James Vample

Professor Padgett
UWRT-1102
March 9th 2015
Annotated Bibliography
Inquiry: How is social media changing teens?
Proposed Thesis: Social media is doing more positive things than negative, amongst
teens.
Amanda Lenhart, Kristen Purcell, Aaron Smith, and Kathryn Zickuhr; Social Media &
Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults; Pew Internet and American Life
Project, 2010
In this article the co-authors state many backing statistics on the increase of social
media use amongst teens. The numbers are actually rising for adults increased use at the
same rate. Backed with statistics such as since 2006, 55% of teens say they used social
networking, by 2008 that number raised to 65%. In comparison, adults in 2006 were 37%
active, in 2008, 47%. They stated that from surveyed teens between the ages of 12 and 17
who had their core Internet activities tracked, reported 62% of online teens get news
about current events and politics online. In addition to that number 31% of online teens
get health, dieting, or physical fitness, as well as 17% for teens researching drug use and
health topics that are hard to discuss. I would say that this is a very credible and first hand
source that backs the positive effects of social media, as it shows its not only at outlet to
teens so commonly, but adults as well.

Gwenn Schurgin OKeeffe, Kathleen Clarke-Pearson; The Impact of Social Media on

children, Adolescents, and Families; American Academy of Pediatrics; 2011
In this Clinical Report from the American Academy of Pediatrics OKeeffe and
Clarke-Pearson analyze the nature of social media sites. They believe their job as
Pediatricians is to help families understand these sites [social media websites] and to
encourage healthy use and urge parents to monitor for potential problems with Cyber
Bulling, Facebook depression, sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content. There
research has shown that engaging in various forms of social media is a routine activity
that research has shown to benefit children and adolescents by enhancing communication,
social connection, and even technical skills. They state that social media can also offer
adolescents deeper benefits than those commonly thought of, such as; 1. Opportunities
for community engagement through raising money for charity and volunteering for local
events, including political and philanthropic events; 2. Enhancement of individual and
collective creativity through development and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors;
3. Growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and gaming sites; 4.
Expansion of ones online connections through shared interests to include others from
more diverse backgrounds (such communication is an important step for al adolescents
and affords the opportunity for respect, tolerance, and increased discourse about personal
and global issues); 5. Fostering of ones individual identity and unique social skills. These
improvements in Socialization and Communication amongst teens enhances learning
opportunities for the young population. I believe this article does a great job in displaying
the positive effects of social media. As well as showing the positive they state the risks of
using social networks, which are peer-to-peer; inappropriate content; lack of

understanding of online privacy issues; and outside influences of third-party advertising

groups. The research done by these Pediatricians educate families about both the
complexities of the digital world and the challenging social and health issues that online
youth experience by encouraging families to teach adolescents the appropriate use of
social media to maximize their benefits.
June Ahn, The effect of social network sites on adolescents social and academic
development: Current Theories and controversies; 2011
Ahn believes that teens are among the most prolific users of social network sites
(SNS). Her review outlines the theoretical frameworks researchers have used to
understand adolescents and SNS. [] It brings together work from disparate fields that
examine the relationship between SNS and social capital, privacy, youth safety,
psychological well-being, and educational achievement. She states a very good quote
that kills prior controversies combating the affect of human outcomes from social media,
[] Prior research on media effects consistently shows that technology alone cannot be
hypothesized to affect human outcomes. Instead, a social informatics approach that
examines the interaction between technical features of SNS communities and how
teenagers adopt SNS is needed. This shows that social media alone is not harmful to
teenagers but the way that it is used by some, creates a false representation.
Marry Madden, Amanda Lenhart, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser, Maeve Duggan, Aaron
Smith, and Meredith Beaton; Teens, Social Media, and Privacy; 2013
In a survey conducted by co-authors Madden, Lenhart, Cortesi, Gasser, Duggan,
Smith, and the Beaton state that, In broad measures of online experience, teens are
considerably more likely to report positive experiences than negative ones. This

statement I believe backs that in all things there is negative effects but when the positive
outweigh them, the concern is somewhat alleviated. They have a statistic that 52% of
online teens say they have had an experience online that made them feel good about
themselves, compared to 30% of teens that dont use social media but are Internet users.
A small figure of 17% was the percentage of online teens that said they have felt
uncomfortable at some point on social media, which transferred to 1 in 6. Again the
positive effects of social media are prominent and outweigh the negative effects.
K. Nola Mokeyane; Medias Positive & Negative Influence on Teenagers;
Mokeyane states both the positive and negative effects of social media on
teenagers, highlighting the topics of Cultural and Political Awareness and Social Skills
development. Media exposure develops and exposes teens to more cultural and ethnic
backgrounds. That encourages teens to think critically and question cultural stereotypes,
and also develop a political stance. Teens also can learn to enhance social interactions
with their peers through involvement, social media allows teens to cultivate new
friendships, which gives them access to wider networks and provides even greater
learning and social opportunities.