Effects of Social Media Time and Exposure to Same-Race Members on Adolescents' School-Based Social Adjustment

Social media has become an important aspect of adolescents' social lives, interacting with offline interactions to shape adolescent development. However, little is known about how adolescents' interactions on social media affect their real-life experiences. This study investigated how the social media experiences of adolescents from racially minoritized groups, particularly their social media time and exposure to same-race members on social media, are linked to their school-based social adjustment.

Adolescents (N = 16,482; 56% female; grades 6-12) from 83 U.S. secondary schools completed online surveys in January 2021. Using structural equation modeling, we examined the associations of time spent on social media and exposure to same-race members with or without real-life interactions on social media with school-based social adjustment.

Black, Asian, and Latinx adolescents who spent more time on social media reported lower school belonging and heightened belonging uncertainty and stereotype threat. Nevertheless, more exposure to same-race members with real-life interactions on social media was related to enhanced school belonging in all racial and ethnic groups. Impact of exposure to same-race members without real-life interactions varied across racial and ethnic groups and depended on same-race representation at school.

Although more social media time was associated with poorer school adjustment, social media, when used to foster offline connections with same-race members, can potentially strengthen racially and ethnically minoritized adolescents' perceived belonging in schools. This highlights the importance of the nature of social media interactions and the content being accessed to better comprehend social media's multifaceted impact on adolescents' experiences.