Social Consequences of the Internet for AdolescentsA Decade of Research

Adolescents are currently the defining users of the Internet. They spend more time online than adults do, and they use the Internet for social interaction more often than adults do. This article discusses the state of the literature on the consequences of online communication technologies (e.g., instant messaging) for adolescents’ social connectedness and well-being. Whereas several studies in the 1990s suggested that Internet use is detrimental, recent studies tend to report opposite effects. We first explain why the results of more recent studies diverge from those of earlier studies. Then, we discuss a viable hypothesis to explain the recent findings: the Internetenhanced self-disclosure hypothesis. Finally, we discuss some contingent factors that may deserve special attention in future research. KEYWORDS—Internet; Internet effects; adolescents; wellbeing; social competence; social connectedness When online communication technologies, such as e-mail and chat rooms, became popular in the 1990s, several authors believed that these technologies would reduce adolescents’ social connectedness and well-being. Social connectedness refers to adolescents’ relationships with others in their environment (e.g., friends, family members). At the time, it was assumed that (a) the Internet motivates adolescents to form superficial online relationships with strangers that are less beneficial than their real-world relationships (e.g., Nie, 2001) and (b) time spent with online strangers occurs at the expense of time spent with existing relationships (Kraut et al., 1998), so that (c) adolescents’ social connectedness and well-being are reduced (e.g., Kraut et al., 1998). This reduction hypothesis received considerable empirical support in the second half of the 1990s. Several studies in the early years of the Internet, conducted among adolescents and adults, demonstrated that Internet use was negatively related to social connectedness and well-being. For example, a longitudinal study by Kraut et al. (1998) showed that Internet use reduced adolescents’ social connectedness and well-being within a period of 1 year. In addition, Nie (2001) demonstrated that adults who spent more time on the Internet spent less time with friends. Finally, Mesch (2001) found that adolescents who had fewer friends, particularly fewer ‘‘friends who always listened to them,’’ were more likely to be Internet users. However, while these reduction effects were demonstrated consistently in the early stages of Internet adoption, at least two changes in Internet use may render such effects less likely now. First, in the second half of the 1990s, it was hard to maintain one’s existing social network on the Internet because the greater part of this network was not yet online. For example, in the study by Mesch (2001), only 11% of adolescents were online. In the Kraut et al. (1998) study, none of the respondents had Internet access before they participated in the study. At the time, online contacts were separated from offline contacts. But at present, the vast majority of adolescents in Western countries have access to the Internet (e.g., Lenhart & Madden, 2007). At such high access rates, a negative effect of the Internet on social connectedness is less likely because adolescents have more opportunities to maintain their social network through this medium. Second, communication technologies that were popular among adolescents in the 1990s, such as MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) and public chat rooms, were typically used for communication between strangers. However, in recent years, several communication technologies, such as Instant Messaging (IM) and social networking sites like Facebook, have been developed that encourage adolescents to communicate with existing friends. European and U.S. studies have shown that 84% (e.g., Gross, 2004) to 88% (e.g., Valkenburg & Peter, 2007a) of adolescents use IM for communication with existing friends. Address correspondence to Patti M. Valkenburg, Amsterdam School of Communications Research ASCoR, Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam, the Netherlands; email: p.m.valkenburg@uva.nl. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Volume 18—Number 1 1 Copyright r 2009 Association for Psychological Science A TIME-RELATED SHIFT FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE INTERNET EFFECTS Obviously, when media use changes, its outcomes may change. Because adolescents now predominantly use the Internet to maintain their existing friendships, the condition for negative effects of the Internet on social connectedness and well-being no longer exists. It is no surprise, therefore, that most recent Internet studies have demonstrated that adolescents’ online communication stimulates, rather than reduces, social connectedness and/or well-being. For example, in a 2-year followup study based on their initial sample of Internet novices, Kraut et al. (2002) found that Internet use improved social connectedness and well-being. Several other recent studies have demonstrated significantly positive relationships between online communication (mostly IM) and adolescents’ social connectedness and/or well-being (e.g., Bessière, Kiesler, Kraut, & Boneva, 2008; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007a). However, these positive results are only found for adolescents who use the Internet predominantly to maintain existing friendships (Bessière et al., 2008). When they use it primarily to form new contacts and talk with strangers, the positive effects do not hold (Bessière et al., 2008; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007b). IDENTIFYING UNDERLYING PROCESSES Although changes in Internet use may plausibly explain changes in the social effects of the Internet, the question remains why online communication is positively related to social connectedness and well-being. Unfortunately, earlier studies on the effects of the Internet have typically investigated direct relationships between the independent variables (i.e., different types of Internet use) and dependent variables (i.e., social connectedness or well-being) without exploring the processes that may underlie these relationships. In the past years, we have conducted several studies to identify the underlying processes of the relationship between the Internet and social connectedness. On the basis of these studies, we have formulated a hypothesis that may explain the Internet’s positive effects—the Internetenhanced self-disclosure hypothesis. This hypothesis states that the positive effects of the Internet on social connectedness and well-being can be explained by enhanced online self-disclosure. Online self-disclosure refers to online communication about personal topics that are typically not easily disclosed, such as one’s feelings, worries, and vulnerabilities. The three assumptions of our hypothesis are summarized in Figure 1. ASSUMPTION 1: ONLINE COMMUNICATION STIMULATES ONLINE SELF-DISCLOSURE The first assumption of our hypothesis is that online communication stimulates online self-disclosure. This assumption is based on earlier computer-mediated communication (CMC) theories in general and on Walther’s (1996) hyperpersonal communication theory in particular. According to hyperpersonal communication theory, CMC is typically characterized by reduced visual, auditory, and contextual cues (e.g., social status cues). An important consequence of these reduced cues is that CMC interactants become less concerned about how others perceive them and, thus, feel fewer inhibitions in disclosing intimate information. In other words, their communication becomes hyperpersonal—that is, unusually intimate. These liberating processes are particularly relevant to adolescents, for whom shyness and self-consciousness are inherent to their developmental stage. The assumption that CMC stimulates self-disclosure has received ample support. A series of studies have shown that CMC and online communication result in more and/or more intimate Online Communication Online Self-disclosure Quality Relationships Well-being • Type of technology; type of use • Gender • Social anxiety Assumption 1 + Assumption 2 + Assumption 3 + Fig. 1. The Internet-enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis. Assumption 1 is that online communication stimulates online self-disclosure. Assumption 2 is that this higher online self-disclosure leads to higher-quality relationships, which in turn (Assumption 3) increase adolescents’ well-being. This stimulation effect depends, however, on (a) the type of technology that is used, (b) the user’s gender, and (c) the user’s level of social anxiety. All three assumptions of the Internet-enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis have been confirmed in several studies. 2 Volume 18—Number 1 Adolescents and the Internet