Work

The digital hood: Social media use among youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: This study examines the role of social media in the lives of youth living in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Feminist Standpoint theory, which privileges the voices of marginalized communities in understanding social phenomena, suggests that youth at the margins have specific knowledge that helps us understand social media more broadly. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 females and 30 males aged 13 to 24 about their social worlds and neighborhoods, both on- and offline. The findings reveal a dynamic and somewhat concerning interplay between the geographic neighborhood and the digital neighborhood, whereby negative social interactions in the geographic neighborhood are reproduced and amplified on social media.

Source: New Media & Society

DOI: 10.1177/1461444815625941

Authors: Robin Stevens, Stacia Gilliard-Matthews, Jamie Dunaev, Marcus K Woods, Bridgette M Brawner

Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Language: English

Topic: Impact of Technology on Adolescents

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development