In 2015, American adolescents aged 13 to 18 years reported using social media 1 hour and 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.

Social media use among adolescents is nearly ubiquitous. Researchers, educators and parents may find the ever-shifting landscape of social media challenging to understand. In this Educational Piece, we describe an affordances approach. Applying an affordances approach to social media can advance our understanding of social media as a set of functions rather than brand name platforms. We present an affordances approach alongside the critical developmental tasks of adolescence. Our goal is to advance our thinking and standards in communicating about social media and adolescents to inform better research and program design.

No abstract