Abstract
Investigators have long recognized that adolescents’ peer experiences provide a crucial context for the acquisition of developmental competencies, as well as potential risks for a range of adjustment difficulties. However, recent years have seen an exponential increase in adolescents’ adoption of social media tools, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of adolescent peer interactions. Although research has begun to examine social media use among adolescents, researchers have lacked a unifying framework for understanding the impact of social media on adolescents’ peer experiences. This paper represents Part 1 of a two-part theoretical review, in which we offer a transformation framework to integrate interdisciplinary social media scholarship and guide future work on social media use and peer relations from a theory-driven perspective. We draw on prior conceptualizations of social media as a distinct interpersonal context and apply this understanding to adolescents’ peer experiences, outlining features of social media with particular relevance to adolescent peer relations. We argue that social media transforms adolescent peer relationships in five key ways: by changing the frequency or immediacy of experiences, amplifying experiences and demands, altering the qualitative nature of interactions, facilitating new opportunities for compensatory behaviors, and creating entirely novel behaviors. We offer an illustration of the transformation framework applied to adolescents’ dyadic friendship processes (i.e., experiences typically occurring between two individuals), reviewing existing evidence and offering theoretical implications. Overall, the transformation framework represents a departure from the prevailing approaches of prior peer relations work and a new model for understanding peer relations in the social media context.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Boyd has chosen not to capitalize her name; more information can be found at www.danah.org
Ellison and Boyd (2013) argue that the use of “social network sites” rather than “social networking sites” is more accurate to modern SNS, as the term “networking” suggests an active search for new people and connections, rather than those that already exist offline.
References
Allen, J. P., Schad, M. M., Oudekerk, B., & Chango, J. (2014). What ever happened to the “cool” kids? Long-term sequelae of early adolescent pseudomature behavior. Child Development, 85(5), 1866–1880. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12250.
Almquist, Y. (2009). Peer status in school and adult disease risk: A 30-year follow-up study of disease-specific morbidity in a Stockholm cohort. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63(12), 1028–1034. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.088377.
Almquist, Y. B., & Östberg, V. (2013). Social relationships and subsequent health-related behaviours: Linkages between adolescent peer status and levels of adult smoking in a Stockholm cohort: Peer status in school and adult smoking. Addiction, 108(3), 629–637. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.04097.x.
Amichai-Hamburger, Y., Kingsbury, M., & Schneider, B. H. (2013). Friendship: An old concept with a new meaning? Computers in Human Behavior, 29(1), 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.05.025.
Anandarajan, M., Zaman, M., Dai, Q., & Arinze, B. (2010). Generation Y adoption of instant messaging: An examination of the impact of social usefulness and media richness on use richness. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 53(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2010.2046082.
Antheunis, M. L., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2012). The quality of online, offline, and mixed-mode friendships among users of a social networking site. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2012-3-6.
Baker, C. K., & Carreño, P. K. (2016). Understanding the role of technology in adolescent dating and dating violence. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(1), 308–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0196-5.
Bayer, J. B., Ellison, N. B., Schoenebeck, S. Y., & Falk, E. B. (2016). Sharing the small moments: Ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat. Information, Communication and Society, 19(7), 956–977. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1084349.
Berger, J. (2013). Beyond viral: Interpersonal communication in the Internet age. Psychological Inquiry, 24(4), 293–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2013.842203.
Berlo, D. K. (1960). The process of communication: An introduction to theory and practice. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Berndt, T. J. (1982). The features and effects of friendship in early adolescence. Child Development, 53(6), 1447. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130071.
Best, P., Manktelow, R., & Taylor, B. (2014). Online communication, social media and adolescent wellbeing: A systematic narrative review. Children and Youth Services Review, 41, 27–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.03.001.
Billieux, J. (2012). Problematic use of the mobile phone: A literature review and a pathways model. Current Psychiatry Reviews, 8(4), 299–307. https://doi.org/10.2174/157340012803520522.
