Browsing by Author "Ricciardelli, Rosemary"

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    “If a girl’s photo gets sent around, that’s a way bigger deal than if a guy’s photo gets sent around”: Gender, sexting, and the teenage years
    (Taylor and Francis, 2018-12-13) Ricciardelli, Rosemary; Adorjan, Michael
    Youth, particularly female teens, are encouraged to self-monitor and be responsible for their actions online in order to avoid harm from cyberbullying, ‘sexting,’ and other forms of cyber-risk. Highlighting findings from 35 focus groups with Canadian teens regarding sexting, we show the continued saliency of a gendered double-standard applied to the online distribution of nudes. Our sample of male and female teens (n=115) from urban and rural regions, aged 13-19, underscores the relatively lower ‘stakes’ involved with sexting for male teens. We explore this trend with specific reference to the salience of hegemonic masculinities and the gendered aspects of public and private spaces, both online and offline. Public exposure of nudes has potentially serious stigmatizing consequences for youth. We highlight teen experiences sending and receiving images of male penises (‘dick pics’), which is an under-researched aspect of sexting. We show the relative ubiquity of receiving ‘dick pics’ among female teens, exploring various reactions, and male motivations for doing so from male and female standpoints. Policy implications are discussed with specific reference to school-based cyber-safety programs, which our participants indicate remain highly-gendered, neglecting epistemological questions around male experiences and responsibility.
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    A new privacy paradox? Youth agentic practices of privacy management despite 'nothing to hide' online
    (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 2018-07-02) Adorjan, Michael; Ricciardelli, Rosemary
    Focus groups conducted with Canadian teenagers examining their perceptions and experiences with cyber-risk, center on various privacy strategies geared for impression management across popular social network sites. We highlight privacy concerns as a primary reason for a gravitation away from Facebook towards newer, more popular sites such as Instagram and Snapchat, as well as debates about the permeability of privacy on Snapchat in particular. The privacy paradox identifies a disjuncture between what is said about privacy and what is done in practice. It refers to declarations from youth that they are highly concerned for privacy, yet frequently disregard privacy online through ‘oversharing’ and neglecting privacy management. However, our participants, especially older teens, invoked a different mindset: that they have ‘nothing to hide’ online and therefore do not consider privacy relevant for them. Despite this mindset, the strategies we highlight suggest a new permutation of the privacy paradox, rooted in a pragmatic adaptation to the technological affordances of social network sites, and wider societal acquiescence to the debasement of privacy online.
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    Parental Technology Governance: Teenagers’ understandings and responses to parental digital mediation
    (University of Lodz, 2022-04) Adorjan, Michael; Ricciardelli, Rosemary; Saleh, Tina
    Research on parental mediation of children’s online engagements situate historically longstanding anxieties within the dynamics of present-day information communications technologies (i.e., concerns over new ‘cyber risks’ as well as opportunities). Yet, there remains a lack of emphasis on children’s own reactions to and experiences with parental strategies and responses. In the current article, we highlight research involving semi-structured focus groups (n=35) with Canadian teenagers (n=115). We highlight themes directly related to parental digital mediation, including the role of ICTs in driving addictive behaviours, social connection, differences in parental responses between sons and daughters, and differences with respect to age and birth order. Our discussions reveal qualified support for parental efforts to restrict access and use of digital technologies, but illuminate multifaceted reasons for resistance: their vital role not only for social connection, but access to crucial information and knowledge.
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    Smartphone and Social Media Addiction: Exploring the perceptions and experiences of Canadian teenagers
    (Wiley, 2021-02) Adorjan, Michael; Ricciardelli, Rosemary
    ‘Addiction’ to internet-connected technology continues to dominate media discourses of young people. Researchers have identified negative outcomes, including decreased mental health, resulting from anxieties related not to technology per se, but a fear of missing out and social connectivity related to online technologies. Not enough is known, however, regarding young people’s own responses to these ideas. This paper highlights discussions with teenagers around the idea of internet addiction, exploring their experiences and perceptions regarding the idea that ‘kids today’ are addicted to their devices, especially smartphones and the social network sites they often access from them. 35 focus group discussions with 115 Canadian teenagers (aged 13-19 years old) center on their use of information communication technologies, especially contemporary social network sites such as Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. Our discussions reveal 1) that teens are actively embracing the label of addiction; 2) their ironic positioning occurs despite a felt sense of debased agency in relation to the power of the algorithms and affordances of the technologies mediating their use; and 3) rather than a stark divide between adults as ‘digital immigrants’ vs. young people as ‘digital natives’, our teens positioned themselves in contrast to both their parents and younger siblings, both of whom are criticized as addicted themselves. A consistent theme is the influence of peer groups who socially compel addictive behaviours, including the fear of missing out, rather than the technologies per se. Wider implications for thinking beyond solely young people as suffering from online addiction are considered.
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    Student Perspectives towards School Responses to Cyber-risk and Safety: The Presumption of the Prudent Digital Citizen
    (Taylor and Francis, 2019-02) Adorjan, Michael; Ricciardelli, Rosemary
    While previous research identifies skepticism and some animosity among students towards school-based cyber-safety programs, drawing from focus group discussions with Canadian teens, this paper contributes to unpacking reasons for both support for ‘what works’ and antagonism for what is perceived to be lacking. Our findings reveal support for repeated messages, including those eliciting fear, especially for younger students. Criticisms most often centred on the questionable relatability of the messages, and the need for more practical information (e.g., privacy management). Criticisms are largely concentrated among female teens. Among our participants, the concentration of cyber-safety messages is being received in junior high school, with less emphasis by the time students reach high school. We argue that by high school students are expected to have successfully internalized the directives for online safety received in earlier grades, and have acquired, to a greater or lesser extent, a sense of prudentialism and self-control.