Is Social Media Ruining Girlhood?
A new study claims that girls between the ages of 8 and 12 who
spend "considerable" time using social media are likely to be "less happy" than their unplugged peers.
According to researchers in Stanford University, the results are based on a online survey given to a limited sample of 3,400 girls. The peer-reviewed study appeared last Wednesday in the academic journal Developmental Psychology. Some academics raised concerns that the online format of the survey not only prevented researchers from verifying their data, but also narrowed the sample size to possibly exclude lighter media users.
However, the study does raise some interesting questions on the affects of social media in social development. The leading author of the study said that despite it's flaws, it is still imperative that social media's affects on face-to-face interaction (which teaches kids how to read body language and subtle facial and verbal clues) be further explored.
According to researchers in Stanford University, the results are based on a online survey given to a limited sample of 3,400 girls. The peer-reviewed study appeared last Wednesday in the academic journal Developmental Psychology. Some academics raised concerns that the online format of the survey not only prevented researchers from verifying their data, but also narrowed the sample size to possibly exclude lighter media users.
However, the study does raise some interesting questions on the affects of social media in social development. The leading author of the study said that despite it's flaws, it is still imperative that social media's affects on face-to-face interaction (which teaches kids how to read body language and subtle facial and verbal clues) be further explored.
