Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Sociology Dissertations Department of Sociology Winter 1-7-2012 Not Just A "Place For Friends": Teenagers, Social Networks, and Identity Vulnerability Cenate Pruitt Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/sociology_diss Recommended Citation Pruitt, Cenate, "Not Just A "Place For Friends": Teenagers, Social Networks, and Identity Vulnerability." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2012. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/sociology_diss/60 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Sociology at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Sociology Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. NOT JUST A “PLACE FOR FRIENDS”: TEENAGERS, SOCIAL NETWORKS, AND IDENTITY VULNERABILITY by CENATE CASH PRUITT Under the direction of Lesley Reid ABSTRACT This study is an empirical analysis of adolescents' risk management on internet social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Using a survey of 935 U.S. adolescents gathered by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, I investigate the influence of offline social networks on online socialization, as well as the impact of parental and self mediation tactics on risky online information-sharing practices. Overall, the relationship between offline social network strength and online communications methods was inconclusive, with results suggesting that most teens use online communications in similar ways, regardless of offline connectedness. Some relationships were discovered between parental and individual mediation tactics and risky online information sharing, largely supporting the use of active mediation techniques by parents and informed control of shared information by individual users.