effects of social media to students' behavior thesis

• Review article
• Open access
• Published: 30 January 2021

Understanding students’ behavior in online social networks: a systematic literature review

• Maslin Binti Masrom 1 ,
• Abdelsalam H. Busalim   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5826-8593 2 ,
• Hassan Abuhassna 3 &
• Nik Hasnaa Nik Mahmood 1  

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education volume  18 , Article number:  6 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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The use of online social networks (OSNs) has increasingly attracted attention from scholars’ in different disciplines. Recently, student behaviors in online social networks have been extensively examined. However, limited efforts have been made to evaluate and systematically review the current research status to provide insights into previous study findings. Accordingly, this study conducted a systematic literature review on student behavior and OSNs to explicate to what extent students behave on these platforms. This study reviewed 104 studies to discuss the research focus and examine trends along with the important theories and research methods utilized. Moreover, the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model was utilized to classify the factors that influence student behavior. This study’s results demonstrate that the number of studies that address student behaviors on OSNs have recently increased. Moreover, the identified studies focused on five research streams, including academic purpose, cyber victimization, addiction, personality issues, and knowledge sharing behaviors. Most of these studies focused on the use and effect of OSNs on student academic performance. Most importantly, the proposed study framework provides a theoretical basis for further research in this context.

Introduction

The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has caused increased usage of online social networking (OSN) sites among individuals. OSNs such as Facebook are used almost every day by millions of users (Brailovskaia et al. 2020 ). OSNs allow individuals to present themselves via virtual communities, interact with their social networks, and maintain connections with others (Brailovskaia et al. 2020 ). Therefore, the use of OSNs has continually attracted young adults, especially students (Kokkinos and Saripanidis 2017 ; Paul et al. 2012 ). Given the popularity of OSNs and the increased number of students of different ages, many education institutions (e.g., universities) have used them to market their educational programs and to communicate with students (Paul et al. 2012 ). The popularity and ubiquity of OSNs have radically changed education systems and motivated students to engage in the educational process (Lambić 2016 ). The children of the twenty-first century are technology-oriented, and thus their learning style differs from previous generations (Moghavvemi et al. 2017a , b ). Students in this era have alternatives to how and where they spend time to learn. OSNs enable students to share knowledge and seek help from other students. Lim and Richardson ( 2016 ) emphasized that one important advantage of OSNs as an educational tool is to increase connections between classmates, which increases information sharing. Furthermore, the use of OSNs has also opened new communication channels between students and teachers. Previous studies have shown that students strengthened connections with their teachers and instructors using OSNs (e.g., Facebook, and Twitter). Therefore, the characteristics and features of OSNs have caused many students to use them as an educational tool, due to the various facilities provided by OSN platforms, which makes learning more fun to experience (Moghavvemi et al. 2017a ). This has caused many educational institutions to consider Facebook as a medium and as a learning tool for students to acquire knowledge (Ainin et al. 2015 ).

OSNs including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have been the most utilized platforms for education purposes (Akçayır and Akçayır 2016 ). For instance, the number of daily active users on Facebook reached 1.73 billion in the first quarter of 2020, with an increase of 11% compared to the previous year (Facebook 2020 ). As of the second quarter of 2020, Facebook has over 2.7 billion active monthly users (Clement 2020 ). Lim and Richardson ( 2016 ) empirically showed that students have positive perceptions toward using OSNs as an educational tool. A review of the literature shows that many studies have investigated student behaviors on these sites, which indicates the significance of the current review in providing an in-depth understanding of student behavior on OSNs. To date, various studies have investigated why students use OSNs and explored different student behaviors on these sites. Although there is an increasing amount of literature on this emerging topic, little research has been devoted to consolidating the current knowledge on OSN student behaviors. Moreover, to utilize the power of OSNs in an education context, it is important to study and understand student behaviors in this setting. However, current research that investigates student behaviors in OSNs is rather fragmented. Thus, it is difficult to derive in-depth and meaningful implications from these studies. Therefore, a systematic review of previous studies is needed to synthesize previous findings, identify gaps that need more research, and provide opportunities for further research. To this end, the purpose of this study is to explore the current literature in order to understand student behaviors in online social networks. Accordingly, a systematic review was conducted in order to collect, analyze, and synthesize current studies on student behaviors in OSNs.

This study drew on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model to classify factors and develop a framework for better understanding of student behaviors in the context of OSNs. The S-O-R model suggests that various aspects of the environment (S), incite individual cognitive and affective reactions (O), which in turn derives their behavioral responses (R) (Mehrabian and Russell 1974 ). In order to achieve effective results in a clear and understandable manner, five research questions were proposed as shown below.

What was the research regional context covered in previous studies?

What were the focus and trends of previous studies?

What were the research methods used in previous studies?

What were the major theories adopted in previous studies?

What important factors were studied to understand student usage behaviors in OSNs?

This paper is organized as follows. The second section discusses the concept of online social networks and their definition. The third section describes the review method used to extract, analyze, and synthesize studies on student behaviors. The fourth section provides the result of analyzing the 104 identified primary studies and summarizes their findings based on the research questions. The fifth section provides a discussion on the results based on each research question. The sixth section highlights the limitations associated with this study, and the final section provides a conclusion of the study.

• Online social networks

Since online social networks such as Facebook were introduced last decade, they have attracted millions of users and have become integrated into our daily routines. OSNs provide users with virtual spaces where they can find other people with similar interests to communicate with and share their social activities (Lambić et al. 2016 ). The concept of OSNs is a combination of technology, information, and human interfaces that enable users to create an online community and build a social network of friends (Borrero et al. 2014 ). Kum Tang and Koh ( 2017 ) defined OSNs as “web-based virtual communities where users interact with real-life friends and meet other people with shared interests” . A more detailed and well-cited definition of OSN was introduced by Boyd and Ellison ( 2008 ) who defined OSNs as “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semipublic profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” . Due to its popularity, many researches have examined the effect of OSNs on different disciplines such as business (Kujur and Singh 2017 ), healthcare (Chung 2014 ; Lin et al. 2016 ; Mano 2014 ), psychology (Pantic 2014 ), and education (Hamid et al.  2016 , 2015 ; Roblyer et al. 2010 ).

The heavy use of OSNs by students has led many studies to examine both positive and negative effects of these sites on students, including the time spent on OSNs usage (Chang and Heo 2014 ; Wohn and Larose 2014 ), engagement in academic activities (Ha et al. 2018 ; Sheeran and Cummings 2018 ), as well as the effect of OSN on students’ academic performance. Lim and Richardson ( 2016 ) stated that the main reasons for students to use OSNs as an educational tool is to increase their interactions and establish connections with classmates. Tower et al. ( 2014 ) found that OSN platforms such as Facebook have the potential to improve student self-efficacy in learning and develop their learning skills to a higher level. Therefore, some education institutions have started to develop their own OSN learning platforms (Tally 2010 ). Mazman and Usluel ( 2010 ) highlighted that using OSNs for educational and instructional contexts is an idea worth developing because students spend a lot of time on these platforms. Yet, the educational activities conducted on OSNs are dependent on the nature of the OSNs used by the students (Benson et al. 2015 ). Moreover, for teaching and learning, instructors have begun using OSNs platforms for several other purposes such as increasing knowledge exchanges and effective learning (Romero-Hall 2017 ). On the other hand, previous studies have raised some challenges of using OSNs for educational purposes. For example, students tend to use OSNs as a social tool for entraining rather than an educational tool (Baran 2010 ; Gettman and Cortijo 2015 ). Moreover, the active use of OSNs on daily basis may develop students’ negative behavior such as addiction and distraction. In this context, Kitsantas et al. ( 2016 ) found that college students in the United States reported some concerns such as the OSNs usage can turn into addictive behavior, distraction, privacy threats, the negative impact on their emotional health, and the inability to complete the tasks on time. Another challenge of using OSNs as educational tools is gender differences. Kim and Yoo ( 2016 ) found some differences between male and female students concerning the negative impact of OSNs, for example, female students are more conserved about issues related to security, and the difficulty of task/work completion. Furthermore, innovation is a key aspect in the education process (Serdyukov 2017 ), however, using OSNs as an educational tool, students could lose creativity due to the easy access to everything using these platforms (Mirabolghasemi et al. 2016 ).

Review method

This study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach in order to answer the research questions. The SLR approach creates a foundation that advances knowledge and facilitates theory development for a specific topic (Webster and Watson 2002 ). Kitchenham and Charters ( 2007 ) defined SLR as a process of identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing all available research that is related to research questions, area of research, or new phenomenon. This study follows Kitchenhand and Charters’ guidelines (Kitchenham 2004 ), which state that the SLR approach involves three main stages: planning the review, conducting the review, and reporting the review results. There are several motivations for carrying out this systematic review. First, to summarize existing knowledge and evidence on research related to OSNs such as the theories, methods, and factors that influence student behaviors on these platforms. Second, to discover the current research focus and trends in this setting. Third, to propose a framework that classifies the factors that influence student behaviors on OSNs using the S-O-R model. The reasons for using S-O-R model in this study are twofold. First, S-O-R is a crucial theoretical framework to understand individuals’ behavior, and it has been extensively used in previous studies on consumer behavior (Wang and Chang 2013 ; Zhang et al. 2014 ; Zhang and Benyoucef 2016 ), and online users’ behavior (Islam et al. 2018 ; Luqman et al. 2017 ). Second, using the S-O-R model can provide a structured manner to understand the effect of the technological features of OSNs as environmental stimuli on individuals’ behavior (Luqman et al. 2017 ). Therefore, the application of the S-O-R model can provide a guide in the OSNs literature to better understand the potential stimulus and organism factors that drive a student’s behavioral responses in the context of OSNs. The SLR was guided by five research questions (see “ Introduction ” section), which provide an in-depth understanding of the research topic. The rationale and motivation beyond considering these questions are stated in Table 1 .

Stage one: Planning

Before conducting any SLR, it is necessary to clarify the goal and the objectives of the review (Kitchenham and Charters 2007 ). After identifying the review objectives and the research questions, in the planning stage, it is important to design the review protocol that will be used to conduct the review (Kitchenham and Charters 2007 ). Using a clear review protocol will help define criteria for selecting the literature source, database, and search keywords. Review protocol reduce research bias and specifies the research method used to perform a systematic review (Kitchenham and Charters 2007 ). Figure  1 shows the review protocol used for this study.

Review protocol

Stage two: Conducting the review

In this stage relevant literature was collected using a two-stage approach, which was followed by the removal of duplicated articles using Mendeley software. Finally, the researchers applied selection criteria to identify the most relevant articles to the current review. The details of each step of this stage are discussed below:

Literature identification and collection

This study used a two-stage approach (Webster and Watson 2002 ) to identify and collect relevant articles for review. In the first stage, this study conducted a systematic search to identify studies that address student behaviors and the use of online social networks using selected academic databases, including the Web of Science, Wiley Online Library ScienceDirect, Scopus, Emerald, and Springer. The choice of these academic databases is consistent with previous SLR studies (Ahmadi et al. 2018 ; Balaid et al. 2016 ; Busalim and Hussin 2016 ). Derived from the structure of this review and the research questions, these online databases were searched by focusing on title, abstract, and keywords. The search in these databases started in May 2019 using the specific keywords of “students’ behavior”, “online social networking”, “social networking sites”, and “Facebook”. This study performed several searches in each database using Boolean logic operators (i.e., AND and OR) to obtain a large number of published studies related to the review topic.

The results from this stage were 164 studies published between 2010 and 2018. In the second stage, important peer-reviewed journals were checked to ensure that all relevant articles were collected. We used the same keywords to search on information systems and education journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, International Journal of Information Management, Computers and Education, and Education and Information Technologies. These journals among the top peer-reviewed journals that publish topics related to students' behavior, education technologies, and OSNs. The result from both stages was 188 studies related to student behaviors in OSN. Table 2 presents the journals with more than two articles published in these areas.

