Preteens social media use: Parents’ and children’s perceptions of what mediation approaches are used and why

Many preteens are using social media, despite most platforms having an age requirement of 13-years-old. Little is known about how these young users and their parents balance out the opportunities and potential risks of their social media use. To address this gap in our understanding we interviewed nine children (aged 9-12) together with one of their parents to address two research questions: (1) ‘What strategies are used to mediate social media use among preteens?’ (2) ‘What are parents and children’s reflections of why different strategies are chosen?’.

The findings identify a broader range of mediation strategies than previously discussed in the literature, challenge research suggesting that parents have a typical mediation approach and give new insight into children’s role in co-constructing how the mediation strategies are used. This has implications for future policies, interventions, and research into the effectiveness of different mediation approaches.