MONITORING YOUTH ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Zametria Dickey
William Paterson University

Abstract:
Social media monitoring will become the biggest concern amongst the
world. How are we protecting over youth from the negative actions and
behaviors that are being publicly recorded and embedded in our
Internet system. In this study we present how social media monitoring
will allow for analysis of social dynamics through which opinions are
form and showcased . We use interviews with parents from all classes,
social media researchers and journalists to examine monitoring
controls for youth within social media. These in-depth interviews can
reveal parental concerns for protecting the youth and how we can
monitor it while social media continues to grow rapidly everyday.

Introduction
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
represent a new class of communication platforms that have become
quickly mingled into the
everyday lives of millions of people around the world. Such sites offer
today's youth a portal for entertainment and communication and have
grown rapidly in recent years. The influence of social media on
adolescents and teenagers is of particular importance, not only
because this particular group is developmentally vulnerable but also
because they are among the heaviest users of social media. For this
reason, it is important that parents become aware of the nature of
social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments
for our youth. Researchers believe that there are things parents should
be aware of and tips they should consider when their children open
their own social media accounts. At a time when social media is at it
height and over sharing is everything , we need to question what
guidelines would balance the situation.
Teens are spending more than one-third of their days using social
media for nearly nine hours on average. For tweens, those between the
ages of 8 and 12, the average is six hours per day. Seventy-five
percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25% use them for
social media, 54% use them for texting, and 24% use them for instant
messaging. Thus, a large part of this generation's social and emotional
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development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones.

Because of their limited capacity for self-regulation and sensitivity to
peer pressure, the youth are at some risk as they navigate and
experiment with social media.
Teens are increasingly sharing personal information on social
media sites, a trend that is likely driven by the evolution of the
platforms teens use. Beyond basic profile information, some teens
choose to enable their location information when they post. Social
media has given teens access to chat privately online messaging
without having cell phone service messaging under wireless Internet
access, called Wife. It has given teenagers uncontrollable power to
post anything of their desire.
Recent research indicates that there are frequent online expressions of
offline behaviors, such as bullying, clique-forming, and sexual
experimentation, that have introduced problems such as cyberbullying, privacy issues, exposure to inappropriate content, depression,
internet addiction, sleep deprivation and sexting.
The purpose of this project is to bring awareness to parents
about monitoring their youths social media habits. Many parents today
use technology and feel comfortable with the programs and online
venues that the youth are using. Nevertheless, some parents may find
it difficult to relate to their digitally savvy youngsters online for several
reasons. One reason is parents do not have the technical abilities or

time needed to keep pace with their children in the ever-changing

Internet landscape. (Palfrey J, Gasser U, Boyd D.) In addition, these
parents often lack a basic understanding that kids' online lives are an
extension of their offline lives. The end result is often a knowledge and
technical skill gap between parents and youth, which creates a
disconnect in how these parents and youth participate in the online
world together. (Jenkins H, Clinton K, Purushotma R, Robinson AJ,
Weigel M.)
The project will show parents the importance of monitoring and
also give some assistance on how to monitor the youth use of social
media.
Parental Understanding of Social Media
With millions of youth on the Internet in the U.S., millions of
parents are trying to understand what their children are doing and why.
Understanding how technology use impacts youth learning, growth,
and social development is critical for their health and wellbeing and for
the welfare of the family. Yet, balancing parent authority with teen
privacy and autonomy is difficult. This research investigates ways of
supporting parents in managing their childrens technology and social
media use. ( Sarita A. Yardi, 2012)
Most parents have limited access to social media through out their
workday. Many use it in their spare time unlike the youth. With the
youth having more time to access media sites, it gives them a
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competitive edge on learning the software faster then parents.

