Question: Is there any research surrounding the effects of social media on youth based off of geographic regions? 

 

Answer: Great question! Unfortunately, there is limited research on geographic differences and social media use among youth in the U.S. and even less that looked at the actual effects of this usage.  

There is some research on how the prevalence of specific social media content varies by state or county though. For example, Dai et al (2016) found that states with stronger tobacco laws had a higher prevalence of e-cigarette advertisements on Twitter (now X). And Schwartz et al (2013) found that it’s possible to predict the life satisfaction of a surveyed sample of individuals in a county by looking at the tweets of other people in the same county.  

Most of the research on social media use among youth in different geographic regions focuses on youth in rural vs urban contexts, rather than specific geographic regions of the U.S. 

In general, internet use, social media use, and difficulty giving up social media among teens does not vary significantly by urban, suburban, or rural setting (Pew Research Center, 2022).  

With that said, we did find evidence that social media can help connect rural and urban youth with experiences or perspectives that may not be readily accessible in their offline environments. For LGBTQ youth in rural areas, viewing positive representation of other queer people and connecting with LGBTQ groups can help reduce feelings of isolation (Escobar-Viera et al., 2022). For youth in urban areas, social media can provide an opportunity to view and share content about outdoor experiences with others in their community, which youth said enhanced social connection (Mackenzie et al., 2017).  

A lot of the research on social media use and adolescent development is focused on U.S. or Western European populations (Manago & McKenzie, 2022). There is some research on how youth in non-Western contexts engage with social media, including how youth in individualistic vs collectivistic cultures engage with social media. One may be able to extrapolate from this research in thinking about varying cultural context by geographical regions within the U.S. In their book chapter, Manago and McKenzie (2022) note that challenges in the rapid increase of digital media use among youth in non-Western countries include potential loss of cultural values and a cultural gap between adolescents and parents where adolescents are more likely to adopt Western values if they interact with Western-inspired content on social media. 

In addition to diving deeper into any of the references below, we recommend exploring the following resources about rural youth and social media: 

  • “The importance of social media when it comes to LGBTQ kids feeling seen” is an article in the Washington Post by Amber Leventry, a trans author who writes about the importance of social media for queer kids, especially those in rural or isolated areas. 
  • The book Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America by Mary L. Gray (2009) is an ethnographic book detailing the experiences of rural queer youth, including descriptions of how youth use social media to explore and affirm their identities. 
  • The Pew Research Center article “Some digital divides persist between rural, urban, and suburban America” describes findings from a 2021 study about internet access and phone use among rural, suburban, and urban adults. While the survey sampled adults, the article gives some helpful info about how internet access and tech access might vary between urban, suburban, and rural contexts. 
References 

 

Age: 10-24,  

Topics: Geographic regions, social media effects 

Role: Clinician