Study selection

Following the identification of these studies, and after deleting duplicated studies, this study examined title, abstract, or the content of each study using three selection criteria: (1) a focus on student behavior; (2) an examination of the context of online social networks; (3) and a qualification as an empirical study. After applying these criteria, a total of 96 studies remained as primary studies for review. We further conducted a forward manual search on a reference list for the identified primary studies, through which an additional 8 studies were identified. A total of 104 studies were collected. As depicted in Fig.  2 , the frequency of published articles related to student behaviors in online social networks has gradually increased since 2010. In this regard, the highest number of articles were published in 2017. We can see that from 2010 to 2012 the number of published articles was relatively low and significant growth in published articles was seen from 2013 to 2017. This increase reveals that studying the behavior of students on different OSN platforms is increasingly attractive to researchers.

Timeline of publication

For further analysis, this study summarized the key topics covered during the review timeline. Figure  3 visualizes the development of OSNs studies over the years. Studies in the first three years (2010–2012) revolved around the use of OSNs by students and the benefits of using these platforms for educational purposes. The studies conducted between 2013 and 2015 mostly focused on the effect of using OSNs on student academic performance and achievement. In addition, in the same period, several studies examined important psychological issues associated with the use of OSNs such as anxiety, stress, and depression. In the years 2016 to 2018, OSNs studies were expanded to include cyber victimization behavior, OSN addiction behavior such as Facebook addiction, and how OSNs provide a collaborative platform that enables students to share information with their colleagues.

Evolution of OSNs studies over the years

Review results

To analyze the identified studies, this study guided its review using four research questions. Using research questions allows the researcher to synthesize findings from previous studies (Chan et al. 2017 ). The following subsection provides a detailed discussion of each of these research questions.

RQ1: What was the research regional context covered in previous studies?

As shown in Fig.  3 , most primary studies were conducted in the United States (n = 37), followed by Asia (n = 21) and Europe (n = 15). Relatively few studies were conducted in Australia, Africa, and the Middle East (n = 6 each), and only five studies were conducted in more than one country. Most of these empirical studies used university or college students to examine and validate the research models. Furthermore, many of these studies examined student behavior by considering Facebook as an online social network (n = 58) and a few studies examined student behavior on Microblogging platforms like Twitter (n = 7). The rest of the studies used multiple online social networks such as Instagram, YouTube, and Moodle (n = 31).

As shown in Fig.  4 , most of the reviewed studies are conducted in the United States (US). Furthermore, these studies considered Facebook as the main OSN platform. However, the focus on examining the usage behavior of Facebook in Western countries, particularly the US, is one of the challenges of Facebook research, because Facebook is used in many countries with 80% of its users are outside of the US (Peters et al. 2015 ).

Distribution of published studies by region

RQ2: What were the focus and trends of previous studies?

The results indicate that the identified primary studies for student behaviors on online social networks covered a wide spectrum of different research contexts. Further examination shows that there are five research streams in the literature.

The first research stream focused on using OSNs for academic purposes. The educational usage of OSNs relies on their purpose of use. OSNs can improve student engagement in a course and provide them with a sense of connection to their colleagues (Lambić 2016 ). However, the use of OSNs by students can affect their education as students can easily shift from using OSNs for educational to entertainment purposes. Thus, many studies under this stream focus on the effect of OSNs use on student academic performance. For instance, Lambić ( 2016 ) examined the effect of frequent Facebook use on the academic performance of university students. The results showed that students using Facebook as an educational tool to facilitate knowledge sharing and discussion positively impacted academic performance. Consistent with this result, Ainin et al. ( 2015 ) found that data from 1165 university students revealed a positive relationship between Facebook use and student academic performance. On the other hand, Paul et al. ( 2012 ) found that time spent on OSNs negative impacted student academic behavior. Moreover, the results statistically highlight that increased student attention spans resulted in increased time spent on OSNs, which eventually results in a negatively effect on academic performance. The results from Karpinski et al. ( 2013 ) showed that the effect of OSNs usage on student academic performance could differ from one country to another.

In summary, previous studies on the relationship between OSN use and academic performance show mixed results. From the reviewed studies, there were disparate results due to a few reasons. For example, recent studies found that multitasking plays an important role in determining the relationship between OSN usage and student academic performance. Karpinski et al. ( 2013 ) found a negative relationship between using social network sites (SNSs) and Grade Point Average (GPA) that was moderated by multitasking. Moreover, results from Junco ( 2015 ), illustrated that besides multitasking, student class rank is another determinant of the relationship between OSN platforms like Facebook and academic performance. The results revealed that senior students spent significantly less time on Facebook while doing schoolwork than freshman and sophomore students.

The second research stream is related to cyber victimization. Studies in this stream focused on negative interactions on OSNs like Facebook, which is the main platform where cyber victimization occurs (Kokkinos and Saripanidis 2017 ). Moreover, most studies in this stream examined the cyberbullying concept on OSNs. Cyberbullying is defined as “any behavior performed through electronic media by individuals or groups of individuals that repeatedly communicates hostile or aggressive messages intended to inflict harm or discomfort on others” (Tokunaga 2010 , p. 278). For instance, Gahagan et al. ( 2016 ) investigated the experiences of college students with cyberbullying on SNSs, and the results showed that 46% of the tested sample witnessed someone who had been bullied through the use of SNSs. Walker et al. ( 2011 ) conducted an exploratory study among undergraduate students to investigate their cyberbullying experiences. The results of the study highlighted that the majority of respondents knew someone who had been bullied on SNSs (Benson et al. 2015 ).

The third research stream focused on student addiction to OSNs use. Recent research has shown that excessive OSN use can lead to addictive behavior among students (Shettar et al. 2017 ). In this stream, Facebook was the main addictive ONS platform that was investigated (Shettar et al. 2017 ; Hong and Chiu 2016 ; Koc and Gulyagci 2013 ). Facebook addiction is defined as an excessive attachment to Facebook that interferes with daily activities and interpersonal relationships (Elphinston and Noller 2011 ). According to Andreassen et al. ( 2012 ), Facebook addiction has six general characteristics including salience, tolerance, mood modification, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse. As university students frequently have high levels of stress due to various commitments, such as assignment deadlines, exams, and high pressure to perform, they tend to use Facebook for mood modification (Brailovskaia and Margraf 2017 ; Brailovskaia et al. 2018 ). On further analysis, it was noticed that Facebook addiction among students was associated with other factors such as loneliness (Shettar et al. 2017 ), personality traits (i.e., openness agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and extraversion) (Błachnio et al. 2017 ; Tang et al. 2016 ), and physical activities (Brailovskaia et al. 2018 ). Studies have examined student addiction behavior on different OSNs platforms. For instance, Ndasauka et al. ( 2016 ), empirically examined excessive Twitter use among college students. Kum Tang and Koh ( 2017 ) investigated the prevalence of different addiction behaviors (i.e., food and shopping addiction) and effective disorders among college students. In addition, a study by Chae and Kim (Chae et al. 2017 ) examined psychosocial differences in ONS addiction between female and male students. The results of the study showed that female students had a higher tendency towards OSNs addiction than male students.

The fourth stream of research highlighted in this review focused on student personality issues such as self-disclosure, stress, depression, loneliness, and self-presentation. For instance, Chen ( 2017 ) investigated the antecedents that predict positive student self-disclosure on SNSs. Tandoc et al. ( 2015 ) used social rank theory and Facebook envy to test the depression scale between college students. Skues et al. ( 2012 ) examined the relationship between three traits in the Big Five Traits model (neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) and student Facebook usage. Chang and Heo ( 2014 ) investigated the factors that explain the disclosure of a student’s personal information on Facebook.

The fifth reviewed research stream focused on student knowledge sharing behavior. For instance, Kim et al. ( 2015 ) identified the personal factors (self-efficacy) and environmental factors (strength of social ties and size of social networks) that affect information sharing behavior amongst university students. Eid and Al-Jabri ( 2016 ) examined the effect of various SNS characteristics (file sharing, chatting and online discussion, content creation, and enjoyment and entertainment) on knowledge sharing and student learning performance. Moghavvemi et al. ( 2017a , b ) examined the relationship between enjoyment, perceived status, outcome expectations, perceived benefits, and knowledge sharing behavior between students on Facebook. Figure  5 provides a mind map that shows an overview of the research focus and trends found in previous studies.

Reviewed studies research focus and trends

RQ3: What were the research methods used in previous studies?

As presented in Fig.  6 , previous studies used several research methods to examine student behavior on online social networks. Surveys were the method used most frequently in primary studies to understand the different types of determinants that effect student behaviors on online social networks, followed by the experiment method. Studies used the experiment method to examine the effect of online social networks content and features on student behavior, For example, Corbitt-Hall et al. ( 2016 ) had randomly assigned students to interact with simulated Facebook content that reflected various suicide risk levels. Singh ( 2017 ) used data mining techniques to collect student interaction data from different social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to classify student academic activities on these platforms. Studies that investigated student intentions, perceptions, and attitudes towards OSNs used survey data. For instance, Doleck et al. ( 2017 ) distributed an online survey to college students who used Facebook and found that perceived usefulness, attitude, and self-expression were influential factors towards the use of online social networks. Moreover, Ndasauka et al. ( 2016 ) used the survey method to assess the excessive use of Twitter among college students.

Research method distribution

RQ4: What were the major theories adopted in previous studies?

The results from the SLR show that previous studies used several theories to understand student behavior in online social networks. Table 3 depicts the theories used in these studies, with Use and Gratification Theory (UGT) being the most popular theory use to understand students' behaviors (Asiedu and Badu 2018 ; Chang and Heo 2014 ; Cheung et al. 2011 ; Hossain and Veenstra 2013 ). Furthermore, the social influence theory and the Big Five Traits model were applied in at least five studies each. The theoretical insights into student behaviors on online social networks provided by these theories are listed below:

Motivation aspect: since the advent of online social networks, many studies have been conducted to understand what motivates students to use online social networks. Theories such as UGT have been widely used to understand this issue. For example, Hossain and Veenstra ( 2013 ) conducted an empirical study to investigate what drives university students in the United States of America to use Social Networking Sites (SNSs) using the theoretical foundation of UGT. The study found that the geographic or physical displacement of students affects the use and gratification of SNSs. Zheng Wang et al. ( 2012a , b ) explained that students are motivated to use social media by their cognitive, emotional, social, and habitual needs as well as that all four categories significantly drive students to use social media.

Social-related aspect: Social theories such as Social Influence Theory, Social Learning Theory, and Social Capital Theory have also been used in several previous studies. Social Influence Theory determines what individual behaviors or opinions are affected by others. Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis (2003) defined social influence as “the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use a new system” . Cheung et al. ( 2011 ) applied Social Influence Theory to examine the effect of social influence factors (subjective norms, group norms, and social identity) on intentions to use online social networks. The empirical results from 182 students revealed that only Group Norms had a significant effect on student intentions to use OSNs. Other studies attempted to empirically examine the effect of other social theories. For instance, Liu and Brown ( 2014 ) adapted Social Capital Theory to investigate whether college students' self-disclosure on SNSs directly affected their social capital. Park et al. ( 2014a , b ) investigated the effect of using SNSs on university student learning outcomes using social learning theory.

Behavioral aspect: This study have noticed that the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance, and Use of Technology (UTAUT) were also utilized as a theoretical foundation in a number of primary studies. These theories have been widely applied in the information systems (IS) field to provide insights into information technology adoption among individuals (Zhang and Benyoucef 2016 ). In the context of online social networks, there were empirical studies that adapted these theories to understand student usage behaviors towards online social networks such as Facebook. For example, Doleck et al. ( 2017 ) applied TAM to investigate college student usage intentions towards SNSs. Chang and Chen ( 2014 ) applied TRA and TPB to investigate why college students share their location on Facebook. In addition, a recent study used UTAUT to examine student perceptions towards using Facebook as an e-learning platform (Moghavvemi et al. 2017a , b ).

RQ5: What important factors were studied to understand student usage behaviors in OSNs?

Throughout the SLR, this study has been able to identify the potential factors that influence student behaviors in online social networks. Furthermore, to synthesize these factors and provide a comprehensive overview, this study proposed a framework based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model. The S-O-R model was developed in environmental psychology by Mehrabian and Russell ( 1974 ). According to Mehrabian and Russell ( 1974 ), environmental cues act as stimuli that can affect an individual’s internal cognitive and affective states, which subsequently influences their behavioral responses. To do so, this study extracted all the factors examined in 104 identified primary studies and classified them into three key concepts: stimulus, organism, and response. The details on the important factors of each component are presented below.