Parents are often blind to what their children are doing with
technology because it is personal and mobile. About 23 million
teenagers will get online today in the U.S., hanging out in chat rooms
and on social networking sites [Census, 2010, Lenhart, 2010]. 18
million teens have cell phones of their own and 4.5 million of them will
text over 100 times by tonight [Lenhart, 2010].92% of parents are
concerned that children share too much information online and 75% of
parents dont think social networking sites do a good job of protecting
childrens online privacy [CommonSenseMedia, 2010].
Therefore, a number of questions arise from a re- search
perspective: Do parents understand the benefits and risks of social
media? How do parents manage their childrens social uses of
technology? How do parents set rules and keep an eye on technology
use? In what ways might they be supported to do it better?
Benefits of Social Media
Social media sites allow teens to stay connected with friends and
family, making new friends, sharing pictures, and exchanging ideas.
Social media participation also can offer youth deeper benefits that
extend into their view of self, community, and the world. Below is a list
of additional pros to social media:

Socializing online can give shy, socially awkward teens a

comfortable way to communicate -- one thats less intimidating

than meeting face-to-face. This can boost their self-esteem and

help them practice their social skills.

Opportunities for community engagement through raising money
for charity and volunteering for local events, including political

and philanthropic events

Enhancement of individual and collective creativity through

development and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors

Growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and

gaming sites
Teens with unusual interests or hobbies find kindred spirits

online, giving them a place to share information and enthusiasm.

Kids who have disabilities or other challenges can communicate
with other teens with similar problems. This lessens their sense

of isolation and allows for mutual support.

Youth are accessing online information about their health
concerns easily and anonymously. Health resources are
increasingly available to youth on a variety of topics of interest
to this population

Risks of Youth on Social Media

Using social media becomes a risk more often than most adults
realize. These sources speaks on the vulnerability of many youth who
are easily swayed into negative media behavior such as:

Many teens have posted something online that caused problems

for them or a family member, or got them in trouble at school.

Online bullying and harassment by peers, also known as cyber

bullying. This may be the biggest online danger to kids. Its often
an extension of bullying that takes place at school but can be

just as damaging, if not more so.

Online predators. While being harassed or stalked online by adult
predators is far less common than cyber bullying, any incident is

one too many.

Less face-to-face interaction with family and friends. Researchers
are studying the effect of this trend on kids social development,

but the long-term effects arent yet known.

Sexting defining as sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually
explicit messages, photographs, or images via digital devices.
Some teens that have engaged in sexting have been threatened
or charged with felony child pornography charges, although
some states have started characterizing such behaviors as
juvenile-law misdemeanors. (Walker J and Davila J, Stroud CB,
Starr LR, et al)

Many parents are proposing the question of is social media beneficial

to my child or not? How do the benefits outweigh the risks of social
media? And most importantly, how do I protect my child from negative
behavior on social media?

Parental and Monitoring Controls

Monitoring tools can help parents watch social media activity and
provide information regarding what their child/children are doing

publicly. It is important that parents evaluate the sites on which their

child wishes to participate to be sure that the site is appropriate for
that child's age. For sites without age stipulations, however, there is
room for negotiation, and parents should evaluate the situation via
active conversation with their children.(impact)
Saria A. Yardi(2012) conducted focus groups with parents at a
school. These groups were structured on brainstorming about social
media management at home. The results of this research revealed
tensions around circumvention, monitoring, keeping up, and
disconnecting. Her research proved that parents are very concerned
about their childrens usage and knowledge of social media but
unfortunately its hard for parents to keep up to speed with the
learnings of technology as their child. Saria A. Yardi (2012) proposed a
network, ParentNet, to assist parents on monitoring their social media
platforms.
Other tools, however, can be installed on devices to provide
parents with reports about what they are doing privately in chat
locations and e-mails. Protective software can block or filter keywords
and site names to prevent access certain websites and content.
Programs offer different levels of coverage. Some simply block content
the program considers inappropriate; others let you customize filtering
and include time limits for computer use. (Bair, A. L. (n.d.).)

Besides many offerings of assistance with monitor controls, are

parents actually utilizing these softwares? Are these softwares
affordable? If parents arent monitoring their childrens usage
effectively, how are we protecting the youth from negative social
media behaviors.
Research Questions
I propose the following research questions to parents to assist in
expressing the urgent need of this topic.
RQ 1: At what age do parents feel it is appropriate for their
children to access social media?
RQ 2: What strategies do parents use to manage their
childrens use of technology? What are the challenges and
opportunities they face in doing so?
RQ 3:Do parents feel they should be held accountable for their
children negative behaviors on social media?

Controls and Limitations of Social Media in In-Depth Interviews

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I will use interviews with parents, social media researchers and

journalists to examine monitoring controls for youth within social
media. I will conduct interviews within focus groups speaking to 60
participants. The sample of 60 interviewees was guided in the first
instance by our social media analysis and then a snowball technique to
broaden the sample. Thee interviewees fell into six cohorts: parents
within a school in the working class, parents within a school in the
middles class; parents within a school in the upper class; data
analysts ,who worked for the companies that were actually analyzing
social media data; the journalists who were reporting these findings;
political consultants. The sample was chosen with the aim of obtaining
a rounded view of the problems and potential of social media analysis.
(?)The sample was chosen with the aim of obtaining a rounded view of
the problems and potential of social media analysis. In order to ensure
they could talk candidly, interviewees were assured that they would
not be publicly identified.
These in-depth interviews will be introduced to parents at back to
school night. We will ask parents for their participation and
commitment on this topic. We will produce the research questions and
ask parents on scheduling pre- selected group time interviews. Based
on the feedback we will adjust according for parents. We will schedule
the journalists and specialists around the time of the parents. I will mix
the journalists and specialists within the parents interviews to give
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more literal feedback on social media. The political consultants and

specialist will be held together to assist with the possible monitoring
control laws and clarification on who responsibility it is to control
negative behaviors.
Expected Results
Based on each demographic that is interviewed, we will get a
variety of opinions. For RQ 1, many parents may say as a teenager it is
your duty to start becoming more responsible and feel it is an
appropriate age bracket for children to have access to social media. At
this age, most children are aware of their right or wrong doings based
on the parents teachings. Parents will debate on exactly what is
considered right or wrong on social media. They will express the
growth becoming uncontrollable.
For RQ 2, Parents will elaborate more on their issues and
frustrations of social media. Parents will piggyback off of one another
of situations that may have occurred already amongst their children.
Parents will express the lack of knowledge they have of social media
compared to their children. Parents will express the lack of time they
may have to understand social media amongst their work schedule.
For RQ3, Parents will critique this the most. This question can
propose heavy weight and more responsibilities from the government.
With so many instances of children being held accountable for their
social media actions to fall on the parent. Many parents will argue the
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guidelines and stipulations of social media need to be mandated upon

getting an account on any platform. Parents will ask how can this
actually be prosecuted with parents who dont utilize social media.

Conclusion
This research will matter in the long run because as social media
continues to grow, more instances will occur amongst our youth. Many
will be positive but some may be negative. Parents have a major
challenge ahead of them that will only continue to become more
difficult as they attempt to navigate how to monitor their child's use of
social media. Parents must include social networking lessons into their
parental teachings whether they are experienced or not with social
media.
Some researchers feel programs you can get to monitor the
computer's activity are irrelevant because your child can find a way to
work around them.
The best way to help your child find balance in their technology use is
to talk to them. It's also wise to stay up-to-date about the latest trends
in technology and youth culture.
Setting boundaries around technology use can be an important

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mechanism for learning, self-control, and reflection; however,

understanding the impact of technology requires a vision where people
are in control of the devices and services they use rather than the
technology being in control of them. (Sarita A. Yardi, 2012) I have
demonstrated the challenges of parents maintaining the overuse and
misuse among a vulnerable population like youth. The social life of
technology at home takes on new meanings as devices become more
ubiquitous across life stages.
Parents will need to be educated and aware about what their
child is being exposed to online. Social networking sites are still
developing and arent going anywhere anytime soon. Parents must do
everything possible to stay on top of the trends, especially if it means
protecting and educating your child.
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