The power and the pain of adolescents’ digital communication: Cyber victimization and the perils of lurking.

In a study of 13-year-olds, participants named exclusion from parties and seeing friends together without them as among the worst social media experiences.

“In a recent study of how 13-year-olds use social media, when asked “what is the worst thing that has ever happened to you on social media?”, responses included: “Being excluded to some parties,” “My best friends hung out without me, and posted it on Instagram,” and “Seeing pictures posted by my friends doing things where I wasn’t included” (reference withheld for blind review).”

Exchanging deviancy-training messages is associated with increases in rule-breaking and aggressive behavior.

“More importantly, exchanging these messages is associated with similar increases in rule-breaking and aggressive behavior (reference withheld for blind review).”

Internalizing symptoms were unrelated or negatively related to boys' posting behaviors.

“(internalizing symptoms were unrelated or negatively related to boys’ posting behaviors; reference withheld for blind review, 2016).”

Examination of text messaging content showed clear examples of deviancy training.

“When we examined the content of text messaging, we saw clear examples of deviancy training.”

Direct observation of Facebook statuses of 125 adolescents over two months revealed numerous examples of adolescents expressing sadness and depression and peer responses.

“Directly observing the Facebook statuses of 125 adolescents (and subsequent comments received from peers) over two months revealed numerous examples of adolescents expressing their sadness and depression (and subsequent peer responses, reference withheld for blind review).”

Girls with internalizing symptoms were more likely than low-symptom peers to post about somatic complaints, request support, and express negative affect.

“Girls who exhibit internalizing symptoms were more likely to post about somatic complaints, request support from their peers, and express negative affect than their peers with low internalizing symptoms”

In one of the authors' studies with 13-year-olds, the great majority said social media makes them feel good about themselves.

“In one of our studies with 13-year olds, the great majority said that social media makes them feel good about themselves (40% sometimes, 40% often, and 4% very often, reference withheld for blind review).”

Cyberbullying perpetration is most clearly linked to cyber victimization, traditional victimization, age, Internet use frequency, and moral disengagement.

“Perpetrating cyberbullying was also most clearly associated with cyber victimization, traditional victimization, age, frequency of Internet use, and moral disengagement.”

• cites Kowalski et al., 2014Not checked yet

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The validity of self-reported cyberbullying remains uncertain.

“Questions remain about the validity of self-reports of cyberbullying (Underwood & Card, 2013); just because this is the most convenient form of assessment does not mean that it is the most accurate.”

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A meta-analysis found that self-reported rates of perpetrating cyberbullying ranged from 1% to 79%, with most around 10%.

“In a meta-analysis of evidence to date about cyberbullying, Kowalski et al. (2014) found prevalence rates for perpetrating cyberbullying ranging from 1% to 79%, with most self-reported rates hovering around 10%.”

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Co-construction theory holds that adolescents participate in creating the digital content that influences them.

“Co-construction theory suggests that adolescents help to create the content of digital communication that shapes their lives”

• Also stated in: § Theoretical Frameworks for Understanding the Power of Digital Communication for Adolescents · hedged

  “adolescents are helping to construct the content of the digital communication that could be shaping their lives (Subrahmanyam, Smahel, & Greenfield, 2006).”

• cites Subrahmanyam, Smahel, & Greenfield, 2006Not checked yet

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Between 10% and 40% of adolescents reported being cyberbullying victims.

“From 10–40% of adolescents reported having been the victims of cyberbullying (Kowalski et al., 2014).”

• cites Kowalski et al., 2014Not checked yet

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A content analysis found that only 2.88% of articles in Developmental Psychology from 2003 to 2012 addressed any media form.

“A content analysis of coverage of all media (including television and the telephone) found that only 2.88% of articles in Developmental Psychology covered any form of media from 2003 – 2012 (Okdie et al., 2014).”

• cites Okdie et al., 2014Not checked yet

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Adolescents may use social media to gauge their standing and fit within peer groups.

“Adolescents may turn to social media as a way of understanding where they stand and how they fit in with their peer groups.”

Adolescents spend large amounts of time reading friends' social media feeds.