Online social networks stimulus

Stimulus factors are triggers that encourage or prompt students to use OSNs. Based on the SLR results, there are three stimulus dimensions: social stimulus, personal stimulus, and OSN characteristics. Social stimuli are cues embedded in the OSN that drive students to use these platforms. As shown in Fig.  7 , this study has identified six social stimulus factors including social support, social presence, social communication, social enhancement, social network size, and strength of social ties. Previous studies found that social aspects are a potential driver of student usage of OSNs. For instance, Kim et al. ( 2011 ) explored the motivation behind college student use of OSNs and found that seeking social support is one of the primary usage triggers. Lim and Richardson ( 2016 ) stated that using OSNs as educational tools will increase interactions and establish connections between students, which will enhance their social presence. Consistent with this, Cheung et al. ( 2011 ) found that social presence and social enhancement both have a positive effect on student use of OSNs. Other studies have tested the effect of other social factors such as social communication (Lee 2015 ), social network size, and strength of social ties (Chang and Heo 2014 ; Kim et al. 2015 ). Personal stimuli are student motivational factors associated with a specific state that affects their behavioral response. As depicted in Table 4 , researchers have tested different personal student needs that stimulate OSN usage. For instance, Zheng Wang et al. ( 2012a , b ) examined the emotional, social, and cognitive needs that drive students to use OSNs. Moghavvemi et al. ( 2017a , b ) empirically showed that students with a hedonic motivation were willing to use Facebook as an e-learning tool.

Classification framework for student behaviors in online social networks

OSN website characteristics are stimuli related to the cues implanted in an OSN website. In the reviewed studies, it was found that the most well studied OSN characteristics are usefulness and ease of use. Ease of use refers to student perceptions on the extent to which OSN are easy to use whereas usefulness refers to the degree that students believed that using OSN was helpful in enhancing their task performance (Arteaga Sánchez et al. 2014 ). Although student behaviors in OSNs have been widely studied, few studies have focused on OSN characteristics that stimulate student behaviors. For example, Eid and Al-Jabri ( 2016 ) examined the effect of OSN characteristics such as chatting, discussion, content creation, and file sharing. The results showed that file sharing, chatting, and discussion had a positive impact on student knowledge sharing behavior. In summary, Table 4 shows the stimulus factors identified in previous studies and their classification.

Online social networks organisms

Organism in this study’s framework refers to student internal evaluations towards using OSNs. There are four types of organism factors that have been highlighted in the literature. These types include personality traits, values, social, and cognitive reactions. Student personality traits influence the use of OSNs (Skues et al. 2012 ). As shown in Table 4 , self-esteem and self-disclosure were the most examined personality traits associated with student OSN behaviors. Self-esteem refers to an individual’s emotional evaluation of their own worth (Chen 2017 ). For example, Wang et al. ( 2012a , b ) examined the effect of the Big Five personality traits on student use of specific OSN features. The results found that students with high self-esteem were more likely to comment on other student profiles. Self-disclosure refers to the process by which individuals share their feelings, thoughts, information, and experiences with others (Dindia 1995 ). Previous studies have examined student self-disclosure in OSNs to explore information disclosure behavior (Chang and Heo 2014 ), location disclosure (Chang and Chen 2014 ), self-disclosure, and mental health (Zhang 2017 ). The second type of organism factors is value. It has been noticed that there are several value related factors that affect student internal organisms in OSNs. As shown in Table 4 , entertainment and enjoyment factors were the most common value examined in previous studies. Enjoyment is one of the potential drivers of student OSN use (Nawi et al. 2017 ). Eid and Al-Jabri ( 2016 ) found that YouTube is the most dominant OSN platform used by students for enjoyment and entertainment. Moreover, enjoyment and entertainment directly affected student learning performance.

Social organism refers to the internal social behavior of students that affect their use of OSNs. Students interact with OSN platforms when they experience positive social reactions. Previous studies have examined some social organism factors including relationship with faculty members, engagement, leisure activities, social skills, and chatting and discussion. The fourth type of organism factors is cognitive reactions. Parboteeah et al. ( 2009 ) defined cognitive reaction as “the mental process that occurs in an individual’s mind when he or she interacts with a stimulus” . The positive or negative cognitive reaction of students influences their responses towards OSNs. Table 5 presents the most common organism reactions that effect student use of OSNs.

Online social networks response

In this study’s framework, response refers to student reactions to OSNs stimuli and organisms. As shown in Table 5 , academic related behavior and negative behavior are the most common student responses towards OSNs. Studying the effect of OSN usage on student academic performance has been the most common research topic (Lambić 2016 ; Paul et al. 2012 ; Wohn and Larose 2014 ). On the other hand, other studies have examined the negative behavior of students during their usage of ONS, mostly towards ONS addiction (Hong and Chiu 2016 ; Shettar et al. 2017 ) or cyberbullying (Chen 2017 ; Gahagan et al. 2016 ). Table 6 summarizes student responses associated with OSNs use in previous studies.

Discussion and implications

The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic growth in the number of online social networks used among the youth generation. Examining student behaviors on OSN platforms has increasingly attracted scholars. However, there has been little effort to summarize and synthesize these findings. In this review study, a systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize previous research on student behaviors in OSNs to consolidate the factors that influence student behaviors into a classification framework using the S-O-R model. A total of 104 journal articles were identified through a rigorous and systematic search procedure. The collected studies from the literature show an increasing interest in the area ever since 2010. In line with the research questions, our analysis offers insightful results of the research landscape in terms of research regional context, studies focus trends, methodological trends, factors, and theories leveraged. Using the S-O-R model, we synthesized the reviewed studies highlighting the different stimuli, organism, and response factors. We synthesize and classify these factors into social stimuli, personal stimuli, and OSN characteristics, organism factors; personality traits, value, social, and cognitive reaction, and response; academic related behavior, negative behavior, and other responses.

Research regional perspective

The first research question focused on research regional context. The review revealed that most of the studies were conducted in the US followed by European countries, with the majority focusing on Facebook. The results show that the large majority of the studies were based on a single country. This indicates a sustainable research gap in examining the multi-cultural factors in multiple countries. As OSN is a common phenomenon across many counties, considering the culture and background differences can play an essential role in understanding students’ behavior on these platforms. For example, Ifinedo ( 2016 ) collected data from four countries in America (i.e., USA, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico) to understand students’ pervasive adoption of SNSs. The results from the study revealed that the individualism–collectivism culture factor has a positive impact on students' pervasive adoption behavior of SNSs, and the result reported high level of engagement from students who have more individualistic cultures. In the same manner, Kim et al. ( 2011 ) found some cultural differences in use of the SNSs platforms between Korean and US students. For example, considering the social nature of SNSs, the study found that Korean students rely more on online social relationships to obtain social support, where US students use SNSs to seek entertainment. Furthermore, Karpinski et al. ( 2013 ) empirically found significant differences between US and European students in terms of the moderating effect of multitasking on the relationship between SNS use and academic achievement of students. The confirms that culture issues may vary from one country to another, which consequently effect students’ behavior to use OSNs (Kim et al. 2011 ).

Studies focus and trends

The second research question of this review focused on undersigning the topics and trends that have been discussed in extant studies. The review revealed evidence of five categories of research streams based on the research focus and trend. As shown in Fig.  5 , most of the reviewed studies are in the first stream, which is using OSNs for academic purposes. Moreover, the trend of these studies in this stream focus on examining the effect of using OSNs on students’ academic performance and investigating the use of OSNs for educational purposes. However, a number of other trends are noteworthy. First, as cyber victimization is a relatively new concept, most of the studies provide rigorous effort in exporting the concept, and the reasons beyond its existence among students; however, we have noticed that no effort has been made to investigate the consequences of this negative behavior on students’ academic performance, social life, and communication. Second, we identified only two studies that examined the differences between undergraduate and postgraduate students in terms of cyber victimization. Therefore, there are many avenues for further research to untangle the demographic, education level, and cultural differences in this context. Third, our analysis revealed that Facebook was the most studied ONS platform in terms of addiction behavior, however, over the last ten years, the rapid growth of using image-based ONS such as Instagram and Pinterest has attracted many students (Alhabash and Ma 2017 ). For example, Instagram represents the fastest growing OSNs among young adult users age between 18 and 29 years old (Alhabash and Ma 2017 ). The overwhelming majority of the studies focus on Facebook users, and very few studies have examined excessive Instagram use (Kırcaburun and Griffiths 2018 ; Ponnusamy et al. 2020 ). Although OSNs have many similar features, each platform has unique features and a different structure. These differences in OSNs platforms urge further research to investigate and understand the factors related to excessive and addiction use by students (Kircaburun and Griffiths 2018 ). Therefore, based on the current research gaps, future research agenda including three topics/trend need to be considered. We have developed research questions for each topic as a direction for any further research as shown in Table 7 .

Theories and research methods

The third and fourth research questions focused on understanding the trends in terms of research methods and theories leveraged in existing studies. In relation to the third research question, the review highlighted evidence of the four research methods (i.e., survey, experiment, focus group/interview, and mix method) with a heavy focus on using a quantitative method with the majority of studies conducting survey. This may call for utilizing a variety of other research methods and research design to have more in-depth understanding of students’ behavior on OSN. For example, we noticed that few studies leveraged qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups (n = 5). In addition, using mix method may derive more results and answer research questions that other methods cannot answer (Tashakkori and Teddlie 2003 ). Experimental methods have been used sparingly (n = 10), this may trigger an opportunity for more experimental research to test different strategies that can be used by education institutions to leverage the potential of OSN platforms in the education process. Moreover, considering that students’ attitude and behavior will change over time, applying longitudinal research method may offer opportunities to explore students’ attitude and behavior patterns over time.

The fourth research question focused on understanding the theoretical underpinnings of the reviewed studies. The analysis revealed two important insights; (1) a substantial number of the reviewed studies do not explicitly use an applied theory, and (2) out of the 34 studies that used theory, nine studies applied UGT to understand the motivation beyond using the OSN. Our findings categorized these theories under three aspects; motivational, social, and behavioral. While each aspect and theory offers useful lenses in this context, there is a lack of leveraging other theories in the extant literature. This motivates researchers to underpin their studies in theories that provide more insights into these three aspects. For example, majority of the studies have applied UGT to understand students’ motivate for using OSNs. However, using other motivational theories could uncover different factors that influence students' motivation for using OSNs. For example, self-determination theory (SDT) focuses on the extent to which individual’s behavior is self-motivated and determined. According to Ryan and Deci ( 2000 ), magnitude and types both shape individuals’ extrinsic motivation. The extrinsic motivation is a spectrum and depends on the level of self-determination (Wang et al. 2019 ). Therefore, the continuum aspect proposed by SDT can provide in-depth understanding of the extrinsic motivation. Wang et al. ( 2016 ) suggested that applying SDT can play a key role in understanding SNSs user satisfaction.

Another theoretical perspective that is worth further exploration relates to the psychological aspect. Our review results highlighted that a considerable number of studies focused on an important issue arising from the daily use of OSNs, such as excessive use/addiction (Koc and Gulyagci 2013 ; Shettar et al. 2017 ), Previous studies have investigated the behavior aspect beyond these issues, however, understanding the psychological aspect of Facebook addiction is worth further investigation. Ryan et al. ( 2014 ) reviewed Facebook addiction related studies and found that Facebook addiction is also linked to psychological factors such as depression and anxiety.

