#Gymlad - young boys learning processes and health-related social media

Abstract

Recent systematic reviews identify that the factors mediating and/or moderating the relationship between social media and health outcomes are sparse. There have also been few attempts to analyse gender specific uses of social media. This paper investigated young boys health-related learning in relation to social media. Data were generated from class activities and interviews and from a large data set that included 1346 young people. The approach to the empirical data adopted was Practical Epistemology Analysis (PEA). The findings reveal two main purposes of young boys engagement with social media: (i) communicating with friends, and (ii) accessing health-related information. Irony and humour were central learning mechanisms used by young boys to participate within health-related social media, and in a way that enabled them to engage with, uphold, and handle health discourses associated with masculinitysuch as being rippedwithout fear of 'literal' peer ridicule and within a context of acceptable 'banter'. There was evidence that young people were critical users and generators of social media, who were clearly thinking through what they see, do, and use online. Hence, this paper provides a fresh evidence-based perspective on the potentially positive role of social media as a health-related learning resource. PEA is illustrated as a new methodological approach for investigating learning in the context of social media. The evidence generated can be used to inform future evaluations of social media use, the design of educative support for young people, and guidance and training for key stakeholders.

Clusters of Adolescent Physical Activity Tracker Patterns and Their Associations With Physical Activity Behaviors in Finland and Ireland: Cross-Sectional Study

“…Depending on the features and functionality of the specific PATs that individuals use, young adolescents can share data with other members of the sports club. This may increase motivation among males, as males are known to boast about their achievements with their peers [ 29 ]. Moreover, PATs could be used to support coaching practices by providing individualized information on athletes’ performance.…”

“…Differences have been observed in the way that males and females use the multiple functions of PATs. For example, male adolescents prefer to socialize with their PATs through “banter” and other friendly conversations [ 29 ]. Female PAT users report lower levels of aspirations to take part in competitive sports than male PAT users [ 30 ], which may translate into less use of the goal and planning functions [ 31 ]—the areas commonly used for optimal performance in sports [ 32 ].…”

Clusters of Adolescent Physical Activity Tracker Patterns and Their Associations With Physical Activity Behaviors in Finland and Ireland: Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

“…Differences have been observed in the way that males and females use the multiple functions of PATs. For example, male adolescents prefer to socialize with their PATs through "banter" and other friendly conversations [29]. Female PAT users report lower levels of aspirations to take part in competitive sports than male PAT users [30], which may translate into less use of the goal and planning functions [31]-the areas commonly used for optimal performance in sports [32].…”

#Skinny girls: young girls’ learning processes and health-related social media

“…Although this has been an important first step, the current evidence is insufficient. We need to know more about young people's investments in social media as part of their lives, and the chaotic, dynamic and ongoing ways in which young people consume and produce content (Third et al 2019;Toffoletti et al 2021;Toll and Norman 2021). Notably, systematic reviews on social media interventions for physical activity, diet and wellbeing for adolescents have been published, but none have provided robust evidence that identifies the characteristics of social media use that are associated with positive physical activity, diet and wellbeing outcomes (c.f.…”

“…Building on our earlier work (Goodyear and Armour 2019), as well as others (Booker, Kelly, and Sacker 2018;Kelly et al 2019), we have identified specific gender differences in the ways in which adolescent boys and girls use social media. Yet, there are very few gender-specific analysis of social media use (Camacho-Miñano, MacIsaac, and Rich 2019;Booker, Kelly, and Sacker 2018;Toffoletti et al 2021), and even fewer studies that foreground young people's voices in the research (Third et al 2019). Our analysis is thus centred on the perspectives and experiences of adolescent girls' engagement with health-related social media, and how ways of learning influence the route learning takes.…”