Borelli, J. L., & Prinstein, M. J. (2006). Reciprocal, longitudinal associations among adolescents’ negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, and peer relations. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(2), 154–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-9010-y.
Boyd, D. (2007). Why youth (heart) social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=1518924.
boyd, d. (2010). Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, dynamics, and implications. In Networked self: Identity, community, and culture on social network sites (pp. 39–58). Retrieved from http://www.danah.org/papers/2020/SNSasNetworkedPublics.
Boyd, D. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2008). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210–230. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Havard University Press.
Brown, B. B., & Larson, J. (2009). Peer relationships in adolescence. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470479193.adlpsy002004.
Burke, M., & Kraut, R. E. (2016). The Relationship between Facebook use and well-being depends on communication type and tie strength: Facebook and well-being. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 21(4), 265–281. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12162.
Butzer, B., & Kuiper, N. A. (2006). Relationships between the frequency of social comparisons and self-concept clarity, intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety, and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 41(1), 167–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.12.017.
Byrne, B. M., & Shavelson, R. J. (1996). On the structure of social self-concept for pre-, early, and late adolescents: A test of the Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976) model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 599–613. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.599.
Chein, J., Albert, D., O’Brien, L., Uckert, K., & Steinberg, L. (2011). Peers increase adolescent risk taking by enhancing activity in the brain’s reward circuitry. Developmental Science, 14(2), F1–F10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.01035.x.
Chen, W., & Lee, K.-H. (2013). Sharing, liking, commenting, and distressed? The pathway between Facebook interaction and psychological distress. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16(10), 728–734. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0272.
Chopik, W. J., & Peterson, C. (2014). Changes in technology use and adult attachment orientation from 2002 to 2012. Computers in Human Behavior, 38, 208–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.031.
Choukas-Bradley, S., & Prinstein, M. J. (2014). Peer relationships and the development of psychopathology. In M. Lewis & K. D. Rudolph (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 185–204). Boston, MA: Springer. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4614-9608-3_10.
Chua, T. H. H., & Chang, L. (2016). Follow me and like my beautiful selfies: Singapore teenage girls’ engagement in self-presentation and peer comparison on social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 190–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.011.
Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review, 13(4), 471–502. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1993.1021.
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2002). A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(1), 6–20. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006X.70.1.6.
Clerkin, E. M., Smith, A. R., & Hames, J. L. (2013). The interpersonal effects of Facebook reassurance seeking. Journal of Affective Disorders, 151(2), 525–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.06.038.
Collins, W. A. (2003). More than myth: The developmental significance of romantic relationships during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.1301001.
Culnan, M. J., & Markus, M. (1987). Information technologies. In F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam, K. H. Roberts, & L. W. Porter (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 420–443). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32(5), 554–571.
Dahl, R. E. (2004). Adolescent brain development: A period of vulnerabilities and opportunities. Keynote Address. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1308.001.
Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113(3), 487–496. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.113.3.487.
Davila, J., Hershenberg, R., Feinstein, B. A., Gorman, K., Bhatia, V., & Starr, L. R. (2012). Frequency and quality of social networking among young adults: Associations with depressive symptoms, rumination, and corumination. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 1(2), 72–86. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027512.
De Goede, I. H., Branje, S. J., & Meeus, W. H. (2009). Developmental changes and gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions of friendships. Journal of Adolescence, 32(5), 1105–1123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.03.002.
de Vries, D. A., Peter, J., de Graaf, H., & Nikken, P. (2016). Adolescents’ social network site use, peer appearance-related feedback, and body dissatisfaction: Testing a mediation model. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(1), 211–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0266-4.
Dennis, A. R., Fuller, R. M., & Valacich, J. S. (2008). Media, tasks, and communication processes: A theory of media synchronicity. MIS Quarterly, 32(3), 575–600.