“adolescents are constantly reading giant feeds of their friends’ online content; “Instagram is the homework girls always do” (Simmons, 2014).”

• cites Simmons, 2014Not checked yet

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Parental monitoring and perceived support from peers and others protect against cyberbullying perpetration.

“Protective factors for perpetrating cyberbullying were parental monitoring and perceived support from peers and others.”

• cites Kowalski et al., 2014Not checked yet

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Developmental and child clinical psychologists have shown reluctance to study digital communication.

“In contrast to adolescents’ enthusiasm for social media, developmental and child clinical psychologists have been reluctant to study digital communication.”

Adolescents may be absorbed by social media because it actualizes the imaginary audience.

“Second, adolescents might be preoccupied with social media because it is the imaginary audience come-to-life (boyd, 2014).”

• cites boyd, 2014Not checked yet

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• cites Elkind, 1967Not checked yet

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Cyberbullying perpetration is strongly linked to traditional bullying involvement.

“Consistent with co-construction theory, engaging in cyberbullying was strongly associated with involvement in traditional bullying.”

• cites Kowalski et al., 2014Not checked yet

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Cyberbullying perpetration is linked to several adjustment problems, including depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, substance use, low academic achievement, and low life satisfaction.

“Perpetrating cyberbullying was found to be associated with multiple forms of maladjustment: depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, loneliness, substance use, low academic achievement, and low life satisfaction.”

• cites Kowalski et al., 2014Not checked yet

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Adolescents' social media involvement may be driven by developmental needs for peer connection and self-exploration.

“First, adolescents’ engagement with social media could be fueled by their basic developmental needs for peer connection in the service of self-exploration (Gottman & Mettetal, 1986).”

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The same features that attract adolescents to digital communication may also make these platforms a source of significant pain and distress.

“These same features that make digital communication so enticing for children and adolescents may also set the stage for these platforms to be a source of great pain and distress.”

A large share of adolescents use social media and text messaging heavily.

“Many adolescents are heavily engaged with social media and text messaging (George & Odgers, 2016; Lenhart, 2015)”

• Also stated in: § Abstract · plain

  “Many youth with access to mobile devices or computers are fervently involved in text messaging and social media (George & Odgers, 2016; Lenhart, 2015).”

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• cites Lenhart, 2015Not checked yet

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Cyberbullying victimization added risk for internalizing and externalizing problems.

“Still, having been the victim of cyberbullying conferred additional risk for internalizing and externalizing problems.”

• cites Waasdorp & Bradshaw (2015)Not checked yet

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In a survey of over 28,000 US adolescents, 23% reported being bullied in any form in the past month.

“On the basis of surveys with over 28,000 adolescents in the United States, Waasdorp and Bradshaw (2015) found that 23% of youth reported being the victim of any type of bullying in the last month (physical, verbal, relational, and cyberbullying).”

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Cyber aggression is used, even if only occasionally, by high-status youth who would avoid physical violence and face-to-face meanness.

“Cyber aggression is used, even only occasionally, by high status youth who would never sully their hands with physical violence and would never be so mean to someone’s face.”

Adolescents spend vast amounts of time lurking, reading social media feeds of hundreds of friends and followers.

“they report spending vast amounts of time lurking, reading social media feeds of their hundreds of friends and followers (Lenhart, 2015; reference withheld for blind review, 2015).”

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Among US 8-13-year-olds, using multiple social network sites predicted cyberbullying involvement over one year.

“For a sample of US 8 – 13-year-olds, involvement with multiple social network sites predicted involvement in cyberbullying over one year’s time (Meter & Bauman, 2015).”

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US middle schoolers reported cyberbullying most often on Facebook (60%), other technology platforms (31.5%), and text messaging (25.7%).

“US Middle schoolers reported that cyberbullying occurs mostly often on Facebook (60%), other technology platforms (31.5%), and text messaging (25.7%, Rice at al., 2015).”

• cites Rice at al., 2015Not checked yet

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In a US national survey, 53% of adolescents saw social media posts about social events involving friends to which they were not invited.

“53% of adolescents reported having seen social media posts about social events involving friends to which they had not been invited”

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Passive witnessing of cyberbullying was linked to older age, lower empathy, prior traditional bullying victimization, and moral disengagement.

