What do teens ask their online social networks?: social search practices among high school students

  • Authors:

  • Andrea Forte;Michael Dickard;Rachel Magee;Denise E. Agosto

  • Affiliations:

  • Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA;Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA;Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA;Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing
  • Year:
  • 2014

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Abstract

The majority of American teens use social network sites (SNSs) but little is known about how they leverage their online social networks to find information. As part of a larger study on social media and information behaviors, we surveyed 158 high school students to learn about their online question asking and answering practices. We describe which teens are most likely to ask and answer questions, what they ask about, on which sites they ask questions, and how useful they perceive SNSs to be as information sources. When possible, we draw comparisons with findings in the literature about adult populations. We contextualize these findings using early insights from interviews and focus groups with 80 teens and discuss how perceptions of audience, privacy concerns, and self-presentation all play a role in teens' use of SNSs to ask and answer questions.