A Lil’ Too Comfortable
While it might be easy to say “no one knows who I am online” or “nobody can really do anything to you when sharing things online,” that isn’t always the case. A screenshot can be taken faster than a post can be deleted. A screenshot can be shared more than once.
Two 14-year old girls made a post on Instagram back in 2016. Both holding guns and a sign that read “I hate everyone, you hate everyone. Let’s shoot up the school at homecoming.” While the guns and threats may not have been real, both girls were at risk of expulsion and even criminal charges, which may have already jeopardized both of their futures.
This moment above is just one of many in which young people have potentially ruined their future based on what they posted online. So why do we even feel so comfortable online in the first place? “The Power of the Like in Adolescence” discusses the research results of both teens and adults, which showed that adolescents were “more likely to like photos depicted with many likes than photos with few likes,” which showed “the influence of virtual peer endorsement and held for both neutral photos and photos of risky behaviors.” Adults were found to have “changed their ratings to conform to those of peers or experts” after learning about how others rated the same stimuli as them.
Both before and after adulthood, people were found to follow what they perceived as the norm. In the case of teens, who are more likely to engage in risky behaviors or misunderstand the risks involved, they also liked photos that they perceived as the more popular. This shows that individuals are more likely to make posts that relate to popular topics, even if they are not the best to discuss online. This is further backed up by “The Power of the Like in Adolescence,” which stated that peer influence “is a means by which adolescents learn how to behave appropriately... However, peer pressure can be maladaptive when it reinforces dangerous behaviors, such as drunk driving or drug use.”
Another reason that teens may feel more comfortable online could be because of the mere-exposure effect, the phenomenon where people tend to develop a liking or preference for something because of its familiarity. If someone were to spend a lot of time on social media, it's possible for them to like using social media even more, simply based on long term exposure. This could be further influenced by a person’s reasons for using social media, like in the case where the algorithm caters to that person’s interests on that platform.
Most CSH students are either uncomfortable sharing information online, or express a good amount of caution while doing so. But while it might be easy to say “no one knows who I am online” or “nobody can really do anything to you when sharing things online,” that isn’t always the case. A screenshot can be taken faster than a post can be deleted. A screenshot can be shared more than once.
When asked why they shared what they considered to be the “craziest thing they’ve shared online,” a CSH student said that “at the time I would rather post about it and have multiple people relate and resonate than confront my own internal issues in a healthier way. Afterwards I would overthink about what other people were thinking about it if they didn't reply in any way to the post…”
This student no longer uses social media because they found it healthier for themselves. This does not necessarily mean that cutting off social media is what will work for you, but exercising caution online can help avoid situations where you may feel like it will.
When other students were asked the same question, they said:
“I just felt like trying to share information that someone was trying to look for…”
“I shared it because I wasn't afraid to, as I said when I posted it, ‘speak my truth.’ ”
No CSH students who were interviewed had any extreme posts online, but part of that is because none of them feel too comfortable when it comes to sharing online.
Appendix of Related Quotes:
“Adolescents underwent fMRI while viewing photos ostensibly submitted to Instagram. They were more likely to like photos depicted with many likes than photos with few likes; this finding showed the influence of virtual peer endorsement and held for both neutral photos and photos of risky behaviors (e.g., drinking, smoking). Viewing photos with many (compared with few) likes was associated with greater activity in neural regions implicated in reward processing, social cognition, imitation, and attention.” - The Power of the Like in Adolescence
“…when adolescents completed a risky driving task alone or in the presence of peers, the presence of peers was associated with increases in both risk taking and activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a hub of reward circuitry” - The Power of the Like in Adolescence
“For adolescents, who are particularly attuned to peer opinion, this quantifiable social endorsement may serve as a powerful motivator.” - The Power of the Like in Adolescence
“In these studies, adults rated stimuli, then learned how other people rated the same stimuli, and finally rated the stimuli a second time. Participants changed their ratings to conform to those of peers or experts and showed greater NAcc activation during trials on which they agreed with these individuals than during trials on which they did not agree.” - The Power of the Like in Adolescence
“Peer influence is very important during adolescence; it is a means by which adolescents learn how to behave appropriately in their sociocultural environment. However, peer pressure can be maladaptive when it reinforces dangerous behaviors, such as drunk driving or drug use. Furthermore, young people frequently post content online depicting risky behaviors, and this may affect their peers’ tendency to engage in such behaviors” - The Power of the Like in Adolescence
“Adolescents spend an increasing amount of time in digital environments. It has quickly become one of their dominant leisure activities, and digital media are increasingly considered an extension of their “real-life” selves.” - Social Media and Fear of Missing Out in Adolescents: The Role of Family Characteristics
“They often rely on social media for communication with family and peers, information gathering, and—to a certain extent—emotional self-regulation.” - Social Media and Fear of Missing Out in Adolescents: The Role of Family Characteristics
“Moreover, 70% of adolescents indicate that using their smartphone is similar to a reflex, a near-automated action (Mediaraven & LINC, 2018). In combination with the finding that most of the time online is spent on social networking sites (SNS; Barry et al., 2017; Oberst et al., 2017), this raises concerns about the impact of social media use on the well-being and development of children and adolescents both in the short- and long term (Bolton et al., 2013).” - Social Media and Fear of Missing Out in Adolescents: The Role of Family Characteristic
“Sometimes the thirst for such risks can also be derived by peer pressure or to feel validated by your friend circle. The report suggests that while sometimes these risks are minor or harmless, other times they can be big enough to leave a traumatizing effect. These viral challenges are also a result of peer pressure, and the hunger for likes and reviews.” - TikTok researches on the riskier challenges and what drives the young population to participate in them.
“However, the research concluded that not all the teens and young adults were participating in such challenges and only 21 percent of the world-ly population was participating in challenges, out of which only 2 percent took part in risky stuff with 0.3 participating in what can be termed as ‘dangerous.’” - TikTok researches on the riskier challenges and what drives the young population to participate in them.