The research also found that adolescents understand how platform algorithms work and use this knowledge to influence what appears in their feeds. This involved unfollowing accounts, deleting apps, and prioritising content that felt positive or affirming.
While the jury remains out on the effectiveness and appropriateness of Australia’s social media ban for under 16s, the new research has found that digital technologies can have a positive impact on young people, aiding skill development, self-expression and helping to foster a sense of belonging.
Much has been made of the risks young people face in the digital landscape, particularly on social media and online gaming environments, however this systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis from Australian Catholic University’s Institute of Positive Psychology and Education found that online spaces can support a sense of autonomy and help cultivate friendships.
The review looked at 90 studies across 26 countries and, importantly, centres on young people’s own voices and experiences.
Lead author Dr Chloe Gordon says learning, playing and socialising through online technologies and platforms is an important part of growing up in a post-digital world.
“It is essential that we listen to and take seriously young people’s perspectives on growing up in a digital world, as their experiences are fundamentally different to those of adults,” she says.
“Online spaces are not separate from their lives. They are embedded in how young people learn, connect, and make sense of who they are.”
Gordon, whose main area of research expertise encompasses media literacy, digital flourishing and consent and respectful relationships, says a surprising finding from the study was how purposely young people can engage with facing their digital environment.
“They have the capacity to describe what platforms they’re choosing to create their content, to unfollow accounts, to delete apps and to prioritise content that felt positive or affirming,” she tells EducationHQ.
“They’re not just simply consuming whatever appears in their feed.
“So, I think that challenges the idea that young people are always passive users. They do have some strategies to manage those online spaces and there’s opportunity there for us to build upon some of the strategies that they already have and strengthen them.”
The findings highlight the breadth of ways adolescents use online spaces for self-expression, self-discovery, and support, but also the need to balance risk-focused policies with approaches that support positive digital engagement while mitigating potential harms.
There’s a clear opportunity, Gordon advocates, for schools and families to build on this through media literacy and digital wellbeing education.
“Teachers don’t need to become experts in every platform, but a useful sign point would be to approach young people as being knowledgeable about their own digital life.
“So they could be asking students about how do they curate their themes, what kind of content makes them feel supported, how do they decide when to step back from a platform.
“They can teach their students about algorithms, about their digital habits, about online peer cultures, and also the difference between content that’s engaging and content that is genuinely helpful or affirming for them.”
The benefits of digital technologies were found to be particularly important for underrepresented adolescents, who often use online spaces for support and connection.
“Online environments can provide important spaces for connection, particularly when young people find school or offline contexts socially limiting,” Gordon says.
“Across the studies, adolescents described making intentional choices to find communities where they felt a sense of belonging.
“For example, LGBTQI+ young people connected with supportive networks where they could express their identity without fear, while those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds used digital platforms to maintain cultural connections and share knowledge.”
Gordon says schools and education systems are increasingly expected to respond to shifts in the way young people interact with the digital world, but the conversations around the topic tend to focus heavily on the risks.
“Debates around adolescents’ internet use have become increasingly dominated by narratives of fear and global policy responses increasingly emphasise risk reduction and harm prevention,” she says.
“While important, it is equally critical to understand how digital technologies can be harnessed to support positive psychological, social and educational development.”
Rather than measures involving the blocking of access to certain digital spaces, Gordon suggests a multifaceted approach that doesn’t focus only on risks and harms, but also looks at what are some of the positive ways and benefits that people get from these online spaces as well, could be a way forward.
The findings highlight the breadth of ways adolescents use online spaces for self-expression, self-discovery, and support, but also the need to balance risk-focused policies with approaches that support positive digital engagement while mitigating potential harms.
“There is a need to look at how these platforms are actually designed,” she concedes.
“There are some features that aren’t helpful, but is there a way to design them in more ethical ways? How are they being regulated? And then there’s also the education aspect as well, the opportunity for the learning that can happen in classrooms and at home.”
Gordon is looking forward to undertaking more research in this most topical and critical areas.
“I’m really interested in how we can support young people who have positive experiences online and how we can support them to flourish and how we can support their wellbeing in those online environments – because those environments are here to stay as part of their everyday world.”
To read the study titled ‘Adolescent flourishing in a digitally connected world: A qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis’, click here.
