Social Media and Teenage Friendships

Abstract

After Facebook expanded its membership in September 2006 to anyone aged 13 and older, the majority who joined the site were defined as ‘young profiles’, including teenagers, students and young adult professionals (Lenhart et al. 2010). These so-called young ‘digital natives’ have been contrasted with older ‘digital immigrants’: older people who have learned to use the technologies as adults. However, this emphasis on ‘natives’ and the idea of having been ‘born digital’ naturalises young people’s link to new media (Thorne 2009; see Palfrey and Gasser 2008). Nevertheless, 14- to 19-year-olds continue to dominate among users of social media, and the evidence suggests that they are using the technology intensively to foster and enhance friendship and intimacy online.