Factors that influence students behavior: S-O-R Framework

The fifth research question focused on determining the factors studies in the extant literature. The review analysis showed that stimuli factors included social, personal, and OSNs website stimuli. However, different types of stimuli have received less attention than other stimuli. Most studies leveraged the social and students’ personal stimuli. Furthermore, few studies conceptualized the OSNs websites characterises in terms of students beliefs about the effect of OSNs features and functions (e.g., perceived ease of use, user friendly) on students stimuli; it would be significant to develop a typology of the OSNs websites stimuli and systematically examine their effect on students’ attitude and behavior. We recommend applying different theories (as mentioned in Theories and research methods section) as an initial step to further identify stimuli factors. The results also highlight that cognitive reaction plays an essential role in the organism dimension. When students encounter stimuli, their internal evaluation is dominated by emotions. Therefore, the cognitive process takes place between students’ usage behavior and their responses (e.g., effort expectancy). In this review, we reported few studies that examined the effect of the cognitive reaction of students.

Response factors encompass students’ reaction to OSNs platforms stimuli and organism. Our review revealed an unsurprisingly dominant focus on the academic related behavior such as academic performance. While it is important to examine the effect of various stimuli and organism factors on academic related behavior and OSNs negative behavior, the psychological aspect beyond OSNs negative behavior is equallty important.

Limitations

Similar to other systematic review studies, this study has some limitations. The findings of our review are constrained by only empirical studies (journal articles) that meet the inclusion criteria. For instance, we only used the articles that explicitly examined students’ behavior in OSNs. Moreover, other different types of studies such as conference proceedings are not included in our primary studies. Further research efforts can gain additional knowledge and understanding from practitioner articles, books and, white papers. Our findings offer a comprehensive conceptual framework to understand students’ behavior in OSNs; future studies are recommended to perform a quantitative meta-analysis to this framework and test the relative effect of different stimuli factors.

Conclusions

The use of OSNs has become a daily habit among young adults and adolescents these days (Brailovskaia et al. 2020 ). In this review, we used a rigorous systematic review process and identified 104 studies related to students’ behavior in OSNs. We systematically reviewed these studies and provide an overview of the current state of this topic by uncovering the research context, research focus, theories, and research method. More importantly, we proposed a classification framework based on S-O-R model to consolidate the factors that influence students in online social networks. These factors were classified under different dimensions in each category of the S-O-R model; stimuli (Social Stimulus, Personal Stimulus, and OSN Characteristics), organism (Personality traits, value, social, Cognitive reaction), and students’ responses (academic-related behavior, negative behavior, and other responses). This framework provides the researchers with a classification of the factors that have been used in previous studies which can motivate further research on the factors that need more empirical examination (e.g., OSN characteristics).

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

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This paper is supported by Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) (Vote No. R.K130000.7840.4F245), and UTM Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology research grant or DPUTMRAZAK (Vote No. R.K13000.7740.4J313).

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Masrom, M.B., Busalim, A.H., Abuhassna, H. et al. Understanding students’ behavior in online social networks: a systematic literature review. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 18 , 6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00240-7

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The Impact of Social Media on the Mental Health of Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review

Abderrahman m khalaf.

1 Psychiatry Department, Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAU

Abdullah A Alubied

Ahmed m khalaf.

2 College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, SAU

Abdallah A Rifaey

3 College of Medicine, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, SAU

Adolescents increasingly find it difficult to picture their lives without social media. Practitioners need to be able to assess risk, and social media may be a new component to consider. Although there is limited empirical evidence to support the claim, the perception of the link between social media and mental health is heavily influenced by teenage and professional perspectives. Privacy concerns, cyberbullying, and bad effects on schooling and mental health are all risks associated with this population's usage of social media. However, ethical social media use can expand opportunities for connection and conversation, as well as boost self-esteem, promote health, and gain access to critical medical information. Despite mounting evidence of social media's negative effects on adolescent mental health, there is still a scarcity of empirical research on how teens comprehend social media, particularly as a body of wisdom, or how they might employ wider modern media discourses to express themselves. Youth use cell phones and other forms of media in large numbers, resulting in chronic sleep loss, which has a negative influence on cognitive ability, school performance, and socio-emotional functioning. According to data from several cross-sectional, longitudinal, and empirical research, smartphone and social media use among teenagers relates to an increase in mental distress, self-harming behaviors, and suicidality. Clinicians can work with young people and their families to reduce the hazards of social media and smartphone usage by using open, nonjudgmental, and developmentally appropriate tactics, including education and practical problem-solving.

Introduction and background

Humans are naturally social species that depend on the companionship of others to thrive in life. Thus, while being socially linked with others helps alleviate stress, worry, and melancholy, a lack of social connection can pose major threats to one's mental health [ 1 ]. Over the past 10 years, the rapid emergence of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others has led to some significant changes in how people connect and communicate (Table 1 ). Over one billion people are currently active users of Facebook, the largest social networking website, and it is anticipated that this number will grow significantly over time, especially in developing countries. Facebook is used for both personal and professional interaction, and its deployment has had a number of positive effects on connectivity, idea sharing, and online learning [ 2 ]. Furthermore, the number of social media users globally in 2019 was 3.484 billion, a 9% increase year on year [ 3 ].

Mental health is represented as a state of well-being in which individuals recognize their potential, successfully navigate daily challenges, perform effectively at work, and make a substantial difference in the lives of others [ 4 ]. There is currently debate over the benefits and drawbacks of social media on mental health [ 5 ]. Social networking is an important part of safeguarding our mental health. Mental health, health behavior, physical health, and mortality risk are all affected by the quantity and quality of social contacts [ 5 ].

Social media use and mental health may be related, and the displaced behavior theory could assist in clarifying why. The displaced behavior hypothesis is a psychology theory that suggests people have limited self-control and, when confronted with a challenging or stressful situation, may engage in behaviors that bring instant gratification but are not in accordance with their long-term objectives [ 6 ]. In addition, when people are unable to deal with stress in a healthy way, they may act out in ways that temporarily make them feel better but ultimately harm their long-term goals and wellness [ 7 , 8 ]. In the 1990s, social psychologist Roy Baumeister initially suggested the displaced behavior theory [ 9 ]. Baumeister suggested that self-control is a limited resource that can be drained over time and that when self-control resources are low, people are more likely to engage in impulsive or self-destructive conduct [ 9 ]. This can lead to a cycle of bad behaviors and outcomes, as individuals may engage in behaviors that bring short respite but eventually add to their stress and difficulties [ 9 ]. According to the hypothetical terms, those who participate in sedentary behaviors, including social media, engage in fewer opportunities for in-person social interaction, both of which have been demonstrated to be protective against mental illnesses [ 10 ]. Social theories, on the other hand, discovered that social media use influences mental health by affecting how people interpret, maintain, and interact with their social network [ 4 ].

Numerous studies on social media's effects have been conducted, and it has been proposed that prolonged use of social media sites like Facebook may be linked to negative manifestations and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress [ 11 ]. A distinct and important time in a person's life is adolescence. Additionally, risk factors such as family issues, bullying, and social isolation are readily available at this period, and it is crucial to preserve social and emotional growth. The growth of digital technology has affected numerous areas of adolescent lives. Nowadays, teenagers' use of social media is one of their most apparent characteristics. Being socially connected with other people is a typical phenomenon, whether at home, school, or a social gathering, and adolescents are constantly in touch with their classmates via social media accounts. Adolescents are drawn to social networking sites because they allow them to publish pictures, images, and videos on their platforms. It also allows teens to establish friends, discuss ideas, discover new interests, and try out new kinds of self-expression. Users of these platforms can freely like and comment on posts as well as share them without any restrictions. Teenagers now frequently post insulting remarks on social media platforms. Adolescents frequently engage in trolling for amusement without recognizing the potentially harmful consequences. Trolling on these platforms focuses on body shaming, individual abilities, language, and lifestyle, among other things. The effects that result from trolling might cause anxiety, depressive symptoms, stress, feelings of isolation, and suicidal thoughts. The authors explain the influence of social media on teenage well-being through a review of existing literature and provide intervention and preventative measures at the individual, family, and community levels [ 12 ].

Although there is a "generally correlated" link between teen social media use and depression, certain outcomes have been inconsistent (such as the association between time spent on social media and mental health issues), and the data quality is frequently poor [ 13 ]. Browsing social media could increase your risk of self-harm, loneliness, and empathy loss, according to a number of research studies. Other studies either concluded that there is no harm or that some people, such as those who are socially isolated or marginalized, may benefit from using social media [ 10 ]. Because of the rapid expansion of the technological landscape in recent years, social media has become increasingly important in the lives of young people. Social networking has created both enormous new challenges and interesting new opportunities. Research is beginning to indicate how specific social media interactions may impair young people's mental health [ 14 ]. Teenagers could communicate with one another on social media platforms, as well as produce, like, and share content. In most cases, these individuals are categorized as active users. On the other hand, teens can also use social media in a passive manner by "lurking" and focusing entirely on the content that is posted by others. The difference between active and passive social media usage is sometimes criticized as a false dichotomy because it does not necessarily reveal whether a certain activity is goal-oriented or indicative of procrastination [ 15 ]. However, the text provides no justification for why this distinction is wrong [ 16 ]. For instance, one definition of procrastination is engaging in conversation with other people to put off working on a task that is more important. The goal of seeing the information created by other people, as opposed to participating with those same individuals, may be to keep up with the lives of friends. One of the most important distinctions that can be made between the various sorts is whether the usage is social. When it comes to understanding and evaluating all these different applications of digital technology, there are a lot of obstacles to overcome. Combining all digital acts into a single predictor of pleasure would, from both a philosophical and an empirical one, invariably results in a reduction in accuracy [ 17 ].

Methodology

This systematic review was carried out and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement and standard practices in the field. The purpose of this study was to identify studies on the influence of technology, primarily social media, on the psychosocial functioning, health, and well-being of adolescents and young adults.

The MEDLINE bibliographical database, PubMed, Google Scholar, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and Scopus were searched between 1 January 2000 and 30 May 2023. Social media AND mental health AND adolescents AND young adults were included in the search strategy (impact or relation or effect or influence).

Two researchers (AK and AR) separately conducted a literature search utilizing the search method and evaluated the inclusion eligibility of the discovered papers based on their titles and abstracts. Then, the full texts of possibly admissible publications were retrieved and evaluated for inclusion. Disagreements among the researchers were resolved by debate and consensus.

The researchers included studies that examined the impact of technology, primarily social media, on the psychosocial functioning, health, and well-being of adolescents and young adults. We only considered English publications, reviews, longitudinal surveys, and cross-sectional studies. We excluded studies that were not written in English, were not comparative, were case reports, did not report the results of interest, or did not list the authors' names. We also found additional articles by looking at the reference lists of the retrieved articles.

Using a uniform form, the two researchers (AK and AA) extracted the data individually and independently. The extracted data include the author, publication year, study design, sample size and age range, outcome measures, and the most important findings or conclusions.

A narrative synthesis of the findings was used to analyze the data, which required summarizing and presenting the results of the included research in a logical and intelligible manner. Each study's key findings or conclusions were summarized in a table.

Study Selection

A thorough search of electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library, was done from 1 January 2000 to 20 May 2023. Initial research revealed 326 potentially relevant studies. After deleting duplicates and screening titles and abstracts, the eligibility of 34 full-text publications was evaluated. A total of 23 papers were removed for a variety of reasons, including non-comparative studies, case reports, and studies that did not report results of interest (Figure ​ (Figure1 1 ).

PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

This systematic review identified 11 studies that examined the connection between social media use and depression symptoms in children and adolescents. The research demonstrated a modest but statistically significant association between social media use and depression symptoms. However, this relationship's causality is unclear, and additional study is required to construct explanatory models and hypotheses for inferential studies [ 18 ].

Additional research studied the effects of technology on the psychosocial functioning, health, and well-being of adolescents and young adults. Higher levels of social media usage were connected with worse mental health outcomes [ 19 ], and higher levels of social media use were associated with an increased risk of internalizing and externalizing difficulties among adolescents, especially females [ 20 ]. The use of social media was also connected with body image problems and disordered eating, especially among young women [ 21 ], and social media may be a risk factor for alcohol consumption and associated consequences among adolescents and young adults [ 22 ].

It was discovered that cyberbullying victimization is connected with poorer mental health outcomes in teenagers, including an increased risk of sadness and anxiety [ 23 ]. The use of social media was also connected with more depressive symptoms and excessive reassurance-seeking, but also with greater popularity and perceived social support [ 24 ], as well as appearance comparisons and body image worries, especially among young women [ 25 ]. Children and adolescents' bedtime media device use was substantially related to inadequate sleep quantity, poor sleep quality, and excessive daytime drowsiness [ 26 ].

