Introduction

How digital technology and social media affect the way teenagers communicate? If you have a teenager, you may say that talking to a teenager can be like talking to a brick wall sometimes.  Digital technology seems to have made that brick wall soundproof.  Teenagers these days are buried into their smartphones, tablets, laptops and so one.  How does anyone who wants to a teens attention break down that digital barrier?  They turn to digital technology and learn to use it to communicate with today’s teen.  While parents the world over are seemingly scrambling to understand the latest social media platform or the features of the latest iPhone, brands are also changing the way they reach out to their publics.  This literature review aims to look at how today’s teenagers are communicating and how brands continually adapting to reach teens.

How today’s teens communicate

Today’s teen favors texting over any other form of communication technology and many of them don’t recall at what age they started texting (Agosto, Abbas & Naughton, 2017).   Most teens in today have their own personal cell phone and are satisfied with it as their go to digital technology (Hundley & Shyles, 2010).  One interesting find in research by Agosto, Abbas & Naughton (2017) and Hundley & Shyles (2010) is that teens did not have any idea how much time they spend on their cell phones.  Studies show that 55% of teens text their friends daily (Lenhart, 2015).

With the advent of cellphones and smartphones, teens now have easy access to online social media networks.   Researchers find that online social networks (OSN) are used by teens to develop their identities at a time when they are forming their self-identity (Doster, 2013).  OSN’s are a place for teenage expression and allow teens to compare themselves to their peers rather extensively (Doster, 2013).   Many teens find that social media is an acceptable place to interact with each other rather than more face-to-face interactions with 73% of teens using social networking sites (Agosto, Abbas & Naughton 2017).  Research finds that teens are very aware that digital devices help them socialize (Hundley & Shyles, 2010).

Facebook and Instagram are among the most popular social networking sites for teens to meet friends online followed by online video gaming (Lenhart 2015).  Social media is so important to teen connection that 62% of teens give their social media handle as a primary method of staying in touch with them, rather than a phone number or email (Lenhart, 2015).

With texting and social media networks as the two main ways teens connect, it’s important to take a look at how income plays a role.  Teens who live in lower-income homes are more likely to use social media to get in touch with a close friend (Lenhart, 2015).  One can speculate that this is due to lack of a personal cell phone.

Technology of choice for teens

When it comes to communicating with peers, teens are more concerned with the functionality than the technology that makes it happen. In fact, most teens are influenced by their peers when it comes to choosing digital technology than for any other reason (Agosto, Abbas & Naughton, 2017).  

Ironically, even though teens do not own multiple technologies, they are keenly aware of how features on other digital technologies work (Hundley & Shyles, 2010). This expresses that teens are keeping up on the newest technologies.  

Teens and privacy

One might think that teenagers are oblivious to online privacy.   Research finds that perception might not be true at all.  Agosto, Abbas & Naughton (2017) found that most teens had taken steps to manage their social media privacy settings and that teens who had parents who talked to them about online safety are less likely to post identifiable information.

How teens are using texting and social networks

It has already been established that teens are using social networks and texting to communicate with their peers.  But to what extent? Teens are turning to social media to build their personal identities.  Their online self is an extended version of themselves which builds associations with possessions, brands and celebrities as they endeavour to construct their digital self (Doster, 2013).  

Due to social media’s usability, teens are able to surf other profiles with ease (Doster, 2013).  Teens are turning to social media for support.  Pew Research shows that 68% of teens say they have received help through hard times from other social media users (Lenhart, 2015).   Interestingly enough, most of the people teens know online, they do not know in person.  Only 20% of teens have meet an online friend in person (Lenhart, 2015).  57 % of teens have met a new friend online (Lenhart, 2015).  When it comes to making friends online, boys are more likely to do so than girls according Pew research (Lenhart, 2015).  

It seems apparent that today’s teens are using social media to do exactly what social media was meant to do, socialize.   The research shows that social media and texting is ingrained into the everyday lives of most teens.  It does come with a side effect.  Social media use among teens has changed how much they communicate in person with their peers.  Just 25% of teens spend time with their friends in person (outside of school) on a daily basis (Lenhart, 2015).  Teens don’t seem to mind though as many of them say they are aware that they socialize digitally ( Hundley & Shyles, 2010).   Teens admit to texting so much that they do it daily, even during school (Agosto, Abbas & Naughton, 2017).

Overall, there seem to be some major factors in play when it comes to teens choosing communication technology; Relationship factors; social factors and self protection factors (Agosto, Abbas & Naughton, 2017).  Relationship factors show that peers have a major influence on a teen’s life.  Social factors influence what are norms to teens and also influence choices.  Protection factors show that teens are aware of privacy issues (Agosto, Abbas & Naughton, 2017).

Teens and digital decision making

Since teens are so savvy with social media and digital communication, does it impact their status within their family?  Social media use has made teens internet mavens, which in turn has altered decision-making roles within the family (Belch, 2005).  Since the early 2000’s, internet sales have increased.  Today, you can buy almost anything online.    Teens have a greater interest in the internet and therefore may have greater access to information (Belch, 2005).   Research finds that parents who are heavy internet users give more value to their teen’s contribution to making decisions than parents who are not heavy internet users (Belch, 2005).  This show that parents who understand the internet also understand that their teens are also digitally literate and can help make sound decisions.  

Public Relations Implications

We’ve established now that teens are using social media to build their identities at a crucial time in their lives.  They are using digital technology and social media as their main form of communication.  The are making decisions within their family units due to the recognition of their internet savvy.  What does this mean for Public Relations?  Well, it means that PR pros need to pay attention to teens and how they communicate with teen and how teens are communication with others.  It’s already been shown that teens identify with brands and celebrities through their social media (Doster, 2013).

