If you came of age without Facebook, you probably regularly find reasons to be grateful for it. But a new survey suggests that despite the risks, social networks can make teen girls more emotionally safe and closer to their friends.
A study of 1,000 girls ages 14-17, conducted by the Girl Scouts, found that 68 percent of girls have been bullied or gossiped about on a social network, and 46 percent thought the medium makes friends jealous of each other. 40 percent say they lost respect for someone based on what they put on their social media profile.
Still, 56 percent of girls told researchers that social networks help them feel closer and more connected to friends, and 30 percent think they've improved their friendships.
This is despite the fact that there's a disconnect between the self these girls are presenting online — their brand management, to be precise — and how they describe themselves in real life. 74 percent said other girls made themselves seem cooler online, and 41 percent admitted they themselves did that.
That online self was less likely to be "smart" or "kind" — words the girls used to describe themselves as appearing in real life — and more likely to be "fun," "funny," or "social." Also, girls with "low self esteem" were slightly more likely to describe their online persona as sexy (22% percent versus 14%) and crazy (35% versus 28%) than girls with "high self esteem." At the panel that followed the presentation of the research last night, New York Times Magazine columnist Peggy Orenstein pointed out the risks of girls putting up every aspect of their lives for feedback — especially for younger girls, it makes sexuality something you show rather than something you feel or do.