Dennis, A. R., Kinney, S. T., & Hung, Y.-T. C. (1999). Gender differences in the effects of media richness. Small Group Research, 30(4), 405–437. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649649903000402.
Dhir, A., Kaur, P., Lonka, K., & Nieminen, M. (2016). Why do adolescents untag photos on Facebook? Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 1106–1115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.017.
Draucker, C. B., & Martsolf, D. S. (2010). The role of electronic communication technology in adolescent dating violence. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(3), 133–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2010.00235.x.
Elkind, D. (1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38(4), 1025. https://doi.org/10.2307/1127100.
Ellison, N. B., & Boyd, D. (2013). Sociality through social network sites. The Oxford handbook of internet studies (pp. 151–172). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://www.danah.org/papers/2013/SocialityThruSNS-preprint.pdf.
Feinstein, B. A., Hershenberg, R., Bhatia, V., Latack, J. A., Meuwly, N., & Davila, J. (2013). Negative social comparison on Facebook and depressive symptoms: Rumination as a mechanism. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(3), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033111.
Fox, J., & Moreland, J. J. (2015). The dark side of social networking sites: An exploration of the relational and psychological stressors associated with Facebook use and affordances. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 168–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.083.
Frison, E., & Eggermont, S. (2015). The impact of daily stress on adolescents’ depressed mood: The role of social support seeking through Facebook. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 315–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.070.
Furman, W., & Rose, A. J. (2015). Friendships, romantic relationships, and peer relationships. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (pp. 1–43). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy322.
Gowen, K., Deschaine, M., Gruttadara, D., & Markey, D. (2012). Young adults with mental health conditions and social networking websites: Seeking tools to build community. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35(3), 245–250. https://doi.org/10.2975/35.3.2012.245.250.
Greenfield, P. M., & Cocking, R. R. (2014). Cross-cultural roots of minority child development. New York: Routledge.
Hall, J. A., & Baym, N. K. (2012). Calling and texting (too much): Mobile maintenance expectations, (over)dependence, entrapment, and friendship satisfaction. New Media and Society, 14(2), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444811415047.
Harrison, M. A., & Gilmore, A. L. (2012). U txt WHEN? College students’ social contexts of text messaging. The Social Science Journal, 49(4), 513–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2012.05.003.
Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131681.
Hawdon, J., & Ryan, J. (2012). Well-being after the Virginia Tech mass murder: The relative effectiveness of face-to-face and virtual interactions in providing support to survivors. Traumatology, 18(4), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765612441096.
Haythornthwaite, C. (2005). Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Information, Communication and Society, 8(2), 125–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180500146185.
Hummel, A. C., & Smith, A. R. (2015). Ask and you shall receive: Desire and receipt of feedback via Facebook predicts disordered eating concerns. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(4), 436–442. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22336.
Hunter, F. T., & Youniss, J. (1982). Changes in functions of three relations during adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 18(6), 806. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.6.806.
Hwang, J. M., Cheong, P. H., & Feeley, T. H. (2009). Being young and feeling blue in Taiwan: Examining adolescent depressive mood and online and offline activities. New Media and Society, 11(7), 1101–1121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809341699.
Jiang, Z., Heng, C. S., & Choi, B. C. F. (2013). Research note: Privacy concerns and privacy-protective behavior in synchronous online social interactions. Information Systems Research, 24(3), 579–595. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1120.0441.
Jordan, A. B., & Romer, D. (2014). Media and the well-being of children and adolescents. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003.
Katsumata, Y., Matsumoto, T., Kitani, M., & Takeshima, T. (2008). Electronic media use and suicidal ideation in Japanese adolescents. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 62(6), 744–746. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2008.01880.x.
Keipi, T., & Oksanen, A. (2014). Self-exploration, anonymity and risks in the online setting: Analysis of narratives by 14–18-year olds. Journal of Youth Studies, 17(8), 1097–1113. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.881988.
