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Benefits and Costs of Social
                                      Media in Adolescence
                                      Yalda T. Uhls, PhD,​a,​b,​c Nicole B. Ellison, PhD,​d Kaveri Subrahmanyam, PhDa,​e

In 2015, American adolescents aged 13 to 18 years reported using social media 1 hour and                                                                   abstract
11 minutes a day, 7 days a week. Social media are used for a variety of activities, including
sharing information, interacting with peers, and developing a coherent identity. In this
review of the research, we examine how social media are intertwined with adolescent
development and assess both the costs and benefits of adolescent social media use. We
include suggestions for further research and recommendations for clinicians, policy makers,
and educators.

aChildren’s Digital Media Center@Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; bUniversity of California, Los Angeles, California; cCommon Sense Media, San Francisco, California; dUniversity of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and eCalifornia State University, Los Angeles, California

Dr Uhls conceptualized the article and drafted the initial manuscript; and all authors reviewed and revised the manuscript, approved the final manuscript as
submitted, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
The analysis, conclusions, and recommendations contained in each paper are solely a product of the individual workgroup and are not the policy or opinions of, nor
do they represent an endorsement by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development or the American Academy of Pediatrics.
DOI: https://​doi.​org/​10.​1542/​peds.​2016-​1758E
Accepted for publication Apr 19, 2017
Address correspondence to Yalda T. Uhls, PhD, 616 Via De La Paz, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272. E-mail: yaldatuhls@gmail.com
PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275).
Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
FUNDING: This special supplement, “Children, Adolescents, and Screens: What We Know and What We Need to Learn,​” was made possible through the financial
support of Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development.

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PEDIATRICS Volume 140, number s2, November 2017:e20161758                                                                                               Supplement Article
The growth in interactive media              about the self with others), and                A consistent finding is that
platforms and their rapid adoption           impression management (acting                   adolescents use social media to
by young people is one indication            to highlight positive aspects of the            develop and maintain friendships.‍1
of the compelling nature of social           self and minimize characteristics that          Nearly two-thirds of teenagers report
media tools, such as Instagram               are perceived as unattractive)‍6,​7             that they make new friends through
and Snapchat. Adolescents, who               have been identified in studies of              social media, and >90% use social
are already highly attuned to                social media and are associated                 media to connect with existing off-
peer relationships, find the social          with adolescents’ behavior, both                line friends every day.‍14 Adolescents
component of many of these                   positively and negatively.                      also report that these media help
platforms especially compelling:                                                             them understand their friends’
76% of teen-aged respondents in a            Research has just begun to examine              feelings and feel more connected to
recent Pew Research Center survey            the influence of newer social media,            them.‍15 During a developmental stage
reported that they use social media.‍1       such as Snapchat, Instagram, and                when peer support and approval is
                                             Tumblr,​‍7 on youth development.                critical, social media support these
In 2007, boyd and Ellison‍2 coedited         Although the field has not yet                  needs.‍14
the first academic collection of             conclusively identified all the
research focused explicitly on               mechanisms at play, and causal                  Identity exploration, or the search
social networking sites. Since then,         research on the impact of social                for a coherent sense of self, takes
hundreds of articles written by              media is limited, trends are beginning          place online as well as offline.‍16
researchers from around the world            to emerge. Below, we present greater            Adolescents use social media for
in a multitude of disciplines have           detail on some of the benefits and              self-presentation through the ways
examined just 1 social network               costs of adolescent social media use.           they choose to represent themselves
site (albeit the largest): Facebook.‍3                                                       online by posting pictures and
Researchers have continued to                                                                sharing aspects of their lives.‍8 In
examine other platforms as they              Benefits of Social Media                        addition, youth use social media
emerge. This article provides an                                                             for impression management by
overview of the research on the              By and large, extant research has               attempting to use these media to
developmental implications of                found that youth use social media               control other people’s perceptions
social media use and will focus on           in the service of critical adolescent           of who they are and how they act.‍4,​6‍
adolescents (ages 13 to 18 years).           developmental tasks, such as                    Such self-exploration can help youth
It summarizes the most relevant              identity development, aspirational              to discover aspects of themselves;
studies and reviews and concludes            development, and peer engagement.‍4,​8‍         one study found that adolescents
with recommendations for future              As adolescents seek intimacy with               who communicated more online
research and recommendations                 their peers and strive for autonomy,            had greater self-concept clarity,
for clinicians, policy makers, and           their online environments frequently            which is the ability to understand
educators.                                   reflect their off-line lives.‍9 In contrast     who one is clearly and stably.17
                                             to early online applications, which             Social media can thus provide a good
                                             were seen as refuges from real life,​‍10        forum to practice skills related to
Current State                                today’s online environments reflect,            identity development, such as self-
                                             complement, and reinforce off-                  presentation and self-disclosure.
Social media tools are readily               line relationships, practices, and
accessible on the Internet, and in                                                           In addition, social media tools have
                                             processes.9,​11
                                                          ‍
the last several years, they have                                                            been found to be beneficial for youth
become even easier to access via             The literature on social media                  who may have learning difficulties
applications (apps) on smartphones.‍1,​4‍    and adolescents, as well as more                or those struggling with their sexual
On average, American youth receive           extensive studies of emerging                   identity. Research confirms that by
their first mobile device around             adults, reveals associations between            increasing the likelihood that these
the time many begin the transition           time spent using social media and               adolescents can find like-minded
into adolescence.‍5 Well-understood          increased self-esteem, increased                youth, online social media tools may
psychological mechanisms, such as            social capital (resources accessed              help them feel less lonely and more
social comparison (ie, comparing             through one’s social relationships),            confident.‍17,​18
                                                                                                           ‍
oneself to others in either an upward        safe identity exploration, social
or downward direction: that is, with         support, and more opportunity for
those who are seen as better or              self-disclosure.‍12,​13
                                                                 ‍ These processes
                                                                                             Costs of Social Media
worse than oneself, respectively),           are all critical to healthy growth and          The use of social media during
self-disclosure (sharing information         identity development.                           adolescence can also negatively

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S68                                                                                                                         Uhls et al
impact health and development.                        identified problematic implications                    Future Research
Although the majority of adolescents                  for adolescents (especially female                     We recommend that future
report that social media are a positive               adolescents) around issues such as                     researchers consider the following
contribution to their lives,​‍19 more                 self-esteem, gender stereotypes,                       questions:
negative associations with social                     self-objectification, and impossible
media have also been documented                       body standards.‍25 Similarly, a                        •• What factors mediate and
in the research literature. These                     longitudinal study found that                             moderate relations between social
include cyberbullying, depression,                    frequency of social media use                             media and outcomes (both positive
social anxiety, and exposure to                       played a role in the relationship                         and negative)?
developmentally inappropriate                         between mass media and an                              •• How do social media relate to and
content.‍8                                            objectified self-concept (eg, judging                     impact identity development?
Cyberbullying has received a                          oneself on the basis of how one is                     •• What risk factors are associated
great deal of attention in both                       perceived by others).‍26 Given the                        with problematic social media
the popular press and academic                        interactive nature of social media,                       use, and what interventions are
research.‍20 The Pew Research                         these relations may be magnified                          most successful in addressing
Center report noted that 1 in 4                       because peers amplify social media                        problematic activities?
adolescents report digital “drama,​”                  content, providing additional social
                                                      validation. One study found that                       •• From a developmental perspective,
a word that adolescents seem                                                                                    what is the best age to begin using
to relate to more than the term                       54% of 18 year olds’ public social
                                                      media profiles contained or more                          social media, and under what
“cyberbullying.”‍1 Research found                                                                               restrictions (if any)?
that online bullying, often displayed                 references to a high-risk behavior,
through social media, is associated                   such as sexual activity, substance
with more depressive symptoms                         abuse, or violence.‍27 Exposure                        Recommendations
than traditional bullying.‍21 One                     to inappropriate content and the
                                                      ability to display and consequently                    Clinicians and Providers
reason for this may be the public
and enduring nature of online                         receive endorsement through peer                       •• Ask children and their parents
posts. A recent study found that                      validation of risky behaviors (such                       about media use, including mobile
risky online self-presentation                        as drinking alcohol) may entice                           phones and social media, to
increased the likelihood of                           some adolescents to make poor                             build awareness of social media
receiving negative online feedback                    decisions about what to share on                          practices and their outcomes.
on social media.‍22                                   social media.
                                                                                                             •• Encourage parents to talk to their
Because teenagers have nearly                                                                                   children about their social media
                                                      Finally, it is important to
unlimited access to peers through                                                                               use, create their own social media
                                                      remember that most social
mobile technologies, social media                                                                               profiles, and help guide their
                                                      media platforms are owned by
use may result in changing sleep                                                                                children.
                                                      for-profit companies, which often
cycles for adolescents, which may                     advertise, collect information, and
contribute to depression. Teenagers                                                                          Policy Makers
                                                      sell data. This direct channel to
who report having mobile devices                      adolescents, outside the eyes and                      •• Encourage industry to consider
in their bedrooms and leaving them                    ears of adults, means commercial                          developmental concerns when
on at night sleep less than those                     interests can take precedence over                        introducing new social media that
who turn them off.‍23 Lack of sleep                   prosocial and developmentally                             is marketed to adolescents.
is related to depressive symptoms,                    appropriate interests.‍4 Advertisers                   •• Fund programs that promote
loss of memory, problems at school,                   for sexual content, alcohol, and                          digital literacy in the classroom.
motor vehicle crashes, and other                      many other unhealthy products
serious issues.‍24                                    can also easily reach children and                     Educators
Research on traditional media such                    adolescents through these new                          •• Teach digital literacy from
as television and magazines has                       media.‍28                                                 kindergarten through 12th grade.

POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

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PEDIATRICS Volume 140, number s2, November 2017                                                                                                      S69
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S70                                                                                                                                             Uhls et al
Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence
             Yalda T. Uhls, Nicole B. Ellison and Kaveri Subrahmanyam
                              Pediatrics 2017;140;S67
                          DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-1758E

Updated Information &         including high resolution figures, can be found at:
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Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence
             Yalda T. Uhls, Nicole B. Ellison and Kaveri Subrahmanyam
                              Pediatrics 2017;140;S67
                          DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-1758E

The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is
                        located on the World Wide Web at:
      http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/Supplement_2/S67

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