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When it comes to teens and social media, it’s not all pressure and drama. But there is a fair amount of both — apparently outweighed by the benefits of teens feeling connected and supported.
A new Pew Research Center study of youth ages 13 to 18 released on Wednesday finds teens credit online platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook with strengthening friendships (81 percent), letting them interact with a more diverse group (69 percent), and feeling as if they’ll have support during tough times (68 percent).
Teens do report downsides, but at lower percentages. Negatives include feeling overwhelmed by all of the drama (45 percent), pressure to only post what makes them look good (43 percent), and pressure to post content that gets lots of likes and comments (37 percent).
Overall — and by what Pew calls “relatively substantial margins” — teens tend to associate social media use with positive instead of negative emotions.
