Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rasp20

Download by: [Flinders University of South Australia] Date: 30 August 2016, At: 17:08

Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and PhysicalEducation

ISSN: 1837-7122 (Print) 1837-7130 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rasp20

Hurry up and ‘like’ me: immediate feedbackon social networking sites and the impact onadolescent girls

Stephanie T. Jong & Murray J. N. Drummond

To cite this article: Stephanie T. Jong & Murray J. N. Drummond (2016): Hurry up and ‘like’ me:immediate feedback on social networking sites and the impact on adolescent girls, Asia-PacificJournal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, DOI: 10.1080/18377122.2016.1222647

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18377122.2016.1222647

Published online: 26 Aug 2016.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 41

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Hurry up and ‘like’ me: immediate feedback on socialnetworking sites and the impact on adolescent girlsStephanie T. Jong and Murray J. N. Drummond

School of Education, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

ABSTRACTAt an age identified as the period with the most intense focus onappearance, and where young girls are establishing their identity,it appears that social networking site (SNS) interactions areplaying a pivotal role in determining what is, and what is not,socially endorsed. This paper draws on data obtained during fiveseparate focus group interviews with a total of 28 middle schoolaged girls from three South Australian schools. Results indicatedthat feedback from other SNS users was central in theconstruction of identity and had an impact on self-esteem. It wasfound that immediate feedback was highly desired in response toimages and comments posted on SNSs. It was also found that theimmediacy of the feedback directly influenced the emotional stateof the study participants. Understanding the impact of SNScommunication, specifically pertaining to feedback, can bedirectly linked to the Australian Curriculum Health and PhysicalEducation key ideas. Furthermore it is relevant to educativepractices where schools are sites for technological advancementsand positive reinforcement of identity and appearance.

KEYWORDSSocial networking sites;immediate feedback;feedback; health education;critical inquiry

Introduction

The rapid adoption of social networking sites (SNSs) as a means of communication in con-temporary Western culture has led to the rise of SNSs such as Facebook, Instagram,Twitter and Tumblr. SNSs are broadly defined as websites that promote participants toconstruct a profile online displaying relationships and connections to other SNS users,that are visible to those who have the ability to access their profile (boyd & Ellison,2007). In Australia it is reported that Facebook is the most popular SNS used (Sensis,2015), with 69% of people aged 14–19 using SNSs at least once a day (Sensis, 2014). Stat-istics also show that females have a higher frequency usage of SNSs per day, than theirmale counterparts (Sensis, 2014, 2015). This popularity has been paralleled by mediapanics amplifying public anxieties about negative aspects of SNSs including social iso-lation, cyber bullying, time wasting and risks of disclosure. Alternatively, optimisticaccounts argue that these sites attract today’s youth through mass popularity and per-ceived social benefits (Steinfield, Ellison, & Lampe, 2008; Wilson, Gosling, & Graham,2012). They also stress that SNSs create an environment for the expression of freedom

© 2016 Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation

CONTACT Stephanie T. Jong stephanie.jong@flinders.edu.au

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION, 2016http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/18377122.2016.1222647

(Siibak, 2010), ‘sociability, community engagement, creativity and new literacies’ (Living-stone, 2008, p. 394).

The nature of participating in SNSs differs for a variety of people; however, itsprimary role is to facilitate social interaction. The concept of a ‘mediated community’accurately describes the community practice of Facebook, particularly in the environ-ment where there is a shared sense of belonging and where friends are both onlineand offline (Goodings, 2011). This connection between members is reflected through‘adding’, ‘friending’, ‘inviting’, ‘blocking’, ‘accepting’, ‘posting’ comments, ‘sharing’and ‘liking’. This socialising platform creates a new intimacy, which becomes integralto the management and development of one’s identity, lifestyle and social relations(Livingstone, 2008). SNSs enable people to be ‘constantly connected, accessible, social,and sometimes, vulnerable’ (Watkins, 2009, p. xvii), emphasising the extensive levelsof belonging and commitment desired by adolescents and allowing them to stay con-nected to their peers (Hodkinson, 2011).

SNSs enable young people to create and share their strikingly vibrant lives with thepublic (Watkins, 2009). These online spaces demand individuality as expressingoneself becomes a requirement, allowing identities to be fluid, yet managed and regu-lated (Willett, 2008). According to Watkins (2009) SNSs offer two major points of sig-nificance in young people’s identity formation: (1) maintaining individual friendshipsand (2) belonging to peer groups. Identities are constructed with this in mind. Ado-lescents need to know what is popular and what is socially accepted among their peers.Erikson (1980 [1959]; cited in Livingstone, 2008, p. 397) observed:

… the adolescent must develop and gain confidence in an ego identity that is simultaneouslyautonomous and socially valued, and that balances critical judgement and trust, inner unityand acceptance of societal expectations. Thus, they must make judgements that are difficultoffline as well as online – whom to trust, what to reveal about yourself, how to establish reci-procity, when to express emotion, and so on. By examining how online identity and peerrelations are shaped by both peer culture and the affordances of networking software, thepurpose here is to show how online opportunities and risks are interconnected.