Online friends can be a significant source of social support, but in-person social support appears to provide greater protection against persecution [ 27 ]. Digital and social media use offers both benefits and risks to the health of children and adolescents, and an individualized family media use plan can help strike a balance between screen time/online time and other activities, set boundaries for accessing content, promote digital literacy, and support open family communication and consistent media use rules (Tables ​ (Tables2, 2 , ​ ,3) 3 ) [ 28 ].

Does Social Media Have a Positive or Negative Impact on Adolescents and Young Adults?

Adults frequently blame the media for the problems that younger generations face, conceptually bundling different behaviors and patterns of use under a single term when it comes to using media to increase acceptance or a feeling of community [ 29 , 30 ]. The effects of social media on mental health are complex, as different goals are served by different behaviors and different outcomes are produced by distinct patterns of use [ 31 ]. The numerous ways that people use digital technology are often disregarded by policymakers and the general public, as they are seen as "generic activities" that do not have any specific impact [ 32 ]. Given this, it is crucial to acknowledge the complex nature of the effects that digital technology has on adolescents' mental health [ 19 ]. This empirical uncertainty is made worse by the fact that there are not many documented metrics of how technology is used. Self-reports are the most commonly used method for measuring technology use, but they can be prone to inaccuracy. This is because self-reports are based on people's own perceptions of their behavior, and these perceptions can be inaccurate [ 33 ]. At best, there is simply a weak correlation between self-reported smartphone usage patterns and levels that have been objectively verified [ 34 , 35 ].

When all different kinds of technological use are lumped together into a single behavioral category, not only does the measurement of that category contribute to a loss of precision, but the category also contributes to a loss of precision. To obtain precision, we need to investigate the repercussions of a wide variety of applications, ideally guided by the findings of scientific research [ 36 ]. The findings of this research have frequently been difficult to interpret, with many of them suggesting that using social media may have a somewhat negative but significantly damaging impact on one's mental health [ 36 ]. There is a growing corpus of research that is attempting to provide a more in-depth understanding of the elements that influence the development of mental health, social interaction, and emotional growth in adolescents [ 20 ].

It is challenging to provide a succinct explanation of the effects that social media has on young people because it makes use of a range of different digital approaches [ 37 , 38 ]. To utilize and respond to social media in either an adaptive or maladaptive manner, it is crucial to first have a solid understanding of personal qualities that some children may be more likely to exhibit than others [ 39 ]. In addition to this, the specific behaviors or experiences on social media that put teenagers in danger need to be recognized.

When a previous study particularly questioned teenagers in the United States, the authors found that 31% of them believe the consequences are predominantly good, 45% believe they are neither positive nor harmful, and 24% believe they are unfavorable [ 21 ]. Teens who considered social media beneficial reported that they were able to interact with friends, learn new things, and meet individuals who shared similar interests because of it. Social media is said to enhance the possibility of (i) bullying, (ii) ignoring face-to-face contact, and (iii) obtaining incorrect beliefs about the lives of other people, according to those who believe the ramifications are serious [ 21 ]. In addition, there is the possibility of avoiding depression and suicide by recognizing the warning signs and making use of the information [ 40 ]. A common topic that comes up in this area of research is the connection that should be made between traditional risks and those that can be encountered online. The concept that the digital age and its effects are too sophisticated, rapidly shifting, or nuanced for us to fully comprehend or properly shepherd young people through is being questioned, which challenges the traditional narrative that is sent to parents [ 41 ]. The last thing that needs to be looked at is potential mediators of the link between social factors and teenage depression and suicidality (for example, gender, age, and the participation of parents) [ 22 ].

The Dangers That Come With Young Adults Utilizing Social Media

The experiences that adolescents have with their peers have a substantial impact on the onset and maintenance of psychopathology in those teenagers. Peer relationships in the world of social media can be more frequent, intense, and rapid than in real life [ 42 ]. Previous research [ 22 ] has identified a few distinct types of peer interactions that can take place online as potential risk factors for mental health. Being the target of cyberbullying, also known as cyber victimization, has been shown to relate to greater rates of self-inflicted damage, suicidal ideation, and a variety of other internalizing and externalizing issues [ 43 ]. Additionally, young people may be put in danger by the peer pressure that can be found on social networking platforms [ 44 ]. This can take the form of being rejected by peers, engaging in online fights, or being involved in drama or conflict [ 45 ]. Peer influence processes may also be amplified among teenagers who spend time online, where they have access to a wider diversity of their peers as well as content that could be damaging to them [ 46 ]. If young people are exposed to information on social media that depicts risky behavior, their likelihood of engaging in such behavior themselves (such as drinking or using other drugs) may increase [ 22 ]. It may be simple to gain access to online materials that deal with self-harm and suicide, which may result in an increase in the risk of self-harm among adolescents who are already at risk [ 22 ]. A recent study found that 14.8% of young people who were admitted to mental hospitals because they posed a risk to others or themselves had viewed internet sites that encouraged suicide in the two weeks leading up to their admission [ 24 ]. The research was conducted on young people who were referred to mental hospitals because they constituted a risk to others or themselves [ 24 ]. They prefer to publish pictures of themselves on social networking sites, which results in a steady flow of messages and pictures that are often and painstakingly modified to present people in a favorable light [ 24 ]. This influences certain young individuals, leading them to begin making unfavorable comparisons between themselves and others, whether about their achievements, their abilities, or their appearance [ 47 , 48 ].

There is a correlation between higher levels of social networking in comparison and depressed symptoms in adolescents, according to studies [ 25 ]. When determining how the use of technology impacts the mental health of adolescents, it is essential to consider the issue of displacement. This refers to the question of what other important activities are being replaced by time spent on social media [ 49 ]. It is a well-established fact that the circadian rhythms of children and adolescents have a substantial bearing on both their physical and mental development.

However, past studies have shown a consistent connection between using a mobile device before bed and poorer sleep quality results [ 50 ]. These results include shorter sleep lengths, decreased sleep quality, and daytime tiredness [ 50 ]. Notably, 36% of adolescents claim they wake up at least once over the course of the night to check their electronic devices, and 40% of adolescents say they use a mobile device within five minutes of going to bed [ 25 ]. Because of this, the impact of social media on the quality of sleep continues to be a substantial risk factor for subsequent mental health disorders in young people, making it an essential topic for the continuation of research in this area [ 44 ].

Most studies that have been conducted to investigate the link between using social media and experiencing depression symptoms have concentrated on how frequently and problematically people use social media [ 4 ]. Most of the research that was taken into consideration for this study found a positive and reciprocal link between the use of social media and feelings of depression and, on occasion, suicidal ideation [ 51 , 52 ]. Additionally, it is unknown to what extent the vulnerability of teenagers and the characteristics of substance use affect this connection [ 52 ]. It is also unknown whether other aspects of the environment, such as differences in cultural norms or the advice and support provided by parents, have any bearing on this connection [ 25 ]. Even if it is probable that moderate use relates to improved self-regulation, it is not apparent whether this is the result of intermediate users having naturally greater self-regulation [ 25 ].

Gains From Social Media

Even though most of the debate on young people and new media has centered on potential issues, the unique features of the social media ecosystem have made it feasible to support adolescent mental health in more ways than ever before [ 39 ]. Among other benefits, using social media may present opportunities for humor and entertainment, identity formation, and creative expression [ 53 ]. More mobile devices than ever before are in the hands of teenagers, and they are using social media at never-before-seen levels [ 27 ]. This may not come as a surprise given how strongly young people are drawn to digital devices and the affordances they offer, as well as their heightened craving for novelty, social acceptance, and affinity [ 27 ]. Teenagers are interacting with digital technology for longer periods of time, so it is critical to comprehend the effects of this usage and use new technologies to promote teens' mental health and well-being rather than hurt it [ 53 ]. Considering the ongoing public discussion, we should instead emphasize that digital technology is neither good nor bad in and of itself [ 27 ].

One of the most well-known benefits of social media is social connection; 81% of students say it boosts their sense of connectedness to others. Connecting with friends and family is usually cited by teenagers as the main benefit of social media, and prior research typically supports the notion that doing so improves people's well-being. Social media can be used to increase acceptance or a feeling of community by providing adolescents with opportunities to connect with others who share their interests, beliefs, and experiences [ 29 ]. Digital media has the potential to improve adolescent mental health in a variety of ways, including cutting-edge applications in medical screening, treatment, and prevention [ 28 ]. In terms of screening, past research has suggested that perusing social media pages for signs of melancholy or drug abuse may be viable. More advanced machine-learning approaches have been created to identify mental disease signs on social media, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality. Self-report measures are used in most studies currently conducted on adolescent media intake. It is impossible to draw firm conclusions on whether media use precedes and predicts negative effects on mental health because research has only been conducted once. Adults frequently blame the media for the problems that younger generations face [ 30 ]. Because they are cyclical, media panics should not just be attributed to the novel and the unknown. Teenagers' time management, worldview, and social interactions have quickly and dramatically changed as a result of technology. Social media offers a previously unheard-of opportunity to spread awareness of mental health difficulties, and social media-based health promotion programs have been tested for a range of cognitive and behavioral health conditions. Thanks to social media's instant accessibility, extensive possibilities, and ability to reach remote areas, young people with mental health issues have exciting therapy options [ 54 ]. Preliminary data indicate that youth-focused mental health mobile applications are acceptable, but further research is needed to assess their usefulness and effectiveness. Youth now face new opportunities and problems as a result of the growing significance of digital media in their life. An expanding corpus of research suggests that teenagers' use of social media may have an impact on their mental health. But more research is needed [ 18 ] considering how swiftly the digital media landscape is changing.

Conclusions

In the digital era, people efficiently employ technology; it does not "happen" to them. Studies show that the average kid will not be harmed by using digital technology, but that does not mean there are no situations where it could. In this study, we discovered a connection between social media use and adolescent depression. Since cross-sectional research represents the majority, longitudinal studies are required. The social and personal life of young people is heavily influenced by social media. Based on incomplete and contradictory knowledge on young people and digital technology, professional organizations provide guidance to parents, educators, and institutions. If new technologies are necessary to promote social interaction or develop digital and relational (digitally mediated) skills for growing economies, policies restricting teen access to them may be ineffective. The research on the impact of social media on mental health is still in its early stages, and more research is needed before we can make definitive recommendations for parents, educators, or institutions. Reaching young people during times of need and when assistance is required is crucial for their health. The availability of various friendships and services may improve the well-being of teenagers.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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• CORRESPONDENCE
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Social-media influence on teen mental health goes beyond just cause and effect

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In her review of Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation ( Nature 628 , 29–30; 2024 ), Candice Odgers focuses on whether there is a causal relationship between social-media use and poor social outcomes among young people. However, this gives an incomplete view of Haidt’s argument, which puts social-media use in a wider context.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Young users of social media: an analysis from a gender perspective.

• 1 Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain
• 2 Faculty of Education and Sport, University of Deusto, Donostia, Spain
• 3 Faculty of Education and Sport, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
• 4 CESAG, Comillas Pontifical University, Mallorca, Spain

One of the major challenges for edu-communication research is to analyze the influence of social media on young and adolescent users. This article examines the evaluation of gender inequalities – real and symbolic – in the consumption of social networks such as YouTube and Instagram among young people. Within the framework of a Research & Development & innovation (R&D + i ) project, it presents a discursive-theoretical analysis of how young users of social media perceive the presence and representation of gender on social media and whether such digital representations can be associated with an empowering gender perspective. This study presents results from 14 focus groups ( N  = 83), composed of students aged 12 to 18, drawn from three Spanish Autonomous Communities (Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Basque Country). The results show that gender issues arise in participants’ conversations, especially among female participants, who perceive the importance of physical appearance on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Female participants feel more pressure in terms of appearance and dress compared to male participants. Among male participants there are more expressions of self-affirmation and more mentions related to fun and social prestige. Both male and female participants express concern about the impact of that pressure on younger girls. The influence of social media on self-image is more evident among female participants, who make frequent mention of the importance of self-esteem in relation to beauty standards and exposure to idealized body images. Notably, there were no comments by male participants that acknowledge any influence of social media on their self-image. The findings are in line with existing research and taken as a whole gives rise to concern as to the gender disparities observed in the use of social media, which do not constitute a picture of female empowerment. This research underlines the importance of promoting a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality within digital spaces. Thus, this study provides support for the need to develop and implement edu-communicative initiatives to foster critical thinking around the influence of social media in this context and the evaluation of the impact of such initiatives in future research.

