Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M. (2013). Teens, social media, and privacy. Pew Research Center. Retrieved July 4, 2015 from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-privacy/
Teens, social media, and privacy is an incredibly helpful and interesting article full of facts regarding teens use of social media. The Pew Research Center conducted research on 802 teens across the US. The study involved a survey that addressed why teens use social media, what they post and how they feel about the privacy of what they post. The study was conducted in both 2006 and 2012, and compared the results. The study showed that teens share a considerable amount of personal information on social media platforms. The majority of teenage online users post photographs and videos of themselves, the name of their school, the city or town where they live, their email address, interests, relationship status and their email address. According to the study, 20% of teenage social media users, even post their cell phone numbers. Only 9% of the interviewed teens shared feelings of concern regarding their privacy online. However, a large percentage of teens shared this personal information and had settings ON that allowed their location to be tracked.
The information and statistics collected in this study helped me to understand that most teens are unaware of the dangers of social media and the importance of privacy. Without thinking, the majority of online teens posted all the information that one would need to find them. I believe this article is important in answering my guiding questions. One of the major downfalls to teens use of social media, is that many of them are compromising their privacy and possibly putting themselves in danger. It seems that many teens are simply unaware or naive to the dangers regarding the information they are posting. It seems that many teens need to be monitored and educated regarding their use of social media and the information that they display on those platforms and cites.
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