title: The pervasiveness, connectedness, and intrusiveness of social network site use among young adolescents.
abstract: Young adolescents are quickly becoming avid users of social networking sites (SNSs); however, little is known regarding how they use these sites. The goal of the present study was to examine the extent to which young adolescents use SNSs, with whom they connect via these sites, and whether SNS use disrupts daily functioning. Among 268 middle-school students surveyed, 63% reported having their own profile page on an SNS. On average, adolescents reported having 196 SNS contacts (friends), most of whom were known peers. Young adolescents with an SNS spent most of their time viewing and responding to comments written on their profile page. Among the SNS users, 39% reported getting behind on schoolwork and 37% reported losing sleep at least once because they were visiting an SNS. As SNS use becomes embedded in young teens' daily lives, it is important to better understand how such use affects their daily adaptive functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563, USA. g.espinoza@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Espinoza
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juvonen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D057218:Blogging; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D060756:Social Networking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires