An online experiment was conducted to examine the causal effects of digital content permanency on perceived anonymity, as well as the correlations between perceived anonymity, perceived consequences of anonymous cyber bullying, normative beliefs about cyber bullying, and cyber bullying intentions. College students in the United States were introduced to a social media platform described as featuring either non-permanent or permanent content. Results showed participants in the non-permanent (vs. permanent) condition were more likely to believe they would remain anonymous. People who believed they could remain anonymous were in turn less likely to believe they would face consequences of anonymous cyber bullying. In addition, normative beliefs about cyber bullying were related to beliefs about facing retaliation and family disapproval. Overall, this study disentangles different concepts related to anonymity and provides causal evidence that a unique feature in digital spaces—content permanency—can impact perceptions of anonymity, which are in turn correlated with factors known to influence cyber bullying intentions.

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Given the potential for sexual discussions in the media to relate to adolescents' attitudes and behaviors regarding sex, we conducted a content analysis to examine how multiple categories of sex content were referenced in all subtitles of all episodes (as of the end of 2019) of eight Netflix-original and adolescentdirected series. Overall, across all eight series, references to sexual interest were most common, followed by references to sexual behavior. References to the risk and negative consequences of sex and references to sexual precaution seldomly occurred. "Rape" was the most frequently occurring term related to sex, followed by the term "kiss." As for each individual series, analyses revealed distinct patterns of the specific categories of sex referenced. In general, these findings offer an overview on the different types of sex content referenced in Netflix-originated adolescent series and suggest that adolescents may potentially be affected differently upon exposure to different patterns of sex references in these series. Public Policy Relevance StatementThis study provides insight into how different types of sex content were referenced in all subtitles of all episodes (as of the end of 2019) of eight adolescent-directed, Netflix original series. Looking at all eight series as a whole, references to sexual interest appeared most frequently, whereas references to sexual precaution were least common. For individual series specifically, 13 Reasons Why and Unbelievable contained more references to sex crime, especially rape, and Sex Education contained more references to expert sex advice and sexual precaution, relative to the other series. The findings suggest that the patterns of sexual messages in these Netflix series are somewhat diverse and different. Therefore, media literacy interventions on the effects of exposure to these series on adolescent sex attitudes and behaviors may need to be highly targeted and customized.

In this entry, research pertaining to child and adolescent media use as it relates to language is reviewed. Among children younger than age 2.5, research demonstrates that individuals struggle to learn novel language from screens, but this can be assuaged by making the interaction socially contingent. A large body of research shows that children older than age 2.5 can readily learn novel language from media. Among adolescents, texting has been both positively and negatively linked to language skills. Texting may promote engagement with language in a way that supports phonological skills; however, texting may also inhibit grammar skills, as texting language transfers into more formal settings where English grammar is required.