A new study suggests teenagers use a ‘complex decision-making process’ before sharing photos online.

A new study suggests teenagers use a ‘complex decision-making process’ before sharing photos online.
Photo Credit: CBC

Teens have rules on privacy in photo-sharing

Teenagers take many things into consideration when deciding whether to share photo online, according to research by MediaSmarts, a non-profit promoting media literacy. It says that teens are under pressure “to create very carefully constructed versions of themselves for their friends and the outside world.” There has been much controversy in Canada over explicit photos of teen circulating on the internet and cyberbullying.

Teens seem to be more aware of the dangers of posting photos online.
Teens seem to be more aware of the dangers of posting photos online. © CBC

Teens steer away from controversial topics

The research found that teens follow several unwritten rules when posting photos. They tend to post photos avoiding controversial topics like politics, religion, sexuality and race. It is not considered to be acceptable to take a screenshot of someone’s Snapchat photo. This is a site where photos appear only briefly and then are eliminated, so users have an expectation that the photos will not remain online.

An effort to ‘look good’ in every photo

Teens seem to understand that they should not connect with strangers online, although the report notes that respondents had “a very narrow definition of what a ‘stranger’ was.”

Teens also emphasized that “looking good” in every photo was important but that they should be careful to not present themselves “in a sexualized context.”

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