�Social Media, Schools, and Teen life: An Umbrella of Learning Spaces
Daeun Jung, Vanessa Dennen, Lauren Bagdy, Amber Hedquist, Stacey Rutledge, Stephen Bunn, Casey Cargill, Catherine Cosgrove, and Hui Shi
AECT ’22
October 24, 2022
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Introduction
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RQ: How do teens use social media outside of the classroom to navigate different aspects of their school life?
Method
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2020 Summer
2021 Summer
Method
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Pre-interview
Video Diary
Post-interview
Results: Support Social Lives at School
“we really have to rely on social media because that’s really all you can do to talk to people and socialize and talk to people you used to talk to at school, because now we don’t really have anyone to talk to, you don’t have anything else to do unless you’re taking online classes.” (Angela, 13, Black female, 2020)
“I used GroupMe to talk with my swim team and I also sent a goodbye message to my newspaper class which I was in this past school year but I’m not doing it this year.” (Daisy, 16, White female, 2020)
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Results: Support Social Lives at School
“ For our 2025 grad group chat, we asked who’s going to school or not and if they’re staying home or playing sports at all, because like we want to see each other or whatever and whatnot.” (Aaron, 13-year-old White male, 2020)
“Yeah, so Instagram and Snapchat, I used for finding out which classes I have with people.” (Daisy, 16-year-old White female, 2020)
“Because I posted my class schedule, so I was like hey, reply if you have any classes with me. Some people replied and they’re like yeah, I have this period with you, this period with you. I’m like I don’t like you, so that was about it.” (Chrystal, 15-year-old Black female, 2020)
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Results: Support Social Lives at School
“They had quoted Tucker Carlson, where he was talking about, … Which is very obviously racially biased. … I was also looking to see who at [his school] liked that post. … There was one girl that I had been like, not like friends with, but I had been in a couple classes with, and she was just really quiet, and like didn’t strike me as the kind of person who would be ultra conservative like that.” (Caden, 15-year-old Black male, 2020)
“I saw a lot of things on Instagram today that people who go to my school have reposted and there’s this specific post going around that’s really misogynistic, about how women are not funny, … it’s kind of upsetting to see that people really, really think that about their peers.” (Daisy, 16-year-old White female, 2020)
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Results: Support Classroom Learning
“I went on Instagram, we talked in our 2025 group chat more about our school math and stuff and our school reading and what we were supposed to …” (Aaron, 13-year-old White male, 2020)
“I use GroupMe because like in classes you setup group chats with, you know, people in your class so you can make friends and also like if you have questions about the homework.” (Dior, 16-year-old Black female, 2021)
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Results: Support Classroom Learning
“I also found out over Snapchat that there’s a way to view our class schedules for this upcoming year, so I viewed that and all my classes are – I’m good with all my classes, I got all the ones I wanted.” (Daisy, 16-year-old white female, 2020)
“And I stumbled upon some Reddit pages. I do not have a Reddit account but there were people who were asking questions about courses, about professors, that I was contemplating about taking in the fall, so I found this useful. I guess – I’m hoping they were actual students at the university, so I found the information useful.” (Francesca, 18-year-old, Asian female, 2020)
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Results: Support Classroom Learning
“I went to Reddit, because... I know there's... there's like a... I don't know anything about Reddit. So I just went there and typed APUSH and there is like a group I guess. Got some information and study guides and stuff. So it can help me, at least help me or boost me a little bit score.” (Eric, 17-year-old Asian male, 2021)
“When I was – during the school year, YouTube was mainly I was using that – well, I used it for entertainment, but I also used it for like if I needed more information or more help on what I was learning in school, and so that is my social media use for this day.” (Francesca, 18-year-old Asian female, 2020)
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Results: Learn about School Events
“I did use Twitter today because the baseball season just started today I think, I believe, so I was trying to like get the information and stuff. And I found that the [the participant’s county] School is postponing fall sports to like later August, I believe, so yeah. And they just – from our school, there’s like a Remind app and they just announced that they’re going to be giving out passing – I mean, parking pass and off campus pass and they just released the date. So I get it through Remind and text. I was also able to see that from Instagram, yeah, and I was on Instagram today, not that much, but just to like look at posts.” (Eric, 17-year-old Asian male, 2020)
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Results: Learn about School Events
