In their words: Connecting on‐line weblogs to developmental processes
Abstract
This paper seeks to connect adolescents' communication within on‐line weblogs or blogs to developmental processes. A total of 195 English language blogs written by self‐identified 14‐ to 18‐year‐olds were selected; three entries from each blog were analysed, resulting in a sample of 585 entries. Blogger demographics, self‐presentation, and blog entries (format, style, content, and tone) were coded. The blog authors in our sample were overwhelmingly female and lived within the US; the majority were between 15‐ and 16‐years of age. Bloggers utilized usernames and userpictures for self‐presentation and in addition to gender, frequently presented information about their age and location. The majority of the entries used text, were narrative and reflective in style, and contained themes related to their authors' peers and everyday life. Emotional tone was present and entries with romantic, identity, and future‐related themes often contained emotional tone. Blog authors seemed to be using blogs to create narratives and to reflect about the people and events in their lives. Our results show that adolescent bloggers project off‐line themes to their blogs, suggesting that their on‐line and off‐line contexts are psychologically connected.
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Three qualitative studies found that those who got feedback from their audience reinforced their self-concept clarity.
“Three qualitative studies found that those who got feedback from their audience reinforced their self-concept clarity (Bell, 2019; Guzzetti & Gamboa, 2005; Subrahmanyam et al., 2009).”
From A Systematic Review of Social Media Use and Adolescent Identity Development (2025) · cites this paper as Subrahmanyam et al., 2009
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(1986) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-9564-5 · Cited by 849 · cited 2× · see citing works
“There may be two possible reasons for this – firstly it may be that self-presentation is more important to younger adolescents; because public displays of the self may drive one’s sense of self (Baumeister, 1986), younger adolescents might have also been more likely to adopt userpictures as part of their efforts to pr…”
BackgroundDaily emotional states as reported by children and adolescents
Larson, R., & Lampman-Petraitis, C. (1989) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1130798 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
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Online and offline social networks: Use of social networking sites by emerging adults
Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S. M., Waechter, N., & Espinoza, G. (2008) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.003 · Cited by 1,284 · see citing works
Self-citationA Systematic Review of Social Media Use and Adolescent Identity Development
Avci, H., Baams, L., & Kretschmer, T. (2025) · Adolescent Research Review · doi:10.1007/s40894-024-00251-1 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
“Three qualita - tive studies found that those who got feedback from their audience reinforced their self-concept clarity (Bell, 2019; Guzzetti & Gamboa, 2005; Subrahmanyam et al., 2009 ).”
Denissen, J. J. A., Neumann, L., & van Zalk, M. (2010) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1177/0165025410383746 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Virtual worlds in development: Implications of social networking sites
Subrahmanyam, K., & Greenfield, P. M. (2008) · Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.004 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Subrahmanyam, K., Garcia, E. C. M., Harsono, L. S., Li, J. S., & Lipana, L.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Subrahmanyam, Kaveri
- ORCID
- Subrahmanyam, Kaveri
- Venue
- British Journal of Developmental Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 219-245
- ISSN
- 0261-510X (ISSN-L)
- 2044-835X
- OpenAlex
- W2023910814
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 20.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of North Florida Digital Commons (University of North Florida) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Media and Digital Communication
- Keywords
- blogs, adolescents, online communication, self-presentation, identity construction, emotional tone, narrative, reflection, gender differences, peer relationships
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Communication, Female, Humans, Individuality, Individuation, Male, Peer Group, Personality Development, Self Disclosure, Internet, Narration, Blogging
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