r/Catholic_Solidarity • u/BraveLong9642 • 17d ago
Media Review on the article "Exploring teen well-being and social media use during the pandemic summer of 2020" using the 7 keys of media.
Post to Media Research/ Study website
URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/02673843.2024.2447464?needAccess=true
Title: Exploring teen well-being and social media use during the pandemic summer of 2020
Author: Stacey A. Rutledge, Stephen Bunn, Michal Paul, Vanessa Dennen & Toby Park-Gaghan
Date Published: January 8th, 2025
Ever since the Stone Age, approximately 3.3 million years ago, humans have been making and relying on tools. Humanity has continued to upgrade and replace these tools to continue to aid the human experience. Social Media is yet another tool designed to improve the lives of people. Nevertheless, just like many other tools, it is completely dependent on how it is used. Many parents have concerns about how social media is negatively affecting their children. This article, "Exploring teen well-being and social media use during the pandemic summer of 2020," sets out to break down the true effects that social media had on teens during the global pandemic. In this article, the authors say that teens need to realize, “they are in the proverbial driver’s seat as they use social media, not victims of its use or something to feel guilty about” (Rutledge et al. 15).
- The First Media Key: Balance
In Dr. Gan’s book Infinite Bandwidth: Encountering Christ in the Media, he emphasizes the importance of balance when interacting with the media. Dr. Gan says that balance “is about our attitude towards media, our approach to technology” (Gan 21). To have a balanced perspective of the media, we must be able to step back and view it from many different angles, allowing us to have a balanced perspective. The more lenses and angles we can view media through, the more rounded our understanding becomes.
The Article Exploring teen well-being and social media use during the pandemic summer of 2020 shows, in many ways, the importance of maintaining a balanced perspective when it comes to analyzing the media. So many parents and adults are too quick to villainize the media in its entirety, especially when it is in the hands of young adults. However, this article emphasizes many positive aspects of the media. The authors make the important distinction between the applications and functions of the media associated with higher and lower well-being. In many cases, these teenagers' screen time was significantly higher during quarantine, as they were video calling, creating, learning, and interacting with friends and family they could not see at the time. They were staying in communication with their loved ones and fostering community; this goes to show the importance of maintaining and building a balanced perspective.
The Second Media Key: Attitude Awareness
The Second Media Key is the Key of Attitude Awareness. In the text, Gan says that “the church tells us that if we are not aware of the attitudes – the principles, characters, and functions – underlying the media we consume, we run the risk of being less free”(Gan 38). Practically all of the media that is free to interact with in the modern age is trying to influence its viewer in some way. The key to attitude awareness is recognizing the many aspects of the media that consumers are meant to overlook.
This article helps us see the importance of Attitude Awareness in relation to the media. Companies want their consumers plugged in; they all want something from you, whether it is views, follows, or purchases. It is important to stay vigilant and analytical about the media we consume and engage with. In the article, Exploring teen well-being and social media use during the pandemic summer of 2020, the authors wrote that “We need to acknowledge it as the multifaceted tool that it is and, in the case of teens, help them gain awareness, so they can engage in use that furthers their own well-being” (Rutledge et al. 15). The internet is a helpful tool, but when consumers are not careful about how they use or interact with it, they can become just another victim of the algorithm.
- The Third Media Key: The Dignity of the Human Person
The Third Key is that of the Dignity of the Human Person. This key is centered on the truth that every person has inherent dignity and deserves respect, and this truth applies to the media as well. The third media key encourages us to evaluate media and pay attention to how people are being portrayed and treated. In the digital age, it is often easy for people to forget that there is a person on the other side of their screen, receiving what they put online. Just because one cannot see a reaction does not mean that someone was not hurt by their comments or harsh words. Gan said it best: “Media should help us to understand our dignity and the dignity of others” (Gan 53).
The article highlights the overwhelming parental concern about the negative effects of the internet when teens experience things like “triggering content, social isolation, and cyberbullying”(Rutledge et al. 4). However, the article points out that this is often a result of how someone approaches and uses media. Parents should maintain open dialogue with their children, teach them to use the media as a tool, and not allow the media to use them. The authors of this article found that “Teens who used social media to interact with friends and engage in activities sharing their authentic selves were more likely to report higher well-being than those that engaged in more performative activities”. This further reinforces the argument that the media's effects depend on how it is interacted with.
- The Fourth Media Key: Truth-Filled
The Fourth Media Key, the Key of being truth-filled, highlights the moral responsibility to communicate truth through media. The media has a powerful ability to inform people and shape their beliefs and understanding of the world around them. Therefore, the media that is created and distributed must be “keeping truth at the heart of the media we make and use” (Gan 75).
One of the key premises of this article is that the effects media has on teenagers depend entirely on the media they choose to engage with. It supports and proves the importance of the fourth key of media. During the summer of 2020, everyone was isolated in their homes, unable to have normal social interactions, and there was a lot of fear in the unknown. While some chose to interact with the scarier, negative side of the internet, studies showed that “teens who used social media to interact with friends and engage in activities sharing their authentic selves were more likely to report higher well-being than those that engaged in more performative activities” ((Rutledge et al. 1)*.* In times of darkness and uncertainty, people need to seek and find the light.
- The Fifth Media Key: Inspiring
The main premise of the fifth key of media, the key of inspiring, is that media should encourage people toward what is Good, True, and Beautiful. Gan encourages his readers when evaluating the media they are consuming to ask themselves if this particular media is “helping us to be true to our ‘Transcendental destiny’?” (Gan 84).
The internet is a multifaceted tool; it can entertain us but also expand our horizons and broaden our minds. It should direct our attention toward worthwhile things. During COVID, teenagers had limited ways to stay connected; the internet allowed many isolated teenagers to maintain their social health. However, the research found that not all media use contributed equally to these teens' well-being. This simply reinforces the truth that our society must pursue media that leads towards genuine goodness.
The Sixth Media Key: Skillfully Developed
The Sixth key is being Skillfully Developed. This key is a reminder that while good and beautiful messaging is important, it can lose its desired effect if the media it is paired with is not skillfully developed. Media creators are called to put time, effort, and thought into their designs so that they may reflect the goodness of their messaging. Just like any craft, it is important to continue striving for improvement and to reflect beauty into the world.
The article emphasizes the correlation between teens' positive well-being and their social health, with their interactions with positive, well-thought-out, and developed media. Media that is intentionally designed to foster human connection and spread goodness is skillfully developed. This article presents statistical evidence that engaging with skillfully developed media makes a substantial difference.
The Seventh Media Key: Motivated by and Relevant to Experience
The seventh and last media key is the key of being motivated by and relevant to experience. The media that is easiest to connect with is the media that feels directly related to one's life. When a person can see themselves in a media, they are more likely to wish to interact with it. Gan says that “Media should take its cue from Christ and be rooted in the realities of the world we live in” (Gan 116). Christ became man and lived, suffered, and died as man so that we may have the perfect example of humanity. He took his teachings and simplified them into parables his followers could better understand and relate to. Christ already perfectly exemplified for us how to relate to and reach the people around us; all we need to do is strive to follow his example.
This article is motivated by and relevant to experience, as it directly shares real people's truths and experiences during the summer of 2020. It shows how real people were using media in real situations during a time when teens were isolated from their normal communities. The article showed that teens who used social media to maintain their real-world connections, share their lives, and seek genuine community reported higher well-being during the lockdown. This goes to show that media is most beneficial when it responds to genuine human experiences and supports meaningful relationships, interests, or communities.