“Okay, so like we all have been having issues with like, like with social media lately because all these fight videos go around and then like [her school’s principal name] our principal is like, I'm so tired of you guys posting fight videos like I'm so tired of people rushing to fights to get videos bla bla bla the next person I see post a fight video on their social media is getting suspended. … (I: so when you say troll account, what do you mean by that?) … if anybody has any tea, or like any kind of like rumors, they dm it to them, and they post it.” (Emma, 17-year-old White female, 2020)
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Results: Advocate their Needs at School
“There is one time this year, where I called the school out because they weren't doing any doing anything on a sexual assault case that was happening. And I got called to the office and stuff and like that. … I called out my school on social media, and they got upset over that. And I told them that I'm not taking it down because, you know, I didn't have anything that was illegal basically, I was allowed to say everything I said. … Well, basically, the vice principal brought me into the office.” (Ella, 17-year-old White female, 2021)
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Results: Advocate their Needs at School
“I just looked it up on YouTube and it was the [their county] school board meeting and I’m watching them like discuss options for going back. I mean, the virtual isn’t really an option because of the executive order, but they’re just figuring out what the combination of digital academy and brick and mortar will look like, which is interesting to hear.” (Dina, 16-year-old mixed-race non-binary, 2020)
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Results: Help Transitions to College
“Also I used Instagram today to look at a couple Instagram accounts that a university I’m looking at going to has, Wesleyan University in Connecticut. I got some information on that as well … ” (Daisy, 16-year-old White female, 2020)
“… every college has a riding Instagram. … So like Auburn equestrian has like their Instagram and like they are like keep everyone up to date. And they post like a lot. So you get to see the kind of community that revolves around like the colleges, so it definitely is easier to decide where you want to go and like what you want to be involved in through that.” (Celine, 15-year-old White female, 2021)
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Results: Help Transitions to College
“I follow a Michigan basketball player named Adrien Nunez, I think that’s his last name, and to see if I can catch up on how to achieve – how did he get into Michigan University. Those are one of my colleges I want to go to, because of the aerospace engineering program, and I asked him to show – can he send – can he make a video on TikTok about their locker room and their basketball lounge area.” (Brandon, 14-year-old Black male, 2020)
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Results: Help Transitions to College
“So I've just pretty much made a Twitter account and like put, like my GPA, my height, my weight, where I play for football, also for wrestling. And it's just that like, usually a lot of high school football players make them because you get more known on Twitter for like coaches. And that's like, where you shout out your offers and stuff.” (Aaron, 13-year-old White male, 2021)
“… for Instagram, I do it for, I have one for riding and it's strictly for riding. it's also helps me because I make videos for colleges … And some colleges even follow me so it's cool if they can see that on Instagram. (Celine, 15-year-old White female, 2021)
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Results: Help Transitions to College
“… on the Patio, we all interact, like on my patio, like, like somebody was asking about the form. And I like sent a screenshot because they didn't get the email, like immediately. ... and then we'll talk about we were talking about, like the meal plan, and which one might work for us. Like, we're, it's very interactive.” (Emma, 17-year-old White female, 2021)
“And then I was also using Snapchat to communicate with some of the people I know who went to my university last year, so they’re going to be a sophomore, and I was asking them stuff about classes and different things that had shown up on my portal as well.” (Francesca, 18-year-old Asian female, 2020)
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Results: Help Transitions to College
“I also used Facebook to look at subleases for student housing next semester in the spring. I’m in some of those groups and so I was looking through some listings there.” (Fiona, 18-year-old White female, 2020)
“I also made a Pinterest board for dorm inspiration, because why not.” (Faith, 18-year-old White female, 2020)
“So I guess last night, I was mainly on YouTube in terms of like social media. And I guess in my suggestions, it’s been a lot of college related videos for décor, different things, because I’m going to be in college on this fall term, so – and I’ve been watching a lot of videos.” (Francesca, 18-year-old Asian female, 2020)
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Discussion
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Social life
Schoolwork
Communication
Empowerment
College aspirations
Discussion
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School adults
Students
Discussion
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Privacy
Bullying
Plagiarism
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Thank you!