“You take fifty photos, delete forty nine and use one”: A qualitative study of adolescent image-sharing practices on social media

TY - JOUR

T1 - “You take fifty photos, delete forty nine and use one”

T2 - A qualitative study of adolescent image-sharing practices on social media

AU - Bell, Beth T.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2019/6

Y1 - 2019/6

N2 - There has been an exponential increase in the number of images created, shared and viewed across social media. Using exploratory qualitative methodology, the present research seeks to understand image-sharing on social media amongst adolescents; an important social media user group. Thirty five adolescents (Age M = 14.75; SD = 1.34; Female N = 21)from the UK, participated in semi-structured focus groups. Recordings from focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Three themes were derived from the data: (1)Presenting and Viewing Socially and Physically Attractive Selves, (2)Maintaining Offline Relationships, and (3)The Importance of Visible Quantifiable Feedback. These themes encapsulate the diversity and complexity of adolescent image-sharing practices, which must be considered within the context of adolescent identity and relational development, and peer-group/cultural norms. The implications of these findings are discussed within.

AB - There has been an exponential increase in the number of images created, shared and viewed across social media. Using exploratory qualitative methodology, the present research seeks to understand image-sharing on social media amongst adolescents; an important social media user group. Thirty five adolescents (Age M = 14.75; SD = 1.34; Female N = 21)from the UK, participated in semi-structured focus groups. Recordings from focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Three themes were derived from the data: (1)Presenting and Viewing Socially and Physically Attractive Selves, (2)Maintaining Offline Relationships, and (3)The Importance of Visible Quantifiable Feedback. These themes encapsulate the diversity and complexity of adolescent image-sharing practices, which must be considered within the context of adolescent identity and relational development, and peer-group/cultural norms. The implications of these findings are discussed within.

KW - Adolescence

KW - Digital photography

KW - Image-sharing

KW - Social media

KW - Social networking sites

KW - Teenagers

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064488723&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijcci.2019.03.002

DO - 10.1016/j.ijcci.2019.03.002

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85064488723

SN - 2212-8689

VL - 20

SP - 64

EP - 71

JO - International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction

JF - International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction

ER -