1 Introduction

One of the major challenges for research in edu-communication – a term used in the field of Communication ( Orozco, 1997 , 2010 ; Kaplún, 2013 ) and which UNESCO defined in 2002 as teaching and critical learning about the media – and its dissemination to the wider community is to analyze the influence of social media on young users. Prior research has indicated the significant impact of social media on identity development ( Ahn, 2011 ; Valkenburg and Peter, 2011 ; boyd, 2014 ; Baym, 2018 ; van Eldik et al., 2019 ). Social media such as YouTube and Instagram are considered privileged spaces for the construction and (self-)representation of youth identity ( Cover, 2012 ; Thumim and Enli, 2012 ; boyd, 2014 ), and allow for parasocial relationships with influencers ( Rihl and Wegenerpp, 2017 ; Ferchaud et al., 2018 ; Rasmussen, 2018 ), who may act as role models ( Westenberg, 2016 ). As studies in Spain and internationally show, adolescents are now heavy users of social media use, especially YouTube and Instagram ( Ríos Hernández et al., 2022 ; IAB, 2023 ). Here, however, we are concerned with the extent to which this scenario of hyperconnectivity favors or impedes the (co-)responsibility of the new generations for gender equality in the digital media space, as new moral subjects – active audiences ( Ruiz, 2015 ). That responsibility is linked to the concept of participation that we take up here from the perspective of the complexity and ambivalences that its practice requires ( Jenkins and Carpentier, 2013 ), so as to overcome the magical or cosmetic roles often assigned to that have often been attributed to the participatory activity of audiences ( Bergillos, 2019 ).

As is well known, digital platforms are part of the societal and media discourse that constitutes and shapes collective imaginaries, including representations of gender. Since the 1970s, the incorporation of gender into research approaches has highlighted stereotypical representations of men and women ( Bernárdez, 2015 ) that lead people to internalize inequality in ways that even today continue to hinder the development of fairer societies.

Progress toward equality and women’s empowerment has been marked by a number of milestones on a global scale, such as the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Within the European Union there has been progress at a political level such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the creation of the European Institute for Gender Equality and the issue of the Gender Equality Strategy by the European Commission ( García-Ruiz et al., 2014 ). In fact, gender equality and empowering all women and girls is one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and is integral to every facet of inclusive, sustainable development. As stated by UN Women (2023) , there is an urgent need to identify and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls, in both the public and the private sphere. In Spain, it is a cause for concern that the progress made in bridging the gender gap since 2006 ( IME, 2023 ) will come under threat between 2021 and 2023 ( Statista, 2023 ), at the same time as the country is seeing growing anti-feminism and denial of gender violence among adolescent males ( Boneta-Sádaba et al., 2023 ).

In the digital space, the rise in hate speech aimed at feminist principles or directly against women, has been noted, as shown by different assessments of the internet and social media ( EIU, 2021 ; Tortajada and Vera, 2021 ). Several studies show how users of social media tend to coalesce around highly polarized positions driven by partisan differences in the framing of discourse ( Demszky et al., 2019 ). As Diepeveen (2024 , p. 5) points out, “over the past ten years, online spaces with content that rejects feminism and gender equality and promotes male supremacy – sometimes termed the “manosphere” ( Marwick and Caplan, 2018 ; Kimeu, 2023 ) have become increasingly prevalent.” Some authors ( Medina and Talarn, 2020 , pp. 494–495) observe the spread of a neo-liberal feminism among young men and women, “the belief that the acceptance of rigid patterns of an idealized femininity is, in fact, an exercise of free and determined will.” Among the risks of social media consumption among young people, the impact of esthetic standards from the world of fashion and the persistence of stereotyped roles are highlighted ( Fernández-de-Arroyabe-Olaortua et al., 2018 ). Nevertheless, there are other more encouraging developments. The notoriety of popular feminism ( Banet-Weiser, 2018 ) seems to have influenced the digital imaginary around the construction of gender, giving rise to more diverse and inclusive representations that partially invalidate postfeminist theses ( Caballero-Gálvez et al., 2017 ; Keller and Ryan, 2018 ). The opportunities that the consumption of digital sources can offer compared to the use of other media are said to include less divergence in the roles assigned to males and females ( Feijoo and García-González, 2017 ). In Spain, according to the Youth Report ( Injuve, 2021 ), young people have an interest in gender inequality, very possibly in consequence of having been socialized in an environment in which the most actively advocated social issues were associated with feminism ( Peña-Fernández et al., 2023 ).

In order to understand the evidence on whether, how and to what extent social media affect gender norms among adolescents, in 2023 the ODI ( Diepeveen, 2024 ) conducted a targeted review of empirical studies published since 2015, focusing on publications in English, Spanish, French and German on adolescent boys. Included in the review were 51 studies on social media platforms with public-facing content, such as Instagram and YouTube. The evidence was diverse. As Diepeveen (2024) summarizes, many of the quantitative studies explored correlations and tended to assume that the direction of influence went from social media platforms to gender norms and attitudes, rather than vice versa or in both directions. Qualitative studies provided a useful corrective, revealing the many ways in which adolescents use social media and select and produce online content in function of their pre-existing interests and attitudes.

Our article provides qualitative research that captures the subtle and sometimes contradictory comments of adolescents themselves about what they perceive social media to be and, in turn, what it is that social media entrench or undermine.

For all these reasons, it appears to us appropriate to address the discourse of adolescents from a gender perspective, in order to determine whether they take gender differences into account in their assessments of social media such as YouTube and Instagram and whether they make any link between those differences and forms of power and discrimination ( EIGE, 2023 ). The gender perspective is (or should be) understood, consequently, as a consubstantial element of the (trans)media education or literacy of digital generations, in line with the understanding of those terms and the importance attributed to them by various authors ( García-Ruiz and Pérez-Escoda, 2019 ; Balladares-Burgos and Jaramillo-Baquerizo, 2022 ) and international organizations and initiatives such as Unesco, the Agenda 2030 action plan and Unicef. Spaces for reflection, debate and content creation from a feminist perspective can be created for young girls and adolescent women and their male peers through such media empowerment ( Tornay-Marquez, 2019 ).

2 Gender perspective and transmedia education

Despite the theoretical nuances between their conceptual frameworks, edu-communication and transmedia education or transmedia literacy can be understood as convergent approaches from the perspectives of education and communication, respectively, to the growing interrelation between media, communication and education in different stages of the lives of children, adolescents and young adults. Both theoretical frameworks aim to encourage and facilitate critical reflection and empowerment of users of media, information, and communication technology.

The concept of media literacy has been approached from different perspectives and has evolved as digital and virtual technology has developed. As Ríos Hernández et al. (2022) point out, in today’s digital ecosystem audiences have a more active role, generating a relationship of dialog between different media and their users. Thus, Scolari (2018) posits the term transmedia literacy to reflect contemporary reality: such literacy consists not only in critical analysis of content, but also in treating consumers of media as active subjects in the digital world, with increasingly sophisticated interpretative and creative skills.

In relation to the media literacy of young people, we are in agreement with theoretical stances that reject simplistic solutions or hypodermic’ processes ( Bragg et al., 2011 ). Zimmerman (2000) expands this holistic approach by emphasizing the positive aspects of human behavior (including identification and capacity building) that accompany “the analysis of the influence of the environment rather than blaming the victims” ( Silva and Martínez, 2004 , p. 2).

Several formulations have been proposed of the competencies and indicators that make up (trans)media literacy. For example, the dimensions of media competence put forward by Ferrés and Piscitelli (2012) : language, technology, processes of interaction, processes of production and dissemination, ideology, and values and esthetics. Similarly, Scolari (2018) posits the following transmedia competencies: production, management, performative, media and technology, narrative and esthetics, risk prevention, and ideologies and ethics.

Our principal interest resides in the competencies that can be seen as making up a journey, since such a journey can bring together the notion of transmedia education – alert to new technological and social realities – with empowerment as a process ( Montero, 2003 ). That is so not only because it is a non-linear model of change ( Kabeer, 1999 ), but also because it is in itself a double process: individual, as the acquisition of greater autonomy, and collective, “with the aim of achieving a fair and egalitarian society, especially in terms of relations between men and women” ( Charlier and Caubergs, 2007 , p. 6).

Making a link between media literacy and the concept of empowerment raises the issue of the role of men’s and women’s involvement and participation in the digital environment. In academic works, different studies ( Tufecki, 2017 ; Dussel et al., 2021 ) discuss the contradictions of the new conditions of popular participation in the digital world. While some authors observe that more gender differences have been found in the offline world, in the “real” life of young people ( Renau et al., 2012 ), others continue to focus on the risks presented by beauty standards and the persistence of stereotypical female roles ( Fernández-de-Arroyabe-Olaortua et al., 2018 ; Santos et al., 2022 ) and stereotypical gender roles in general ( Ringrose et al., 2013 ; Van Oosten et al., 2017 ). In other words, there may be inequalities in media access and representation that reflect differences in digital participation. We want to determine whether any such inequalities are found among adolescents and young adults: a particularly important stage in the journey of edu-communication and transmedia literacy development.

Previous studies on social media and young people point out that, beyond the interests of each individual, the self-perception of the skills and competencies needed to manage cyberspace is different between males and females, with males more positive ( Siddiq and Scherer, 2019 ; Estanyol et al., 2023 ). However, there are also studies that point to the influence of sexist stereotypes that can sentence one of the genders to a position of inequality in the “onlife reality”, a term used by Floridi (2015 , p. 1) to refer to a hyperconnected reality in which online and offline realities are in practice inseparable [cited by Serrate-González et al. (2023) ].

Specifically, we are interested in the perceptions conveyed by male and female participants of their experience on YouTube and Instagram around gender identity in the representations and discourses in these media. To that end, our research questions can be summarized as two questions:

RQ 1. How do young users of social media such as YouTube and Instagram of either sex see the presence and representation of gender on social media?

RQ 2. Is it possible to say that the way they see gender on social media is empowering for them?

3 Materials and methods

3.1 participants.

An exploratory qualitative study was carried out using focus groups (FG) with adolescents aged 12 to 18 in the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands in Spain according to a criterion of convenience, in light of the location of the three universities participating in the project. The selection of the sample responds to age criteria, to cover the three stages of adolescence ( UNICEF, 2024 ): early or initial adolescence (10–13 years), middle adolescence (14–16) and late or post-adolescence (17 up to as late as 21 years of age), in three geographic areas, and to a criterion of convenience in the selection of the three Autonomous Communities, corresponding in which the three participating universities are located (anonymized). The sample was selected with the help of the educational settings that had participated in a previous questionnaire ( Aran-Ramspott et al., 2022 ) using two filter criteria:

• age of the participants: three categories according to stage of education, first year of Compulsory Secondary Education (approximately 12 years of age); fourth year of Compulsory Secondary Education (15–16 years old) and first year university students (18–20 years old) following Communication and Education courses most closely related to Media literacy at each of the three participating universities.

• gender balance.

Finally, in late 2021 and early 2022, 14 FGs were held, involving a total of to 76 students (37 male, 39 female): five FGs of first year of Compulsory Secondary Education, five FGs of fourth year of Compulsory Secondary Education and four FGs of first year university students.

