Lonely Adolescents and Social Networks

Hong Kong.
The final presenter in this session at The Internet Turning 40 is Louis Leung. He begins by pointing to previous study examining the impacts of preferences for online use for offline interaction, and in his own work focusses especially on adolescents - a time which is characterised as a time of transition, challenge,and turbulence, a developmental time of identity formation, increased independence, and of having to deal with the challenges connected to this.

Past studies show, for example, that over half of 9- to 18-year-olds have pretended to be someone else online; many have posted material about themselves online and thereby expressed and experimented with their identity; some may also have expressed otherwise suppressed elements of their own identity. Heavy Internet users also use the Net more strongly for identity formation and relationship formation, unsurprisingly. There is a difference here between the 'now self' and the 'possible self' in such activities, and an individual's identity combines the two.

Do users feel that the Net treats them better, that they feel safer, more confident, more comfortable, etc. when using online media compared to their offline relationships? Users may derive gratification from online media use in such cases, especially if they are troubled by low self-esteem or other negative factors; they may also derive such gratification from expressing their age identity in connection with like-minded users. Online social media use may form part of a coping strategy.

Louis study hypothesised that lonely users found online social identity more gratifying than less lonely users, and that adolescents with a lower level of offline support would find online identity more gratifying; these were explored in face-to-face surveys with adolescents aged 9 to 19 (with parents present where necessary). Both of these hypotheses were partially supported - and 9- to 14-year-olds found online interaction a particularly important remedy for loneliness (but also had stronger offline support mechanisms protecting them).

Also, online social identity is a key contributor for a preference for online social interaction - so psychosocial distress does not simply lead to a preference for online, but the situation is more complex than that. All of this must also be seen in the context of Hong Kong lifestyles, where online provides an important escape mechanism from cramped physical living conditions.

Technorati : Internet Turning 40, adolescents, identity, loneliness, social networks, support
Del.icio.us : Internet Turning 40, adolescents, identity, loneliness, social networks, support