If brands are looking for teen consumer data, then they need look no further than social networks (Doster, 2013).  Social media networks require profiles.  Those profiles express the wants and needs of the consumer for marketers to tap into at will (Doster, 2013).  Good news for PR pros, more companies are becoming comfortable with social media, allowing for more risks to be taken (McCorkendale & DiSato, 2017).  

Today’s companies are investing millions of dollars to find ways to guide their social media engagement (McCorkendale & DiSato, 2017).  The heart of the global economy is in digital platforms and big technology companies are harnessing their market power (Kochhar, 2015).  More and more people are turning to digital wallets, meaning no cash, and in the future it will integrate e-commerce with social networks (Kochhar, 2015).  

Public relations needs to evolve with their audiences as those consumers become more fluent in digital media of all types (Pavlik, 2008).  Communicating with brands will not be easy though.  As technology grows, society expects rapid communication, essentially requiring companies to develop two-way communications now that so many people rely on social media platforms to communicate (Pavlik, 2008).   Companies also need to take into account how social media affects brand reputation.  The new media environment, which includes media coverage spread through social network platforms, is having a direct impact on brand perception (Seter, 2017).  This means that public relations teams need to develop strategies to protect their brand reputation on social media (Seter, 2017).   

Influencers are a brand’s dream.  Influencers help give credibility to a product or message (McCorkendale & DiSato, 2017).  We already know that teens use celebrities to build their online identity (Doster, 2013).  It would make sense then, for brands to turn to celebrities who use social media platforms.  As of 2017, Instagram and Snapchat are considered the fastest growing social networks among millennials with the majority of celebrities using Instagram (Young, 2017).  This would be an important strategy for marketers looking to connect with their teen audience.  Through personal observation, marketers are working towards leveraging celebrity social media for their brands.  Advertisements need to be created to heighten the interest of teens so that they make those brands part of their identity (Doster, 2013).

Analysis

After reviewing the articles, it’s clear that teens are turning to social media to develop their personalities, express themselves and make friends.  Social media and video gaming are the two most popular teens connect with one another.  I feel knowing this much gives brands an insight in how to construct messages towards teens.

The statics from the Pew Research Center are fascinating.   The research really gave an in depth look at how teens communicate and how they use social media.  It is now very apparent to me that the reason social media is so important to teens is that it is truly how they are connecting with their peers.  It’s even how they are making friends.

Seeing how family decision-making is changing reflects the importance of the internet in our everyday lives.  Parents recognize that their teenagers are in tune with digital technology and the internet.  Rather than ignore, parents are honing in on their teen’s knowledge and allowing them into the fold of making decisions.   Brands should consider this when marketing.

This research look at the rise of social media from the early 2000’s to today.  What held true in the earliest research still holds true today.  Social media is growing.  Teens are at the forefront of understanding social media.  Brands need to continuously evolve and adapt.   As social media and communication technologies develop, the number of teens who use them will grow.  It’s already apparent that today’s teens are immersed in social media and digital technology to the point they are not even aware of how often or how integrated it is into their lives.  It is clear that the next generation of teens will be fully integrated into social media and communication technology.

There was a lot of information on what brands needed to do to keep up with social media.   What was not apparent was what they are actually doing and how they are targeting their teen consumers.  While it is obvious that brands are using social media to target consumers, it would have been interesting to see how they were specifically targeting teens.   Regardless, it can be surmised that the increased use of social media marketing would inadvertently hit the teen consumer market.
References

Agosto D., Abbas, J., & Naughton, R. (2017).  Relationships and social rules: Teens’ social  network and other ICT selection practices. Journal Of The Association For Information Science and Technology. 63, 1108-1124. doi:10.1002/asi.22612

Belch, M., Krentler, K., & Willis-Flurry, L. (2005). Teen internet mavens: Influence in family decision making. Journal of Business Research, 58, 569-575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2003.08.005

Doster, L. (2013). Millennial teens design and redesign themselves in online social networks. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 12, 267-279. Doi: 10.1002/cb.1407

Hundley, H., & Shyles, L. (2010). US teenagers’ perceptions and awareness of digitaltechnology: A focus group approach. New Media & Society, 12, 417-433. https://doi-org.libezproxy2.syr.edu/10.1177/1461444809342558

Kochhar, S. (2015). Digital platforms: More Relevant, Robust and Rewarding (Blog). Retrieved from http://www.instituteforpr.org/digital-platforms-relevant-robust-rewarding/

Lenhart, A. (2015). Teens, Technology and Friendships. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/teens-technology-and-friendships/

McCorkendale, T. & DiSato, M. (2017). The State of Social Media Research: Where Are We Now, Where We Were and What It Means for Public Relations. Institute for Public  Relations. Retrieved from http://www.instituteforpr.org/state-social-media-research-now-means-public-relations/

Pavlik, J. (2008). Mapping the Consequences of Technology on Public Relations (Blog).Retrieved from http://www.instituteforpr.org/mapping-technology-consequences/

Seter, J. (2017, June 27). Measuring the Impact of PR on Consumer Brand Perception(Blog).  http://www.instituteforpr.org/measuring-impact-pr-consumer-brand-perception/

Young, J. (2017). How the Most Powerful Celebrities Decide to Use Either Snapchat or Instagram. Institute for Public Relations.  Retrieved from http://www.instituteforpr.org/powerful-celebrities-decide-use-either-snapchat-instagram/