Kingsbury, M., & Coplan, R. J. (2016). RU mad @ me? Social anxiety and interpretation of ambiguous text messages. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, 368–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.032.
Koutamanis, M., Vossen, H. G. M., Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2013). Practice makes perfect: The longitudinal effect of adolescents’ instant messaging on their ability to initiate offline friendships. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2265–2272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.04.033.
Koutamanis, M., Vossen, H. G. M., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2015). Adolescents’ comments in social media: Why do adolescents receive negative feedback and who is most at risk? Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 486–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.07.016.
Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukophadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53(9), 1017–1031. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.53.9.1017.
Kruger, J., Epley, N., Parker, J., & Ng, Z.-W. (2005). Egocentrism over e-mail: Can we communicate as well as we think? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 925–936. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.925.
LaFontana, K. M., & Cillessen, A. H. (2010). Developmental changes in the priority of perceived status in childhood and adolescence. Social Development, 19(1), 130–147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00522.x.
Lasswell, H. D. (1948). The structure and function of communication in society. The Communication of Ideas, 37, 215–228.
Ledbetter, A. M. (2010). Content- and medium-specific decomposition of friendship relational maintenance: Integrating equity and media multiplexity approaches. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27(7), 938–955. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510376254.
Lee, E. B. (2012). Young, black, and connected: Facebook usage among African American college students. Journal of Black Studies, 43(3), 336–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934711425044.
Lenhart, A. (2015a). Teens, social media and technology overview 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/.
Lenhart, A. (2015b, August 6). Teens, technology and friendships. Retrieved May 3, 2017, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/.
Lerner, R. M. (1984). On the nature of human plasticity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 309–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.309.
Lewandowski, J., Rosenberg, B. D., Jordan Parks, M., & Siegel, J. T. (2011). The effect of informal social support: Face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1806–1814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.03.008.
Licoppe, C. (2012). Understanding mediated appearances and their proliferation: The case of the phone rings and the “crisis of the summons”. New Media and Society, 14(7), 1073–1091. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444812452410.
Livingstone, S., & Smith, P. K. (2014). Annual research review: Harms experienced by child users of online and mobile technologies: The nature, prevalence and management of sexual and aggressive risks in the digital age. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(6), 635–654. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12197.
Love, B., Crook, B., Thompson, C. M., Zaitchik, S., Knapp, J., LeFebvre, L., et al. (2012). Exploring psychosocial support online: A content analysis of messages in an adolescent and young adult cancer community. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(10), 555–559. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2012.0138.
Madell, D. E., & Muncer, S. J. (2007). Control over social interactions: An important reason for young people’s use of the internet and mobile phones for communication? Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 10(1), 137–140. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9980.
Magnusson, D. (1988). Individual development from an interactional perspective: A longitudinal study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Magnusson, D., & Cairns, R. B. (1996). Developmental science: Toward a unified framework (pp. 7–30). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Magnusson, D., & Stattin, H. (1998). Person-context interaction theories. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 685–759). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Manago, A. M., Graham, M. B., Greenfield, P. M., & Salimkhan, G. (2008). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 446–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.001.
Manago, A. M., Taylor, T., & Greenfield, P. M. (2012). Me and my 400 friends: The anatomy of college students’ Facebook networks, their communication patterns, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 369–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026338.
Marder, B., Joinson, A., Shankar, A., & Houghton, D. (2016). The extended “chilling” effect of Facebook: The cold reality of ubiquitous social networking. Computers in Human Behavior, 60, 582–592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.097.
Marwick, A. E., & Boyd, d. (2011). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media and Society, 13(1), 114–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313.
Marwick, A., & Boyd, d. (2014). “It’s just drama”: Teen perspectives on conflict and aggression in a networked era. Journal of Youth Studies, 17(9), 1187–1204. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.901493.