“Remaining passive when witnessing cyberbullying was related to older age, lower levels of empathy, having been the victim of traditional bullying, and moral disengagement.”

• cites Van Cleemput, Vandebosch, & Pabian, 2014Not checked yet

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The meta-analysis found no gender differences in bullying or victimization.

“This meta-analysis did not find gender differences in bullying or victimization”

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In a US national survey, 21% of adolescents felt worse about themselves because of what friends posted on social media.

“21% acknowledged feeling worse about themselves because of what they had seen friends post on social media (Lenhart et al., 2015).”

• cites Lenhart et al., 2015Not checked yet

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Cyber aggression is persistent and repetitive because victims and bystanders can reread it.

“Cyber aggression moves across digital platforms, reaches outside of schools and into homes, cannot be forgotten and is repetitive even in the form of a single episode because the victim and throngs of bystanders can read and reread the hurtful communication.”

35% of Belgian 9-16-year-olds reported witnessing cyberbullying.

“Thirty five percent of 9–16-year-olds from Belgium reported having witnessed cyberbullying (Van Cleemput, Vandebosch, & Pabian, 2014).”

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A later large survey using a new measure of online and offline victimization also found no gender differences.

“nor did a more recent large-scale survey using a new measure of online and offline victimization (Sumter et al., 2015).”

• cites Sumter et al., 2015Not checked yet

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Cyber aggression occurs most often in social media and text or Facebook messaging contexts.

“Recent evidence suggests that the most frequent contexts for cyber aggression are social media and text or Facebook messaging.”

• cites Rice et al., 2015Not checked yet

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• cites Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015Not checked yet

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• cites Fenaughty & Harre, 2013Not checked yet

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Latent class analysis of cyberbullying involvement identified three groups: non-involved (70%), bully-victims (26%), and perpetrators with mild victimization (4%).

“Latent class analyses for involvement with cyberbullying found only three classes: non-involved (70%), bully-victims (26%) and perpetrators with mild victimization (4%).”

• cites Schultze-Krumbholz et al., 2015Not checked yet

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Cyber aggression occurs at low base rates.

“we argue that cyber aggression both occurs at low base rates and is extremely hurtful.”

• Also stated in: § New methods and approaches · hedged

  “Even if cyberbullying base rates are low (Olweus, 2012), the impact of this behavior could be enormous.”

• cites Olweus, 2012Not checked yet

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Cyber aggression is extremely hurtful.

“we argue that cyber aggression both occurs at low base rates and is extremely hurtful.”

• Also stated in: § New methods and approaches · hedged

  “the impact of this behavior could be enormous.”

71% of adolescents use more than one social networking platform.

“Because adolescents are constantly attracted to changing digital platforms and 71% use more than one social networking platform (Lenhart, 2015)”

• cites Lenhart, 2015Not checked yet

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Social media affordances allow adolescents to explore new behaviors.

“it supports the proposition that the affordances of social media allow adolescents to explore new behaviors (Subrahmanyam et al., 2006).”

• cites Subrahmanyam et al., 2006Not checked yet

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Co-construction theory implies that cyber aggression should hurt at least as much as face-to-face aggression because online and offline social lives are continuous.

“Co-construction theory supports that cyber aggression should hurt at least as much as face-to-face aggression because of the continuity between adolescents’ online and offline social lives”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Adolescents' online and offline social lives are continuous.

A study of more than 6,000 adolescents across six European countries suggested that cyberbullying may not produce a victim-only group.

“A recent study with over 6,000 adolescents from six European countries suggested an important difference between cyberbullying and traditional bullying; for cyberbullying, there may not be a group that is only victimized (Schultze-Krumbholz et al., 2015).”

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Cyber victimization is linked to risk factors including traditional victimization, traditional bullying, age, Internet use frequency, and risky online behavior.

“Cyber victimization was associated with several risk factors, including traditional victimization, traditional bullying, age, frequency of Internet use, and risky online behavior.”

• cites Kowalski et al., 2014Not checked yet

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A single experience of cyber aggression makes an adolescent a victim because she re-experiences harm by rereading and by peer witnessing.