3.1.1 Procedure

The focus groups were designed with semi-structured prepared questions and topics and were conducted and audio-recorded in the settings with the consent of the parents or guardians of participants under 18 and of the students themselves. The open-ended script is based on the prior literature review ( Buckingham, 2008 ; Ferrés and Piscitelli, 2012 ; boyd, 2014 ; Gill, 2017 ; Aran-Ramspott et al., 2018 , 2022 ; Scolari, 2018 ), the method ( Barbour, 2007 ) and the objectives of the study. The script, which was intended to be flexible as this was an exploratory analysis, initially canvassed general categories related to the participants’ views of social media, their preferences and motives for consuming social media; types of functions and uses made; characteristics of preferred YouTubers and Instagrammers; and specifically, toward the participants’ identification and perception of (trans)media competencies in Ideology and Ethics [ Aran-Ramspott et al., 2024 ; based mainly on Ferrés and Piscitelli (2012) and Scolari (2018) ]. These competencies can be summarized as the ability to detect and critically analyze representations of stereotypes related to gender, or sexual and gender orientation, among other things, and the ethical and social implications related to processes of emotional identification, manipulation or invisibility of certain groups, including women. Gill (2017) particularly allows us to review notions seen in contemporary culture as “postfeminism” which currently operates as a kind of gender neoliberalism (“cultivation of the “right” dispositions to survive in neoliberal society: confidence, resilience and self-confidence”).

The open-ended script design facilitated the coding of categories; new categories emerged from participants’ comments. First, the literal comments (in sentences or phrases) related to the priority dimensions of the script were independently analyzed by each researcher. Second, they were cross-checked within the team to refine and validate the coding in successive sessions ( Bryman, 2012 ), taking into account their nature and importance, and in light of their frequency, occurrence and repetition. In order to gather data on participants’ gender perspectives, the relevant interventions were taken to be those in which an informant reflected their personal gender perspective in the discourse in relation to social media. We analyzed co-occurrence with the type of social media, content, reasons for use, references to influencers, (trans)media competence and characteristics of the remarks by age and gender (in function of how each participant introduced themselves). The location variable proved not to be significant in the focus groups. Coding shows the FG number _age_gender (F: Female/M: Male, the numbers show order of intervention where there is more than one participant of a given gender).

The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of University Ramón LLull University, Barcelona, which confirmed that participation was voluntary and anonymous, the confidentiality of the participants’ data, the collection of permissions and informed consents. This research was overseen and monitored by the public body that financed the research project.

The most relevant results directly related to the research questions for the study are presented below. First, we show distribution by gender and age of the total number of comments by participants in the FGs in relation to gender perspective in their discourse in relation to social media ( Figure 1 ), so as to show the origin of each remark. Figure 2 shows principal co-occurrences of the gender perspective in the discourse in relation to the dimensions set out in the materials and method section.

Figure 1 . Distribution by gender and age of comments concerning gender perspective.

Figure 2 . Principal co-occurrences of the gender perspective by dimension (Sankey Diagram).

Explicit mentions of gender perspective have been broken down by gender of the participants. As can be seen in Figure 1 , female participants made almost 70% of the total number of comments. By age, the gender perspective is mentioned progressively more at older ages: 27.7% among 12–13 year-old participants (1st year of Compulsory Secondary Education), 33.8% in 15–16 year-olds (4th year of Compulsory Secondary Education) and 38% among 18–19 year-olds (first-year university students).

Figure 2 shows not only how female participants comment materially more on the gender perspective, but also how the information from the focus groups identifies the dimensions that students consider more important. Thus, dimensions related to the type of social media, the type of content, the definition of influencer, (trans)media skills and age are more salient in participants’ discourse. Further detail is provided in the following paragraphs.

4.1 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by type of social media

The analysis of the perceptions of adolescents and young people of gender on social media shows that most comments concern Instagram (23%), TikTok (20%), and YouTube (17%). TikTok was spontaneously mentioned by participants. In terms of gender, females make more mentions than males, and refer to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube in descending order.

But what is the discourse of young people as revealed by these comments about social media? In relation to Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, the significance attributed to personal appearance is what is most commented on. The obsession with physical appearance is expressed in terms of self-representation, whereby appearance contributes to identity in terms of approximation to esthetic ideals and beauty standards:

“Lots of girls who go on TikTok may be affected by seeing influencers who look perfect, at least at first, and then they may look at other bodies and that may lower their self-esteem” (G9_12–13_F).

The same is true of the sexualization of physical appearance, which participants refer to, directly or indirectly, in relation to the bodies of girls and women. Instagram is perceived to be somewhere where females can more readily take a leading role.

“Boys are more popular on YouTube and on Instagram it’s women, perhaps girls’ content seems more attractive, not only because it is more or less sexualized, which depends, but because on Instagram you have to be really careful, you have to know what photo to take, how, what lighting, see how you tell the story, whether you post it this way or that way, and girls take greater care over those details, and so they are more popular” (G14_15–16_F).

Females make almost twice as many comments about the importance of body image as males (21 and 13 quotes, respectively):

“I think as girls we expose ourselves more” (G4_18–19_F).

In turn, they are more affected by beauty standards, including the risk of developing an eating disorder.

“[Referring to the influencer Marina Yers]… but to say that after eating, being sick is good for you… That can lead to illness in 12-year-old girls” (G2_15–16_F).

On the other hand, there are female participants who demand parity with males in relation to the display of the body on the social media, with comments that identify contradictions inherent to post-feminist discourses ( Gill, 2017 ), by presenting as a personal choice what others might see as the internalization of objectification or sexual neoliberalism ( de Miguel, 2015 ).

“TikTok also does a lot of harm, for example if any of the three of us posts a video of us wearing a top or bikini, TikTok unpublishes it, it does not let us post it, but the guys can post videos in their underwear or shirtless, and TikTok’s algorithm does not say anything to them. We are super censored (G10_15–16_F).

• -And on Instagram even more so (G10_15–16_M).

• No (G10_15–16_F2).

• More on Instagram than TikTok (G10_15–16_M).

• I posted a video in trackies and T-shirt and they censored it” (G10_15–16_ F3).

YouTube is seen as a social media platform on which people can find less invasive spaces and activities supportive of the manifest need to improve self-esteem and build a more empowered attitude. On two separate occasions, 12-year-old girls explicitly mention an empowering movement, “Love in positive” and, from a feminist perspective, “Me too.”

“I have watched a YouTuber who I think is a good influence, there are a lot of people now who say they feel insecure because of their body, but this influencer was about “Love in positive,” love yourself as you are, and I think that a very good thing about social media is people like that who are trying to boost your self-esteem, make you feel confident” (G11_12–13_F).

Self-confidence, related to satisfaction with a person’s own body, is shown on social media through the control of image, posture, and esthetics. Young people subject themselves to those mechanisms depending on what is trending. No comments were collected, however, in which male participants acknowledge the influence of social media on their image. In contrast to females, their attitude appears distanced or rebellious.

“I like to be happy, and fashion is the last thing that interests me, for example, if everyone is wearing Nike, I’ll still wear Adidas (…) I’m fine with my 80s hairstyle” (G10_15–16_M).

4.2 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by type of content consumed

Generally speaking, the discourse of both male and female participants shows that the content consumed is highly gender specific.

“Do boys and girls follow the same things at this age? (Moderator 1, G1_12–13).

• No (G1_12–13_F&M).

• Some things Yes and some things No (G1_12–13_F).

• Sometimes maybe, what we have most in common is series, films…(G1_12–13_F2).

• Him and me do not share any content, he’s more into sports and I’m more into languages, travel…” (G1_12–13_F).

Comments about entertainment in terms of watching series and films come equally from male and female participants. There are differences in which types of content are most frequently mentioned: Beauty/fashion and Videogames. Dance is only commented on by male participants (“usually the dances on TikTok are by girls”), in contrast to current affairs. This confirms earlier results on gender specific preferences for content types ( Fernández-de-Arroyabe-Olaortua et al., 2018 ; García-Jiménez et al., 2021 ), and about motivation, where boys and young men express a preference for entertainment ( Lozano-Blasco et al., 2023 ). In this study, entertainment and strengthening friendships are positively rated by both genders. For example:

“(On Youtube), but I think my friends are more on Instagram, they make stories and I see what happened to them during the day, we talk and you can also go to the entertainment area…” (G11_12–13_M).

4.3 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by influencer

Basque streamer Ibai Llanos is most recognized for his positivity – acknowledging his personal and financial interests – and for his friendly personality. Consequently, he is the influencer who has the most followers, both male and female.

“And we are talking about YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, which are, like, social media, at the end of the day kids are searching for tutorials on how to play Minecraft, they are searching Ibai, because a lot of boys, and some girls of course, are obsessed with Ibai. I see Ibai as everything, super-responsible and very incisive. There are many others who aren’t, but Ibai just is. At the end of the day, if you upload content, you are going to influence those children through that content” (G6_18–19_M).

The participants associate the term influencer more with women who are successful on social media (Dulceida and Paula Gonu, two Catalan bloggers seen as celebrities, clearly figure in that role in the comments). The association between girl or woman and influencer is much more apparent as perceived by the participants, and is attributed to fame (celebrities, It Girls) and to so-called posing, which does not seem to apply to boys or young men.

“There are also influencers, boys, (…) but I have not seen a boy say he is an influencer, or that he uploads that type of content” (G6_18–19_F).

Some girls, especially older girls, explicitly express pleasure in displaying themselves, in line with the style of some influencers. For instance:

“I really like influencers, seeing how they dress, to keep up to date with fashion and I also really like to display my life, especially for the people around me to see what I do, I like them knowing about it” (G4_18–19_F).

At the opposite end of the spectrum to popular influencers, there is universal criticism of Naim Darrechi, a TikToker from Mallorca, known for his controversial sexist remarks, which have even led him to be accused of seeking to justify rape and sexual abuse.

“He is a sexist and has done a lot of bad shit” (G7_15–16_ M).

“There are people who follow him and the worst thing is that he’s proud of what he says and even has a lot of followers” (G2_15–16_F).

4.4 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by transmedia competence

The vast majority of comments linking the gender perspective to transmedia competencies ( Scolari, 2018 ) refer to the dimension of Ideology and Rigorousness, which by definition includes stereotyping, emotional identification mechanisms and recognition of manipulation (e.g., fakes). Comments, especially from female participants, reflect participants’ awareness of the need to (self-)regulate their media diet and of the risk of becoming addicted, even though a number of participants, particularly younger participants, explicitly state that they have been given cybersafety training at school.

“Right, I think it’s the typical thing that you say to everyone “Instagram is bad, do not be on it so much”, but I know that there are things that you cannot watch and I do not watch them, but my parents aren’t on my case the whole time” (G1_12–13_F).

The rest of the (trans)media competencies identifiable in the discourse of the young participants from a gender perspective were only commented on by the female participants. In descending order, comments fall under Language and Esthetics, Technology, and Production and Dissemination, where female participants comment on aspects such as the algorithm used.

“It’s that TikTok gets you addicted, you say you are going to watch it for 5 min and then a whole day goes by (…) with Instagram it’s harder to get addicted, because on TikTok you scroll down and more and more videos come up, and on Instagram there’s a moment when there’s nothing else to see” (G1_12–13_F2).

4.5 Participants’ perception of gender perspective by age

In the results, the gender perspective also appears to be related to age, expressed as a concern for children.

“There are a lot of 11 and 12-year-old girls (…) most of them are girls (…) who join a fan club, whatever. And they do not stop to think what nonsense the people are talking. And I think so much freedom has been given to those content creators that they think they have the right to publish whatever they want, without thinking that their fame is due to people who aren’t mature enough to think and weigh opinions, and to see what’s right (…) your followers are at an age when if you tell them something, they’ll believe you, it’s like you are indoctrinating them, they are so young that they’ll believe anything you say” (G10_15–16_M).

5 Discussion and conclusions

The presence and use of social media by young people requires a debate in wider society and the academic community around the opportunities and risks that social media present in the construction of young people’s identities. Of particular importance is the analysis of the gender perspective that emerges in the context of digital empowerment, since it reflects the expression by young people of differing levels of awareness of their responsibility for progress toward a just society, free (among other things) of gender-based prejudice and inequality.