McDaniel, B. T., & Coyne, S. M. (2016). “Technoference”: The interference of technology in couple relationships and implications for women’s personal and relational well-being. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(1), 85–98. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000065.
McFarland, L. A., & Ployhart, R. E. (2015). Social media: A contextual framework to guide research and practice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(6), 1653–1677. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039244.
McKenna, K. Y. A., & Bargh, J. A. (2000). Plan 9 from cyberspace: The implications of the Internet for personality and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4(1), 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0401_6.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. Canada: McGraw-Hill.
Menting, B., Van Lier, P. A. C., Koot, H. M., Pardini, D., & Loeber, R. (2016). Cognitive impulsivity and the development of delinquency from late childhood to early adulthood: Moderating effects of parenting behavior and peer relationships. Development and Psychopathology, 28(1), 167–183. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457941500036X.
Michikyan, M., Dennis, J., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2015). Can you guess who I am? Real, ideal, and false self-presentation on Facebook among emerging adults. Emerging Adulthood, 3(1), 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696814532442.
Miczo, N., Mariani, T., & Donahue, C. (2011). The strength of strong ties: Media multiplexity, communication motives, and the maintenance of geographically close friendships. Communication Reports, 24(1), 12–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2011.555322.
Mikami, A. Y., & Szwedo, D. E. (2011). Social networking in online and offline contexts. In R. J. R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of adolescence (pp. 2801–2808). New York, NY: Springer.
Mikami, A. Y., Szwedo, D. E., Ahmad, S. I., Samuels, A. S., & Hinshaw, S. P. (2015). Online social communication patterns among young adult women with histories of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 124(3), 576–588. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000053.
Misra, S., Cheng, L., Genevie, J., & Yuan, M. (2016). The iPhone effect: The quality of in person social interactions in the presence of mobile devices. Environment and Behavior, 48(2), 275–298. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916514539755.
Mitchell, K. J., & Ybarra, M. L. (2007). Online behavior of youth who engage in self-harm provides clues for preventive intervention. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 45(5), 392–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2007.05.008.
Modin, B., Östberg, V., & Almquist, Y. (2011). Childhood peer status and adult susceptibility to anxiety and depression. A 30-year hospital follow-up. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(2), 187–199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9462-6.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674.
Moreno, M., & Kota, R. (2013). Social media. In V. C. Strasburger, B. Wilson, & A. B. Jordan (Eds.), Children, adolescents, and the media (3rd ed.). Sage. Retrieved from https://nls.ldls.org.uk/welcome.html?ark:/81055/vdc_100025421490.0x000001.
Münzer, S., & Borg, A. (2008). Computer-mediated communication: Synchronicity and compensatory effort. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22(5), 663–683. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1387.
Murdock, K. K., Gorman, S., & Robbins, M. (2015). Co-rumination via cellphone moderates the association of perceived interpersonal stress and psychosocial well-being in emerging adults. Journal of Adolescence, 38, 27–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.10.010.
Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2015). Using social media for social comparison and feedback-seeking: Gender and popularity moderate associations with depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 43(8), 1427–1438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802015-0020-0.
Nesi, J., & Prinstein, M. J. (in press). In search of likes: Longitudinal associations between adolescents’ digital status seeking and health-risk behaviors. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1437733.
Nesi, J., Widman, L., Choukas-Bradley, S., & Prinstein, M. J. (2016). Technology-based communication and the development of interpersonal competencies within adolescent romantic relationships: A preliminary investigation, 27(2), 471–477. Journal of Research on Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12274.
Newcomb, A. F., & Bagwell, C. L. (1995). Children’s friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 117(2), 306–347. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.2.306.
Newcomb, A. F., & Bagwell, C. L. (1996). The developmental significance of children’s friendship relations. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F. Newcomb, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 289–321). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Newhagen, J. E., & Rafaeli, S. (1996). Why communication researchers should study the Internet: A dialogue. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 1(4), JCMC145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1996.tb00172.x.
