How American Teens Navigate the New World of “Digital Citizenship”
As social media use has become pervasive in the lives of American teens, a new study finds that 69% of the teenagers who use social networking sites say their peers are mostly kind to one another on such sites. Still, 88% of these teens say they have witnessed people being mean and cruel to another person on the sites, and 15% report that they have been the target of mean or cruel behavior on social network sites.
Adult social network users are less likely to say they witness or experience this type of behavior, but they still report that it is prevalent: 69% of adults who use social networking sites say they have seen people be mean and cruel to others on those sites.
These findings and others about teens’ behavior and experiences on social network sites are based on seven focus groups with teens and a nationally representative survey of youth ages 12-17 and their parents. The focus groups and survey were conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in partnership with the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) and with the support of Cable in the Classroom.
Read the full report to see detailed findings and analysis of the following subjects:
- Teens and social networks
- Social media and digital citizenship
- Privacy and safety Issues
- The role of parents in digital safekeeping and advice-giving
- Parents and online social spaces
SOURCE Pew Internet