“if an adolescent experiences cyber aggression even once, she is a victim, because she chronically re-experiences the harm by rereading the cyber aggression and experiencing the humiliation of the peer group having witnessed it.”

Passive Facebook use related to depressive symptoms for girls only.

“There were no gender differences in passive Facebook use, but passive Facebook use related to symptoms of depression for girls only.”

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When people receive information about others, they tend to compare it to information about themselves.

“when provided with this type of information about other people, we tend it to compare it to information about ourselves (Mussweiler, Ruter, & Epstude, 2006).”

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The measure used in Frisson and Eggermont probably underestimated adolescents' lurking because it assessed only visiting friend or non-friend profiles.

“The measure used in this study probably underestimated what adolescents define as lurking, reading your social media feed without posting, because it assessed only how often they visited a friend’s Facebook profiles or viewed the profile of a non-friend.”

• cites Frisson and Eggermont (2015)Not checked yet

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Adolescents with internalizing symptoms may use social media to discuss problems and seek peer feedback and encouragement.

“Adolescents who experience internalizing symptoms such as anxiety, depression and sadness may use social media as a forum for discussing these problems and seeking peer feedback and encouragement.”

Seeing others as better off can lead to negative self-evaluations.

“If we see others as better off in some way, this can lead to negative self-evaluations (Festinger, 1954).”

• cites Festinger, 1954Not checked yet

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Time spent scrolling social media may displace other developmentally important activities.

“At the least, the time spent scrolling through social media content may be at the expense of other developmentally important activities, not only face-to-face interactions, but also homework, reading, self-reflection, planning, problem-solving, and day dreaming.”

College students who spent more time on Facebook perceived others as happier and having better lives.

“College students who reported spending more time on Facebook perceived that others were happier than they are and had better lives (Chou & Edge, 2012).”

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Girls are heavier consumers of visually oriented social media than boys.

“Girls are heavier consumers of visually oriented forms of social media than boys are (Lenhart, 2015).”

• cites Lenhart, 2015Not checked yet

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Directly observing digital communication content allows researchers and clinicians to better understand its importance for adolescents' peer relations and adjustment.

“Directly observing the content of digital communication will allow researchers and clinicians to better understand the importance of these social environments for adolescents’ peer relations and adjustment.”

Spending vast time viewing others' curated social lives could make vulnerable adolescents feel terrible about their own lives.

“At the worst, spending vast amounts of time viewing others’ highly curated depictions of their social lives could make vulnerable adolescents feel terrible about their own lives.”

Using Facebook may breed social comparisons associated with depression.

“Research with college students suggests that using Facebook may breed the type of social comparisons associated with depression (Feinstein et al., 2013).”

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Focus groups of adults identified five Facebook stress types: annoying content, lack of privacy, social comparison and jealousy, and relationship conflict.

“Focus groups of adults identified five types of stress related to Facebook: dealing with annoying content, lack of privacy, social comparison and jealousy, and relationship conflict (Fox & Moreland, 2015).”

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Among first-year US university students, anxiousness, alcohol use, and marijuana use predicted emotional attachment to Facebook.

“anxiousness, alcohol use, and marijuana use predicted emotional attachment to Facebook (Clayton, Osborne, Miller, & Oberle, 2013).”

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Public Facebook use related to depressive symptoms for boys only.

“For boys only, public Facebook use related to depressive symptoms.”

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The relation between compulsive Internet use and loneliness was stronger for adolescents higher on introversion and lower on emotional stability and agreeableness.

“The relation between compulsive Internet use and loneliness was stronger for adolescents who were higher on introversion and lower on emotional stability and agreeableness.”

• cites van der Aa et al., 2009Not checked yet

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Co-construction theory and empirical evidence support the inverse of the rich-get-richer hypothesis for lurking: the poor get poorer.

“Both co-construction theory and empirical evidence provide support for the inverse of the rich get richer hypothesis for lurking, the poor get poorer.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Adolescents' online and offline social lives are continuous.

When viewing curated happy lives on Instagram or Facebook, adolescents and adults may assume friends are happy all the time rather than in response to context.