Niland, P., Lyons, A. C., Goodwin, I., & Hutton, F. (2015). Friendship work on Facebook: Young adults’ understandings and practices of friendship. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 25(2), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2201.
Nowland, R., Necka, E. A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2017). Loneliness and social Internet use: Pathways to reconnection in a digital world? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(1), 70–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617713052.
Obar, J. A., & Wildman, S. S. (2015). Social media definition and the governance challenge: An introduction to the special issue. Telecommunications Policy, 39(9), 745–750. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2647377.
Olweus, D. (2012). Cyberbullying: An overrated phenomenon? European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9(5), 520–538. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.682358.
Parker, J. (2006). Peer relationships, child development, and adjustment: A developmental psychopathology perspective. Developmental Psychopathology, Theory and Method, 1, 419. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470939383.ch12.
Pea, R., Nass, C., Meheula, L., Rance, M., Kumar, A., Bamford, H., et al. (2012). Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to 12-year-old girls. Developmental Psychology, 48(2), 327–336. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027030.
Perloff, R. M. (2014). Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: Theoretical perspectives and an agenda for research. Sex Roles, 71(11–12), 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0384-6.
Pesendorfer, E.-M., & Koeszegi, S. T. (2006). Hot versus cool behavioural styles in electronic negotiations: The impact of communication mode. Group Decision and Negotiation, 15(2), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-006-9025-y.
Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2006). Research note: Individual differences in perceptions of internet communication. European Journal of Communication, 21(2), 213–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323105064046.
Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2013). The effects of Internet communication on adolescents’ psychological development. The International Encyclopedia of Media Studies. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444361506.wbiems136/full.
Poulin, F., & Chan, A. (2010). Friendship stability and change in childhood and adolescence. Developmental Review, 30(3), 257–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2009.01.001.
Prinstein, M. J., Borelli, J. L., Cheah, C. S. L., Simon, V. A., & Aikins, J. W. (2005). Adolescent girls’ interpersonal vulnerability to depressive symptoms: A longitudinal examination of reassurance-seeking and peer relationships. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114(4), 676–688. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.114.4.676.
Prinstein, M. J., & Giletta, M. (2016). Peer relations and developmental psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti (Ed.), developmental psychopathology (pp. 1–53). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy112.
Przybylski, A. K., & Weinstein, N. (2013). Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(3), 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407512453827.
Quan-Haase, A. (2008). Instant Messaging on Campus: Use and integration in university students’ everyday communication. The Information Society, 24(2), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240701883955.
Quan-Haase, A., & Collins, J. L. (2008). I’m there, but I might not want to talk to you. Information, Communication and Society, 11(4), 526–543. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691180801999043.
Ranney, J. D., & Troop-Gordon, W. (2012). Computer-mediated communication with distant friends: Relations with adjustment during students’ first semester in college. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(3), 848–861. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027698.
Reich, S. M. (2017). Connecting offline social competence to online peer interactions. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 6(4), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000111.
Rideout, V. (2015). The common sense census: Media use by Tweens and Teen. Common Sense Media. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens.
Rose, A. J. (2002). Co-rumination in the friendships of girls and boys. Child Development, 73(6), 1830–1843. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00509.
Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W. M., & Bowker, J. C. (2015). Children in peer groups. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (pp. 1–48). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy405.
Rudolph, K. D. (2014). Puberty as a developmental context of risk for psychopathology. In M. Lewis & K. D. Rudolph (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (pp. 331–354). Boston, MA: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9608-3_17.
Sameroff, A. (2009). The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other (pp. 3–21). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11877-001.
Schouten, A. P., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007). Precursors and underlying processes of adolescents’ online self-disclosure: Developing and testing an “Internet-attribute-perception” model. Media Psychology, 10(2), 292–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260701375686.
Sherman, L. E., Michikyan, M., & Greenfield, P. M. (2013). The effects of text, audio, video, and in-person communication on bonding between friends. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2013-2-3.
