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Social Networking in Online and Offline Contexts

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Encyclopedia of Adolescence

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Overview

Adolescence is a developmental period in which social networks (cohesive groupings of peers to which the youth belongs) become increasingly important for identity, adjustment, and future relationships. This essay provides an overview of what is known about the characterization, formation, and maintenance of social networks during adolescence. Given the recent explosion of online social networks, such as the Web site Facebook, discussion of adolescents’ involvement in these online social networks is included in the essay. Online and offline social networks are compared, taking into account their function, composition, and impact on the adolescent’s behavioral adjustment. Directions for future research on these topics are discussed.

Relevance of Social Networking to the Adolescent Developmental Period

Adolescence is the developmental period during which youth are optimally attuned to their peer group (Collins 1997; Gifford-Smith and Brownell 2003). The proportion of each day...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Amori Yee Mikami

  2. Department of Psychology, James Madison University, 91 E. Grace St., Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    David E. Szwedo

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  1. Amori Yee Mikami
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  2. David E. Szwedo
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Correspondence to Amori Yee Mikami .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    Roger J.R. Levesque

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Mikami, A.Y., Szwedo, D.E. (2016). Social Networking in Online and Offline Contexts. In: Levesque, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_283-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_283-2

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