Teenagers are adopting methods to take a pause during social media use: Study

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A study led by Nikhila Natarajan, a doctoral candidate of Media Studies at Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information, found that teenagers are actively considering the effects of social media and creating their own methods to manage their usage.

The research, published in International Journal of Communication, investigated the social media usage of teenagers and analyzed the “methods, motivations and reasons,” as to why they were “taking a break or stop using social media,” said a statement from Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Researchers found that teens are crafting their own “frictions” – defined as moments of intentional pause – to resist social media design that keeps users constantly engaged,

“Teenagers’ social media use is often cast as problematic and addictive, and moral panics are a persistent theme,” said Nikhila Natarajan. “While policymakers lag behind in technology regulation, teenagers are taking the lead to combat this.”

Natarajan pointed out that while there is a general focus on social media usage patterns of teens, there is not much research by academic scholars about strategies adopted by teens to resist the pull of “frictionless” design, which is “commonly seen as an endless loop of content on TikTok – during a crucial developmental period.”

According to the statement, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 20 teenagers from the United States and Canada and analyzed the results. Participants provided insights on three key items by age: whether teens voluntarily cease their use of social media apps; the methods teenagers employ to cease usage; and the motivations behind discontinuing usage.

“The asymmetries between teens’ developmental stages and social media design are many,” said Natarajan. “The always-on challenge is that teens’ still-maturing regulatory regions of the brain are dealing with twin tensions – an easily aroused reward system navigating social media design that eliminates stopping cues and offers instant but unpredictable gratifications.”

She further said, there are a number of factors behind why the teenagers take a break while using social media.

“It is rarely a single experience but more often a set of interconnected ones both online and offline that lead teens to think harder about social media effects and then take actions to self-regulate their use,” she said. “Participants’ responses highlight that they are constantly thinking about the ways that their social media experiences cause both physical and emotional discomfort. Across all four ages 13-16, teens highlighted negative experiences that they credit with shifting their social media behaviors.”

The study was advised by Amy Jordan, a Distinguished Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and former co-editor of the Journal of Children and Media and co-editor of the book Children, Adolescents, and Media.