literature Review

Online social networking is quickly developing its own area of inquiry within the social sciences (Herring, Scheidt, Wright, & Bonus, 2005; Mee, 2006). In fact, researchers are working to understand social networking almost as quickly as technology advances. As knowledge of this new social forum advances, research is beginning to differentiate between individual social networking sites. However, for the purposes of this study, all social networking profiles are considered synonymous as they all involve individuals creating and maintaining personal Internet sites that allow authors to post content resulting in the creation of their own personal network.

Lenhart and Madden, senior researchers for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, said that in the past five years social networking has "rocketed from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of Internet users” (2007). Previous studies have examined content found in various social network sites such as demographic information, communication styles, thematic content, purposes for using Facebook, and disclosure of personally identifiable information—this is also referred to by Huffaker (2006) as identity vulnerability (Lenhart & Fox, 2006; Fox & Madden, 2005; Suhrahmanyam, Smahel, & Greenfield, 2006; Huffaker & Calvert, 2005; Mazur, 2005; Herring et al., 2005; Mee, 2006).

However, to date there has been very little research done on social and emotional content provided on Facebook and how such content relates to adolescent peer relationships and how this might effect identity development.

This study proposes that online social networking profiles posted by adolescents contain personal, intimate, and observable peer interaction. This interaction can be analyzed creating an overall picture of how adolescent friend behavior has changed as a result of social networking.

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Social Networking and Friendships in Adolescence

Introduction

In 2007, Lehnhart and Madden reported that 55 percent of teenagers use and create online social networking profiles (2007). With more than half of teenagers interacting online, the concept of friendships and communication within adolescence is a significant research topic investigating how adolescents are socially interacting, and what potential effects this may have on other dimensions of their lives.

Social networking profiles present a unique research opportunity because the process of social networking involves voluntarily posting information about oneself—personal thoughts, feelings, and beliefs—as well as personal information, such as addresses and phone numbers, in a public area with unlimited access available to anyone with an Internet connection.

This study will look primarily at the social network Facebook as it is reported by Stuzman to be the most popular with Facebook being used by 90 percent of social network users (2006). Another study reports Facebook use as most popular among adolescents with 78.8 percent of teens reporting that they either “sometimes” or “often” use it (Hargittai, 2007). According to Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe, students reported using Facebook “an average of 10-30 minutes daily” and “averaged between 150-200 friends” (2006).

Adolescent Facebook profiles are full of information about their daily lives, as well as that of their friends. Themes often seen in teen Facebook profiles include romantic relationships, friends, parents, substance use, sexuality, popular culture, eating disorders, school, depression, conflicts, self-expression, and self-harm (Mazur, 2005; Whitlock, Powers, & Eckenrode, 2006).

Facebook has become a standard form of communication for adolescents. It is even being compared to cell phone use, and emailing (Mee, 2006). Some of the differences between Facebook use and other more traditional forms of communication include ease of accessibility at any time and from anywhere, and the establishment of publicly available information that can be printed or stored permanently. Adolescents have the ability to create their own personal online environment, thus depicting themselves in whatever way they wish to be viewed by others.

Researchers argue that Facebooking is as meaningful to adolescents as the youth believe it to be. The more an adolescent participates in Facebook, the more importance they are likely to associate with it. Therefore, the more real it becomes to them. At a time when adolescents are trying to discover how they fit into the real world, they are introduced to the virtual world of Facebook. There could be multiple detrimental effects with teens spending so much more time and energy in this virtual world than they do in the real world.

Facebook provides an unrestricted, unregulated setting for adolescent identity experimentation. As teens attempt to understand how they fit into the world, they can experiment without worrying about being permanently labeled, or associated with a particular group. Facebook is a community itself, yet this community is temporary and does not contain the limits that teens usually face in their everyday lives. “In day-to-day real-life interactions, adolescents are in a constant state of checks and balances with parents, teachers, peers, and societal norms” (Mee, 2006). Through their actions, teens can learn to predict potential reactions and then use this information to gauge future thought processes and behaviors. Facebook does not include any type of real reinforcement or punishment. Standards for behavior within Facebook are established and reinforced through peers and interactions online. Therefore Facebook normalizes and encourages various activities, attitudes, and behaviors that may not be acceptable outside of this virtual community.