Sherman, L. E., Payton, A. A., Hernandez, L. M., Greenfield, P. M., & Dapretto, M. (2016). The power of the like in adolescence: Effects of peer influence on neural and behavioral responses to social media. Psychological Science, 27(7), 1027–1035. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797616645673.
Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. New York: Wiley.
Smetana, J. G., Campione-Barr, N., & Metzger, A. (2006). Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts. Annual Review of Psychology, 57(1), 255–284. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190124.
Smith, A. R., Hames, J. L., & Joiner, T. E. (2013). Status update: Maladaptive Facebook usage predicts increases in body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 149(1–3), 235–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2013.01.032.
Somerville, L. H. (2013). The teenage brain sensitivity to social evaluation. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(2), 121–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413476512.
Spies Shapiro, L. A., & Margolin, G. (2013). Growing up wired: Social networking sites and adolescent psychosocial development. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-013-0135-1.
Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review, 28(1), 78–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2007.08.002.
Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 83–110. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.83.
Steinberg, L., & Silverberg, S. B. (1986). The vicissitudes of autonomy in early adolescence. Child Development, 57(4), 841. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.ep7250248.
Stewart, M., Barnfather, A., Magill-Evans, J., Ray, L., & Letourneau, N. (2011). Brief report: An online support intervention: Perceptions of adolescents with physical disabilities. Journal of Adolescence, 34(4), 795–800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.04.007.
Subrahmanyam, K., & Greenfield, P. M. (2008). Virtual worlds in development: Implications of social networking sites. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 417–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.004.
Subrahmanyam, K., & Šmahel, D. (2011). Digital youth: The role of media in development. New York: Springer.
Subrahmanyam, K., Smahel, D., & Greenfield, P. (2006). Connecting developmental constructions to the internet: Identity presentation and sexual exploration in online teen chat rooms. Developmental Psychology, 42(3), 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.3.395.
Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Tang, F., Wang, X., & Norman, C. S. (2013). An investigation of the impact of media capabilities and extraversion on social presence and user satisfaction. Behaviour and Information Technology, 32(10), 1060–1073. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2013.830335.
Thompson, J. B. (1995). The media and modernity: A social theory of the media. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
Tillema, T., Dijst, M., & Schwanen, T. (2010). Face-to-face and electronic communications in maintaining social networks: The influence of geographical and relational distance and of information content. New Media and Society, 12(6), 965–983. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809353011.
Transform. (2018). In Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Retrieved February 7, 2018 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transform.
Trepte, S., Dienlin, T., & Reinecke, L. (2015). Influence of social support received in online and offline contexts on satisfaction with social support and satisfaction with life: A longitudinal study. Media Psychology, 18(1), 74–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2013.838904.
Uhls, Y. T., Ellison, N. B., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2017). Benefits and costs of social media in adolescence. Pediatrics, 140(Supplement 2), S67–S70. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1758E.
Uhls, Y. T., Michikyan, M., Morris, J., Garcia, D., Small, G. W., Zgourou, E., et al. (2014). Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues. Computers in Human Behavior, 39, 387–392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036.
Underwood, M. K., & Ehrenreich, S. E. (2017). The power and the pain of adolescents’ digital communication: Cyber victimization and the perils of lurking. American Psychologist, 72(2), 144–158. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0040429.
Utz, S., Muscanell, N., & Khalid, C. (2015). Snapchat elicits more jealousy than Facebook: A comparison of Snapchat and Facebook use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(3), 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2014.0479.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007a). Internet communication and its relation to well-being: Identifying some underlying mechanisms. Media Psychology, 9(1), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260709336802.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007b). Online communication and adolescent well-being: Testing the stimulation versus the displacement hypothesis. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1169–1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00368.x.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007c). Preadolescents’ and adolescents’ online communication and their closeness to friends. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 267–277. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.2.267.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2008). Adolescents’ identity experiments on the Internet: Consequences for social competence and self-concept unity. Communication Research, 35(2), 208–231. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650207313164.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2009). The effects of instant messaging on the quality of adolescents’ existing friendships: A longitudinal study. Journal of Communication, 59(1), 79–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.01405.x.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2011). Online communication among adolescents: An integrated model of its attraction, opportunities, and risks. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48(2), 121–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.08.020.
