Social Media & Teens: Resources

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Interview with Danah Boyd, a respected researcher in the world of social media. She spent years studying teenagers and how they interact online. Her findings are in a new book called "It's Complicated." In this encore broadcast, NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

Interview with Jim Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, which tries to help schools and families navigate media and technology. A new study from a group called Common Sense Media reports that teenagers now spend up to nine hours a day on various screen devices. That's probably more than they sleep.

According to the Pew Research Center’s report “Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015,” more than 70 percent of US teens who have mobile devices use social media, often daily. Facebook is the most popular site, but teens also use other sites, often more than one at a time. Experts say social media sites allow modern adolescents to engage in traditional teen social activities but with new dimensions that did not exist in the past. Some experts believe that social media sites are safer than chat rooms used in the past because they can be restricted, which helps to reduce the threat of Internet predators.

Social networking sites are now the prime locations for the spread of xenophobic views among Serbian youth.

Three quarters of American teenagers own a cell phone and two thirds of them send and receive text messages. In a 2009 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, 800 teens (12-17) were questioned about their cell phone usage. A significant percentage noted that they have texted or talked while driving. Additionally, many of them talked about riding with distracted adult drivers who text, talk, and drive. Teenagers' acceptance of new technologies also leads to passive behavior when they encounter distracted driving among their friends and family. While many teenagers worry about cell phone use in cars, a majority of them accept risky behavior in themselves and others.

The proliferation of electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, computers, and video game consoles makes technology nearly an everyday fact of life for teens in the Western world. The vast majority of teens report accessing the Internet at least once per day and nearly a quarter of all teens said they are online “almost constantly,” according to data gathered by the Pew Research Center. A 2015 study by Common Sense Media reported that when screen time with mobile devices, computers, video game consoles, and televisions is combined, 18 percent of the surveyed teens spend ten or more hours a day in front of a screen....

Influence in the entertainment world has shifted in the twenty-first century. While television and movie stars still have a significant impact on popular culture, the entertainers on YouTube have found legions of fans online. Many of these rising stars use the video-sharing site to promote music, video gaming, and other interests. According to Variety, teens saw YouTube stars as more relatable than traditional celebrities. The magazine concluded that a seemingly direct connection between the online personalities and their viewers led teens to feel the stars were more authentic.

(CNN) -- You probably won't be surprised to hear that a new report found that teens and tweens spend a lot of time watching TV, videos and movies, playing video games, reading, listening to music and checking social media, but you might be somewhat shocked (I was!) by just how much time.

On any given day, teens in the United States spend about nine hours using media for their enjoyment, according to the report by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on helping children, parents and educators navigate the world of media and technology.

Social media are websites or web-based applications that allow people to communicate with others by sharing information, images, and more. People network and maintain relationships through social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Teenagers are not the only ones using social media; more adults have turned to new forms of communication to stay in touch with others. Using social media can affect relationships with others in both positive and negative ways.