“When viewing others’ highly curated depictions of their happy lives on Instagram or Facebook, adolescents and adults alike may tend to assume that their friends are happy all of the time, rather than in response to a particular context or situation.”

For Dutch 10-15-year-olds, adolescents with peer difficulties were more likely to receive negative feedback on social media.

“For a sample of 10–15-year-olds in the Netherlands, adolescents with peer difficulties were more likely to receive negative feedback on social media (Koutamis, Vossen, & Valkenburg, 2015).”

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US college students' self-reported Facebook use frequency related to elevated psychological distress directly and via increased communication overload and decreased self-esteem.

“A survey study with US college students found that self-reports of frequency of using Facebook were related to elevated levels of psychological distress both directly and via increased communication overload and decreased self-esteem (Chen & Lee, 2013).”

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Adolescents frequently check social media without posting.

“The scant evidence available suggest that adolescents frequently check social media without posting anything themselves.”

Daily Internet use was related to compulsive Internet use for Dutch 11-12-year-olds.

“Daily Internet use was related to compulsive Internet use for a Dutch sample of 11–12-year-olds”

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Twenty-four percent of teens report going online almost constantly.

“Twenty four percent of teens report going online almost constantly, which is facilitated by the fact that almost three quarters of adolescents own smart phones (Lenhart, 2015).”

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Adolescents are unlikely to tell parents about hurtful online experiences.

“Adolescents seem unlikely to share hurtful online experiences with parents; of high school students who said they had been victimized, only 32% told a parent (Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015).”

• cites Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015Not checked yet

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Adolescents continually adopt new digital platforms.

“First, adolescents are constantly embracing new digital platforms (Lenhart, 2015)”

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In the same McAfee survey, 45% of teens said they hid online behaviors from parents by deleting or hiding messages, clearing browser histories, or using smartphones that are harder to check.

“45% said they had hidden their online behaviors from parents by hiding or deleting messages, clearing browser histories, or relying on smart phones for digital communication that are harder for parents to check (McAfee Security, 2012).”

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Sixty-eight percent of youth report receiving social support from people on social media at difficult times.

“68% report that they have received social support from people on social media at difficult times in their lives.”

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Young adults who show high prosocial behavior in face-to-face interactions are more likely to behave prosocially online.

“the evidence available suggests that consistent with co-construction theory, young adults who are high on prosocial behavior in face-to-face interactions are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior online: saying nice things, offering help, cheering others up, and letting others know they care (Wright & Li, 2015).”

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Direct observation of text messaging identified that deviancy training also occurs digitally.

“only by directly observing text messaging could we identify that this process also occurs digitally.”

There is psychological continuity between adolescents' online and offline lives.

“the psychological continuity between adolescents online and offline lives (Subrahmanyam et al., 2008)”

• cites Subrahmanyam et al., 2008Not checked yet

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Even if parents buy monitoring software, it may not be very helpful.

“Second, even if parents buy monitoring software, it may not be that helpful.”

• AssumptionRests on an assumption: Teenagers are skilled at creating new accounts to avoid monitoring and at disabling or circumventing monitoring applications and software.

Eighty-three percent of youth report social media makes them more knowledgeable about friends' lives.

“83% report that social media makes them feel more knowledgeable about their friends’ lives”

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In a randomized controlled trial, a single email from a pediatrician about social media perils led at-risk adolescents to post fewer sexual references in their online profiles.

“In a randomized control trial, just one email from a pediatrician outlining potential perils of social media use led to at-risk adolescents posting fewer sexual references in their online profiles (Moreno et al., 2009).”

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Digital communication may be positive and have developmental benefits for adolescents.

“it will be important to acknowledge that digital communication may be positive and have developmental benefits for adolescents (George & Odgers, 2016).”

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In a McAfee online survey, 70% of teens said they avoided parental monitoring of their online communication.

“70% of teens reported avoiding parental monitoring of their online communication”

• cites McAfee Security, 2012Not checked yet

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Seventy percent of youth say social media helps them understand friends' feelings.

“70% say that social media helps them understand their friends’ feelings”

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Among high school students who reported being victimized, only 32% told a parent.

“of high school students who said they had been victimized, only 32% told a parent (Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015).”

• cites Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015Not checked yet

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