The Kids Are Online

Confronting the Myths and Realities of Young Digital Life
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-0-520-38807-9
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 312 Seiten, Cloth Over Boards, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 544 g

A nuanced, intimate picture of how young people live with and on social media.
 
Today's young people find themselves at the center of widespread debates about their online safety, and they are often told that social media platforms affect their mental health and body image by exposing them to cyberbullying and distressing images. Foregrounding their voices and experiences, The Kids Are Online explores how they navigate their identities across platforms and how they really feel about their young digital lives.
 
Ysabel Gerrard talked to more than a hundred teens to unpack the myths and realities of their social media use. Instead of framing today's big platforms as either good or bad, she identifies moments when young people encounter social apps in paradoxical ways—both good and bad at the same time. Using the concepts of stigma, secrecy, safety, and social comparison, she helps readers understand young people's experiences. The Kids Are Online proposes a series of recommendations for parents, families, schools, technology companies, and policymakers to imagine how we might build safer social media systems.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gerrard, Ysabel

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Pädagogik: Sachbuch, Ratgeber
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Digital Lifestyle Internet, E-Mail, Social Media
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Technische Informatik Computersicherheit Datensicherheit, Datenschutz
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Wissenssoziologie, Wissenschaftssoziologie, Techniksoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

List of Illustrations 
Preface 
Acknowledgments 

Introduction: Social Media in Young Lives 
1. From Moral and Media Panics to Platform Paradoxes 
2. Moderating the Mental Health Crisis 
3. Amuse Me or Abuse Me on Anonymous Apps 
4. Personal and Social Safety in Anonymous Communication 
5. At-Home Photoshopping and the New War on Body Image 
6. Platform Paradoxes: Recommendations and Reflections 

Appendix A. Interview Participant Demographic Information (British Academy Small Grant Research) 
Appendix B. Workshop and Interview Participant Information(Strategic Research Support Fund Pilot Study)
Appendix C. Research Methods and Ethical Considerations Underpinning Chapters 3 and 4 
Appendix D. Research Methods and Ethical Considerations Underpinning Chapter 5 
Notes 
References 
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Ysabel Gerrard is Senior Lecturer in Digital Communication at the University of Sheffield. Alongside her academic writing, she has published in The Guardian, WIRED, and VICE.