Only for Friends, Definitely Not for Parents: Adolescents’ Sharing of Alcohol References on Social Media Features

ABSTRACT

Although previous studies have examined alcohol-related posts on social media, the variety in studied platforms and features has been limited. Therefore, by conducting 26 go-along interviews (age 14–18, M = 16.31, SD = .84), this study investigated (1) whether alcohol-related posts differ across SNS features (i.e., chat, feed, story, snap) and (2) whether privacy management strategies play a role in adolescents’ decisions to disclose these different alcohol posts across different SNS features. The findings of this study underline the important role of features’ affordances. Particularly, based on the public visibility of a feature, adolescents reported eliminating certain audiences (e.g., peers, parents) by adapting privacy settings or by strategically selecting more private features before sharing transgressive alcohol posts on these features. In all, this paper broadens the current knowledge about the depiction of alcohol posts in the heterogeneous media landscape. Implications for interventions are proposed.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Ines Jacobs and Sien Gaens for their share in the recruitment process of participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project is funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen, Research Foundation Flanders G069218N) and Interne Fondsen KU Leuven/Internal Funds KU Leuven (project 3H190365). We thankfully acknowledge their support.

Notes on contributors

Robyn Vanherle

Robyn Vanherle is a PhD student at the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research (KU Leuven) under supervision of Professor Kathleen Beullens. Her PhD project focuses on the complex association between the use of social networking sites and adolescents’ alcohol (mis)use

Hanneke Hendriks

Hanneke Hendriks is associated with the Behavioural Science Institute. Her research focuses on the predictors, processes and effects of interpersonal communication on health topics.

Kathleen Beullens

Kathleen Beullens is associate professor and coordinator of the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research. Her research focuses on the (longitudinal) effects of different media uses (e.g., television, social media, video games, mobile phones) on children’s and adolescents’ psychosocial well-being.