Identity formation is a major part of adolescent development (Erikson, 1968). As young people begin to explore their identities, they are likely to “experience mood swings, self-doubt, confusion, impulsivity, conflict with parents, and reduced self-esteem” (Kidwell et al, 1995). These indicators of identity exploration are usually observable in adolescent peer relationships. Adolescents who feel they have lost their voice or are unnoticed by peers can channel their need for attention into Facebook giving them a place to fit-in or belong. The goal of this study is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of how adolescents use Facebook and what role such sites play in teenagers' social and identity development.

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Methods

Sample & Procedure

Two focus groups will be created including participants between the ages of 13 and 18 who have a Facebook profile. The participants in these samples will be randomly selected from students of the Intermediate, Middle, and High Schools in Brigham City, UT as well as Tremonton, UT. 

The location of these focus group meetings has not yet been determined. These meetings will most likely take place on a Saturday afternoon, as this will be the best time for participants who attend school during the week.

Participants for our sample will be found by the distribution of the survey and information letter to teens in the area. These teens will be asked to invite as many friends as they can. Some type of incentive will be offered as a way to encourage adolescents to participate and invite their friends to do the same.

The adolescents will be informed that their participation is completely voluntary and that they can join in the discussion as much or as little as they feel comfortable. In addition, they will be informed that they are free to choose not to complete the questionnaire and that their responses to the survey will be kept completely anonymous.

Participants will be asked to fill-out and return the survey when they come to the focus group meeting. At the focus group meeting, they will recieve some type of reward for coming, bringing friends, and returning the survey.

The survey will include items on characteristics of the youth such as grade, gender and if they participated in the Brigham or Tremonton group. The survey will also ask questions pertaining to characteristics of their friends, types of information exchanged, and degree of perceived closeness to each friend on Facebook.

In the survey, each participant will be asked how many “friends” they have on their Facebook profile. Participants will then be asked to report how many of these “friends” they met in person. And how much time they spend with their friends outside of Facebook.

Adolescents will also be asked to indicate an average length of time spent on Facebook daily. And which features of Facebook they use the most. The data collected from the surveys will be compiled and used for comparison with past research on peer relations.

        The discussion within the focus groups will include the following questions:

• How much time per day do you spend on Facebook?
• Comparatively, how much time daily do you spend interacting with your friends in person?
• How many of the friends listed on your Facebook page have you actually met in person?
• How comfortable are you sharing personal information with those whom you have not met?

The information gained from the focus group discussions will be used for comparison between and within the two focus groups.

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Facebook Survey

Please answer the following questions and bring this form with you when you come to our focus group meeting on ________________at ______________in the____________.

Please rate the degree to which you agree with each of the following statements:

Sometimes I wonder who I really am.

In general, I know what I want out of life.

I feel comfortable sharing personal information such as my Birthday, telephone number, and address with people I have never met.

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References

Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2006). Spatially bounded online social networks and social capital: The role of Facebook. In Proceedings of the annual conference of the international communication association, June 19–23, 2006, Dresden, Germany.

Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

Fox, S., & Madden, M. (2005, December). Generations online. Peiu Internet and American Life Project.

Hargittai, E. (2007). Whose space? Differences among users and non-users of social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1)

Herring, S., Scheldt, L., Wright, E., & Bonus, S. (2005). Weblogs as a bridging Genre. Information Technology and People, (2), 142-171.

Huffaker, D. (2006). Teen blogs exposed: The private lives of teens made public. Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis, MO., February 16-19.

Kidwell, J., Dunham, R., Bacho, R., & Pastorino, E. (1995). Adolescent identity exploration: A test of Erikson's theory of transitional crisis. Adolescence, 30(120), 785-794.

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007). Social networking websites and terms; An overview. USA. Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Mee, C. (2006). To blog or not to blog. On Target, 2(1), 30-31.

Meizur, E. (2005). Teen blogs as mines of adolescent data. Teaching of Psychology, 32(3), 180-182.

Stutzman, F. (2006). An evaluation of identity-sharing behavior in social network communities. DMA Journal, 3(1), 1–7.

Suhrahmanyam, K., Smahel, D., & Greenfield, P. (2006). Connecting developmental constructs to the Internet: Identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chatrooms. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 395-106.

Whitlock, J., Powers, J., & Eckenrode, J. (2006). The virtual cutting edge: The Internet and adolescent self-injury. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 1-11.