Valkenburg, P. M., Peter, J., & Walther, J. B. (2016). Media effects: Theory and research. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033608.
van der Schuur, W. A., Baumgartner, S. E., Sumter, S. R., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2015). The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review. Computers in Human Behavior, 53, 204–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.035.
Van Zalk, M. H. W., Branje, S. J. T., Denissen, J., Van Aken, M. A. G., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2011). Who benefits from chatting, and why? The roles of extraversion and supportiveness in online chatting and emotional adjustment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(9), 1202–1215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211409053.
Van Zalk, M. H. W., Van Zalk, N., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2014). Influences between online-exclusive, conjoint and offline-exclusive friendship networks: The moderating role of shyness. European Journal of Personality, 28(2), 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1895.
Vaterlaus, J. M., Barnett, K., Roche, C., & Young, J. A. (2016). Snapchat is more personal: An exploratory study on Snapchat behaviors and young adult interpersonal relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.029.
Waddell, T. F. (2016). The allure of privacy or the desire for self-expression? Identifying users’ gratifications for ephemeral, photograph-based communication. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(7), 441–445. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2015.0677.
Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23(1), 3–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365096023001001.
Walther, J. B. (2011). Theories of computer-mediated communication and interpersonal relations. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), The handbook of interpersonal communication (4th ed., pp. 443–479). Washington, DC: Sage.
Walther, J. B., & Parks, M. R. (2002). Cues filtered out, cues filtered in: Computer-mediated communication and relationships. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (3rd ed., pp. 529–563). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Weinstein, E., & Davis, K. (2015). Connecting ‘round the clock: Mobile phones and adolescents” experiences of intimacy. In Z. Yan (Ed.), Encyclopedia of mobile phone behavior (pp. 937–946). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Wright, K. B. (2012). Emotional support and perceived stress among college students using Facebook.com: An exploration of the relationship between source perceptions and emotional support. Communication Research Reports, 29(3), 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2012.695957.
Xu, S., Wang, Z., & David, P. (2016). Media multitasking and well-being of university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 242–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.040.
Yan, Z. (2018). Child and adolescent use of mobile phones: An unparalleled complex developmental phenomenon. Child Development, 89(1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12821.
Ybarra, M. L., Alexander, C., & Mitchell, K. J. (2005). Depressive symptomatology, youth Internet use, and online interactions: A national survey. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36(1), 9–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2003.10.012.
Yen, J.-Y., Yen, C.-F., Chen, C.-S., Wang, P.-W., Chang, Y.-H., & Ko, C.-H. (2012). Social anxiety in online and real–life interaction and their associated factors. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(1), 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0015.
Young, C. M. Y., & Lo, B. C. Y. (2012). Cognitive appraisal mediating relationship between social anxiety and internet communication in adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(1), 78–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.09.001.
Zywica, J., & Danowski, J. (2008). The faces of Facebookers: Investigating social enhancement and social compensation hypotheses. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2008.01429.x.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE-1144081) awarded to Jacqueline Nesi. This work was also supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01-MH85505, R01-HD055342) Grants awarded to Mitchell J. Prinstein.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Disclaimer Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NIH or NSF.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nesi, J., Choukas-Bradley, S. & Prinstein, M.J. Transformation of Adolescent Peer Relations in the Social Media Context: Part 1—A Theoretical Framework and Application to Dyadic Peer Relationships. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 21, 267–294 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-018-0261-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-018-0261-x