Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence
Abstract
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.
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Moderate screen time can be beneficial for young people in a connected world.
“Moderate ST can be beneficial for young people in a connected world [22] as it may afford them with opportunities to enhance existing relationships, forge new connections, engage in safe identity exploration, aid in academic pursuits, and provide access to information about the world beyond their immediate surroundings [23].”
From Psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review (2020) · cites this paper as [23]
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References 24 · Cited by 322
- Authors
- Uhls, Y. T., Ellison, N. B., & Subrahmanyam, K.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- California State University Los Angeles (US)
- Venue
- Pediatrics
- Publisher
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- Published
- 2017-11-01
- Volume
- 140
- Issue
- Supplement_2
- Pages
- S67-S70
- ISSN
- 0031-4005 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-4275
- OpenAlex
- W2765135712
- Cited by
- 322
- References
- 24
- Citations by year
- 2026: 46 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 49 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 25.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- PEDIATRICS (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of North Florida Digital Commons (University of North Florida) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
- Keywords
- social media use, adolescents, adolescent development, benefits of social media, peer interaction, identity construction, screen time
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Humans, Adolescent Development, Social Media
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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