What Experts Say I

In the journal article “Teens, Gender, and Self-Presentation in Social Media”, Herring and Kapidzig conducted a research about how teenagers present themselves on social media platform using “photographs, links, and textual information” (Kapidzic & Herring, 2015).

The current generations of teenagers, is a demographic group of people with the highest usage of internet and social media sites. Because of the lack of experience, limited self-regulation, vulnerability to the influence of their peers, and not full understanding of the internet use, young adults might be in a danger as they explore social networks (citation). There is many risks which can lurk behind every corner of online life. Such as exposure to inappropriate content, cyberbullying, sexting, privacy risks, or over usage and addiction to social media (Kapidzic & Herring, 2015).

Social media changes perception of what is appropriate and what is not. The primary reason of posting pictures is to attract attention and create relationships with their peers, without any serious concern of their professional image. Some of these photos may include provocative posts or content with alcohol and drugs.

Sexting is very common in the online communication of young adults with their peers. Findings showed that males write more explicitly while female more implicitly. However, in the study, 16% of references in the messages were related to sex (Kapidzic & Herring, 2015).

The research concluded that social media impacts teenagers through “a lesser concern with privacy [and] more open attitudes toward sex” (Kapidzic & Herring, 2015).

References

Kapidzic, S., Herring, S. C. (2015). Teens, gender, and self-presentation in social media.

Elsevier, 17(6), doi.org/10.1177/1461444813520301