Teenagers are thinking about the effects of social media and designing their own exit paths, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study.
Researchers found that teens are crafting their own “frictions” – defined as moments of intentional pause – to resist social media design that keep users constantly engaged. Older teens reported using reminder apps, calendars and a quick glance at the clock time on their phones as checks on their social media scrolling habit. Reminders from parents are a bigger factor for younger teens.
The research, published in International Journal of Communication, examined patterns of teenage social media use and analyzed the methods, motivations and reasons behind teens taking a break or stop using social media. “Teenagers’ social media use is often cast as problematic and addictive, and moral panics are a persistent theme,” said Nikhila Natarajan, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Media Studies at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information. “While policymakers lag behind in technology regulation, teenagers are taking the lead to combat this.”
Natarajan said while the broader commentary has focused on how teens use and linger on social media, there is a gap in scholarly research on how teens might be crafting strategies to resist the pull of “frictionless” design – commonly seen as an endless loop of content on TikTok – during a crucial developmental period. To read the full story.