Leveraging Affordances as a Lens: A Systematic Review of Social Media Benefits and Risks for Adolescents

Abstract

Although social media use is ubiquitous among adolescents, research often emphasizes benefits and risks without considering the design-based affordances that may influence these experiences. Affordances enable or constrain user behavior and thus provide a valuable lens for promoting positive online engagement. To this end, we developed an affordance-centered framework and systematically coded 66 empirical studies on U.S. adolescents published in the past decade to map how platform features relate to specific user activities, the affordances they instantiate, and associated benefits and risks. For instance, Discoverability affordance, driven by algorithmic recommendations, supported Cognitive engagement by facilitating learning while heightening exposure to misinformation. Visibility affordance enabled Identity exploration through ephemeral sharing, lowering performance anxiety but raising post-disclosure regret when content reached hostile viewers. By clarifying how specific affordances facilitate adolescent experiences, our work contributes a design-grounded framework for future research that advances both theoretical understanding and the development of youth-centered interventions.