In relation to the first research question, whether young people of both sexes consider gender in their assessments of social media – such as YouTube and Instagram -, the results show that it is principally females who refer to gender in their comments. They associate gender with the importance of image and appearances on social media, principally on Instagram and TikTok. Our results are partially consistent with a focus group study with 15 to 19-year-old teenagers in Finland ( N = 35) and provided understanding of the important role of commercial social media in young people’s consumption styles. While in the Finnish study boys appeared more materialistic and interested in luxury and sustainable consumption seemed to be a more “girly” thing ( Wilska et al., 2023 ), in our research boys do not acknowledge the influence of social media on their image. Female participants perceive that they are more exposed and under greater pressure than boys and young men, a perception also reflected in the comments of male participants. They also associate that pressure mostly with fashion and, to a lesser extent, with trends in consumer or capitalist society. Among male participants, there are more expressions of self-assertion and self-judgment. Both genders express concern about the effects of this body-image pressure on young girls. There is no mention of other possible gender identities beyond male and female (non-binary, gender-fluid…).

The obsession with image as a way of making visible the self is part of a generational culture of appearance and public approval ( Guardiola, 2018 ), which is acknowledged with critical reflection by both male and female participants. Sexualization is associated with certain influencers.

In relation to the second research question, whether the perception of male and female social media users can be seen as empowering for them, most of the positive comments from both genders in discourse concerning YouTube and Instagram refer to entertainment and the strengthening of friendships and the sense of belonging to a peer group. This feeling of belonging, which is reinforced by influencers, can be recognized in a small-scale qualitative research work in Germany: adolescents are often particularly attracted to influencers they believe themselves to have things in common with, such as around gender/sex, hobbies, and geographical location [ Bamberger et al., 2022 , cited in Pérez-Torres et al. (2018) , Diepeveen (2024) ].

The results allow us to identify comments that include some sensitizing concepts ( Gill, 2017 ) articulated around the construction of gender on social media, such as comments on the “Me too” movement. However, as noted, the importance of image is mentioned to a greater extent by female participants and in relation to material on social media directed at girls and women, while male participants particularly mention having fun and success or social status. Explicit references to self-esteem are also more common among female participants, especially among young girls, in the form of concern about low self-esteem due to the influence of ideal bodies, as often displayed by influencers. In fact, there are no comments from male participants that acknowledge the influence of social media on their self-image, rather the reverse. This may suggest less external oversight and greater self-confidence than among female participants. The spontaneous expressions of such views may reflect the internalization of personal empowerment among male participants.

On the other hand, some of the youngest girls (aged 13–14) demand fairer treatment on social media and that demand is based on the rejection of censorship of their bodies by social media platforms. As Caballero-Gálvez et al. (2017) point out, we can reconcile the apparent paradox of freedom of choice and the forcefully expressed demands of young girls for the recognition of an (idealized) image rather than gender equality. In relation to the characteristics of postfeminist discourse ( Gill, 2017 ), we saw this emphasis on bodily self-monitoring, especially among female participants, related to the management of the individual’s own image and perceived sexualization in some representations.

The contribution of this study is to attend to the voices of adolescents and young people, providing them with a platform to express their views freely in focus groups. This approach offers valuable insights into their perceptions and experiences with social media and gender. Focusing on young people’s perception of gender issues on social media is a critical additional layer in the discussion around the potential consequences for young adults and adolescents of content, use and engagement in social media. For adolescents, social media constitute a new arena in which they can express themselves and explore, but they are also to a significant forum for the dissemination of certain beauty standards that may represent a risk to adolescents in relation to their body image ( Arab and Díaz, 2015 ; Segovia Aguilar et al., 2016 ; Malo-Cerrato et al., 2018 ; Shah et al., 2019 ). One can find on social media content related to the human body that may influence adolescents and cause them to obsess about their appearance and the photos that they post ( Goodyear, 2020 ). In that sense, the risk resides in interiorization of such messages, especially by girls, which may have significant repercussions on their body image and mental health ( Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997 ; Karsay et al., 2018 ). Given differences in gender roles and societal pressure, there is a need to display an image that society considers acceptable. In that sense, social media and mass communication media play a fundamental role in objectification, and may have a significant impact on self-esteem, self-image, body positivity and psychological wellbeing ( Aydm and San, 2011 ; Shah et al., 2019 ). In short, this research shows how the digital empowerment of young people is constructed through the dominant paradigm of image in its presence and representation on social media.

However, from a gender perspective, female participants perceive the negative dimension of this (false) empowerment more than males. Across social media platforms, as also noted by Scharrer et al. (2023) , our results show that YouTube is perceived to give more equal prominence to the genders and to have more balanced activities and content suitable for each gender relative to Instagram and Tiktok. In our results, the impression predominates that YouTube is where males contribute more content. On Instagram, on the other hand, the importance of body image is clearly recognized by young people, especially females, in consequence of the centrality of (self-)image on Instagram, which in turn reflects the logic of today’s society of (hyper) visibility ( Imbert, 2004 ).

Finally, we have identified tensions that could even be seen as contradictions in the perceptions of young users of social media, in relation to life offline. The blurring of the boundaries between intimacy and extimacy may be a cause for more hope than might appear: Sabich and Steinberg (2017) believe that, although the discourse of YouTubers is trapped in a consumer culture, those online spaces for interaction allow the construction of symbolic bonds of belonging, that are particularly propitious for young people.

“The evidence indicates there is not a simple cause and effect relationship between social media use and (harmful) gender attitudes” ( Diepeveen, 2024 , p. 9). Part of the context for our research is the fact that the relationship between use of social media and gender equality is not simple and involves at least three different elements: personal experience and social context, i.e., individual perceptions; platform design, and online experience, especially the types of relationship built with social media ( Diepeveen, 2024 ). Our study highlights different aspects in relation to those different elements, based on the perceptions of our young participants. The limitations of our study include that the sample was drawn from a specific geographic area and culture in Spain. Some prior research in Spain (e.g., García-Jiménez et al., 2021 ; Herrero-Curiel and La-Rosa, 2022 ; Serrate-González et al., 2023 ) studied the behavior of adolescents on social media in general, “but so far as we have been able to confirm there has been no research looking at their preferences in relation to the content generated specifically by their favorite influencers” ( Martín-Cárdaba et al., 2024 , p. 83). Another limitation is that the study coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic. This exceptionality meant that the importance of social media was increasing ( Wilska et al., 2023 ).

The results of our research are consistent with other works in expressing concern about gender differences that go beyond differences in degree of participation and topics engaged with on social media. Our data align with findings in Europe [EU Kids online 2020 in Smahel et al. (2020) ] that show that the digital gender divide does not reflect a significant difference among European youth in terms of access. It rather betokens prevalent differences in the modalities of use and consequently in the skills deployed ( Masanet et al., 2021 ). Processes of socialization reflect the structural inequality fostered by, among other agents, the media system itself. That seems to be a persisting historical issue rather than a contemporary anomaly and entails a so-called cognitive cost for the most disadvantaged, including women ( Benesch, 2012 ).

From a developmental perspective, here we take up Kabeer's (1999) idea of trajectory, describing a notion of transmedia education that engages with new technologies and social realities, with empowerment as an individual process leading to greater autonomy and capacity to make life choices; and as a collective process of the development of a group’s capacity to drive social change so as to create a just, fair society, particularly in terms of relationships between men and women ( Charlier and Caubergs, 2007 , p. 6). In other words, empowerment here means achieving not power over but power to, power with and power within, as described by those authors ( Charlier and Caubergs, 2007 , p. 10).

The fact that the study’s sample was drawn from three Autonomous Communities increases the diversity of perspectives and enriches the data collected. While it limits the extent to which the findings can be generalized to other cultural or geographical contexts, it opens avenues for future research.

Despite the limitations of extrapolating qualitative data to adolescents and young people in Spain more widely, this study allows us to hear the participants and so develop greater understanding of digital empowerment from an edu-communication and gender perspective. The interpretation of the results points to the need for transmedia education that promotes reflection and critical production among adolescents and young people, specifically from the perspective of their as-yet only partially constructed identities that pays greater heed to the importance of aspects of their lives beyond conventional ideas of physical beauty. In that area, users need to become more aware of the influence of social media in the construction of notions of gender and to develop their capacity to engage critically with such notions in both formal and informal settings. That will enable them to engage with postfeminist perspectives in the context of the dominant values of today’s neoliberal society ( Medina, 2021 ), particularly as concerns the internalization of rigid beauty standards in relation to the bodies of women and girls especially, through (for example) programs to make people more aware of their own stereotyped beliefs around gender ( Panerati et al., 2023 ). The journey is for both boys and girls, men and women, toward greater empowerment of women and girls and a respectful, fair system that embraces diversity.

Although this study acknowledges gender disparities in social media, to delve deeply into the potential causes or solutions would strengthen the impact of future works. The evolving nature of social media platforms and research with “big data” in the field of perceptions and sexist content is still limited, not only because of the role of algorithms, but also because of aspects such as pseudonymization ( Lozano-Blasco et al., 2023 ) or because of adolescents’ own search for an ideal representation of themselves ( Stockdale and Coyne, 2020 ). Moreover, adding a comparative analysis with older age groups or with data from other countries could offer a broader perspective on how these perceptions might vary across different demographics or cultural contexts.

Based on our findings, we provide specific considerations for educators, policymakers, and social media platforms on how to address the identified issues. Furthermore, future works should develop, implement and evaluate edu-communicative and media education initiatives to develop critical reflection on the influence of social media, given that the results of this study underline the importance of a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality in digital spaces, which helps to implement educational measures for working with esthetic and erotic body image ( Pires et al., 2021 ), to develop self-awareness and self-regulation ( Mirgos et al., 2023 ) and to deepen protective factors against the risks online ( Ramos-Soler et al., 2018 ). Along those lines, the sessions focused on the responsible critical use of the Internet and digital devices for adolescents aged 13–15 developed by Cuervo et al. (2022a) , and aged 12–17 by Medrano et al. (2019) and Cuervo et al. (2022b) ; the classes put forward by Mirgos et al. (2023) around hate speech, privacy, digital intoxication, and perceived values on social media; the digital interactive tool to develop and assess the media competence of European students aged 14–18 ( Ferrés et al., 2022 ); the worksheets in Scolari (2018) ; and the use of Service Learning proposed by Villacampa et al. (2020) for collaboration to eradicate gender violence through online behaviors deserve special attention. Moreover, we consider that in this process both teachers and families should be involved together with students, to educate in the ethical and responsible use of social networks, for example using the guides developed by Martínez Ten (2021) .

As discussed above, future works should address the role of digital platforms in highlighting stereotypical representations of men and women ( Bernárdez, 2015 ) could lead people to internalize inequality, due that evolving nature of social media platforms and research with “big data” in the field of perceptions and sexist content is still limited.

Policy makers should consider the importance of promoting a respectful and equitable environment in relation to gender equality within digital spaces, in order to provide support for the need to develop and implement edu-communicative initiatives to foster critical thinking around the influence of social media in this context and the evaluation of the impact of such initiatives in future research.

Data availability statement

The anonymised raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the project’s coordinating University (Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain). The studies were conducted in accordance with laws applying throughout Spain and locally to the research institutions and the requirements of those institutions. Written informed consent for participation in this study was provided by the participants and/or their legal guardians/next of kin. Online written and paper written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) and/or participants’ legal guardians/next of kin for the publication of any potentially identifiable data included in this article.

Author contributions

SA-R: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. OK-A: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. IE-A: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. ÁM-I: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. IB-G: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft.

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The research reported in this article has been financed with public funds from the National Plan financed by the Spanish State Research Agency, Project Reference/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there are no commercial or financial relationships connected with this research that could be constitute a conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: gender, social media, adolescence, youth, edu-communication, empowerment, perception, media literacy

Citation: Aran-Ramspott S, Korres-Alonso O, Elexpuru-Albizuri I, Moro-Inchaurtieta & and Bergillos-García I (2024) Young users of social media: an analysis from a gender perspective. Front. Psychol . 15:1375983. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1375983

Received: 24 January 2024; Accepted: 06 May 2024; Published: 30 May 2024.

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Copyright © 2024 Aran-Ramspott, Korres-Alonso, Elexpuru-Albizuri, Moro-Inchaurtieta and Bergillos-García. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Oihane Korres, [email protected]

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