"With all your friends in your pocket" - a qualitative study about adolescents' experiences with social media from a health-promoting perspective.

PURPOSE: To explore adolescents' experiences with social media (SoMe) use from a salutogenic health-promoting perspective.

METHODS

This qualitative study was based on five focus group interviews (27 adolescents) from two public senior high schools in Norway, (15-18 years). Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

SoMe-use was described as an important part of the adolescents` everyday life and a novel way to relate to the world. The identified main themes were: social support, self-esteem, and their interplay. They experienced social support via SoMe through communication, feeling unity, inclusion, and the establishment of a larger social network, thus preventing loneliness and promoting social belonging. Further, SoMe-use is important for their self-esteem by receiving and providing attention, acceptance, and confirmation. Social support promoted their self-esteem, which in turn enhanced their online self-expression, further reinforcing the social support.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate that SoMe might be an important social arena for the development of adolescents' self-esteem and receiving social support. Further, it seems that there is an interplay between social support and self-esteem that might positively influence their identity, sense of coherence, and mental health. However, we need more in-depth knowledge about adolescents' experiences with SoMe-use from a salutogenic health-promoting perspective.