The Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Female Relationships

Abstract

During adolescence, there is a shift in loyalty and closeness from family to peers (Macpherson, Kerr, and Sterling, 2015). The adolescent is constantly trying to find a balance between developing a unique identity and being accepted by others. Social media is serving as a means for female adolescents to establish alternative identities that would make them a part of peer networks and to establish acceptance. Female adolescent experiences of social media use’s impact on self-identity and its role in female relationships is important for the educational practitioner in his/her role to assist the adolescent with forming healthy relationships. The purpose of this qualitative study is to use a qualitative research design to explore social media’s impact on adolescent females and female relationships as experienced by female adolescents. This study used social identity theory as its framework. In this qualitative study, six female adolescents answered a questionnaire on social media use and participated in a focus panel interview to share their experiences with social media use and female to female relationships. Themes emerged in this study to support Stet and Burke’s Social Identity theory framework. The significance of this study was to understand social media’s role in adolescent relationships from the experiences of adolescent female participants. Through understanding the experiences of adolescent participants in this study, adults can assist the adolescent with developing positive social relationships and a constructive sense of identity.