People make use of SNSs through the production of user-generated content (Kaplan &Haenlein, 2010). Young people are able to provide updates at any time they choose todisplay their mood, to keep in contact with a range of people, to form new groups, todevelop an identity and to display their lives (as they wish to be perceived). This canbe shown through a wide array of digital content such as pictures, blogs, short messagesand video (Stern, 2004; Watkins, 2009). Through replying with ‘comments’ or ‘likes’ (athumbs up button pressed to express a person’s liking of a picture, video or comment)young people provide one another with immediate feedback on their personal ‘posts’(a message to appear on a profile or in response to another post of a picture, video orcomment). These online interactions can be interpreted as peer feedback, and may influ-ence developmental outcomes (Pempek, Yermolayeva, & Calvert, 2009). In turn, thisalters and shapes audience practice in new ways. Through SNSs the concept of the audi-ence has been revolutionised, resulting in the transformation of the audience into criticalusers and active participants of information and communication technologies (Living-stone, 2003).

2 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Media play a vital role as a conveyor of particular socio-cultural ideals, especially relat-ing to the social construction of identity. InWesternised cultures physical appearance is aninfluential factor when defining one’s identity (Wood, Becker, & Thompson, 1996). It hasbeen suggested that between the ages of 13 and 15 years, external cues and social feedbackhave their greatest impact on body image (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). Linked withthis notion of developing self-identity, self-esteem plays a vital role in attitudes towardsself. Coopersmith (1967), defined self-esteem as either positive or negative self-assessment.As physical appearance is related to self-identity, physical attractiveness is related to self-esteem. This attribute is considered in high regard by adolescents (Cash, 2005; Kim &Lennon, 2007). Relevant studies have found that high self-esteem has demonstrated effec-tive protection against body dissatisfaction (e.g. Tiggemann & Williamson, 2000, cited inKim & Lennon, 2007) and eating disorders (e.g. Geller, Zaitsoff, & Srikameswaran, 2002,cited in Kim & Lennon, 2007).

Feedback is critical to children and adolescents’ self-esteem, development and morespecifically, development of an individual’s perceptions of self (Cassidy, Ziv, Mehta, &Feeney, 2003; Mead, 1934). Noteworthy, in a study conducted by Cassidy et al. (2003),participants’ self-perceptions influenced their feedback seeking, that is, participants withpositive self-perceptions sought more positive feedback than participants with negativeself-perceptions. Drawing on self-enhancement theory, Cassidy et al. (2003) suggeststhat in order to maintain high self-esteem, children and adolescents seek favourable feed-back. Contrastingly, Cassidy et al. (2003) explain that self-verification theory ‘leads to ahypothesis that children may sometimes seek negative feedback’ (p. 13) in order toverify or maintain stable self-views, even if this self-view is negative (Rosen, Principe, &Langlois, 2013). Purposeful implementation of this hypothesis justifies the act ofseeking negative feedback to confirm people’s self-view with two main ideas: (1) theidea of taking comfort with the view that is stated and (2) the idea of having a ‘correct’self-view, reflective of the thought of how their peers will and do treat them (Swann,Wenzlaff, Krull, & Pelham, 1992). Seeking negative self-view verification may result inincreased feelings of depression (Swann et al., 1992), or body dissatisfaction (Joiner,1999). Additionally, people with negative self-views ‘may surround themselves withothers who view them in an unfavorable light, which in turn creates a cycle of persistentlow self-esteem and depression’ (Rosen et al., 2013, p. 364). Rosen et al. (2013) also exam-ined whether early adolescents solicited self-enhancing feedback or self-verifying feedback.The results were consistent with self-verification theory, however, the importance of feed-back seeking for all participants was emphasised.

This is reflective of the significance that the Australian Curriculum Assessment andReporting Authority (ACARA) have placed on the development of personal identityand sense of self in the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education(ACHPE). Underpinning this learning, and within the context of this paper, are theHealth and Physical Education key ideas: (i) take a strengths based approach, and to(ii) include a critical inquiry approach (ACARA, 2012).

In contrast to previous approaches to the promotion of health and education that havefocused on human deficits and societal risks (McCuaig, Quennerstedt, & Macdonald,2013), a strengths based approach challenges deficit models by focusing on the acknowl-edgment and affirmation of the skills and knowledge children and young people bring totheir schooling. The Australian Curriculum proposition of a strengths based approach

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 3

builds strongly on influences from salutogenic health theory, emphasising positive aspectsof student effort, achievement and human strengths (Lopez & Louis, 2009). The saluto-geneic health theory focuses on factors that support human health and well-being, ‘under-standing what creates health rather than emphasizing limitations to health and causes ofdisease’ (Macdonald, 2013, p. 100). In an overview of a curriculum-based research initiat-ive that attempted to adopt a strengths based approach in schools within Queensland,McCuaig et al. (2013) clearly describe three characteristic features of a strengths basedorientation towards HPE:

Characteristic 1: Enhancing problem solving skills through inquiry-based pedagogies.Characteristic 2: Identification of resources as opposed to an exclusive focus on eradicat-

ing risk factors.Characteristic 3: Listening to and encouraging students’ voices.

Knowledge, understanding and skills were the focus in implementing the initiative, withthe goal to enhance student assets and resources. They affirm that adopting a strength-based perspective to ACHPE

can facilitate the capacity of schools and schooling to make a realistic, educative contri-bution to the health, physical activity and wellbeing of young people, in terms of bothrelevance to young people’s lives and a contribution to Australia’s health goals. (McCuaiget al., 2013, p. 123)

Including a critical inquiry approach prompts students to ‘critically analyse and evaluatecontextual factors that influence decision-making, behaviours and actions, and exploreinclusiveness, power inequalities, assumptions, diversity and social justice’ (ACARA,n.d.). Addressing SNSs from a critical inquiry approach is important not only becauseof the current tendency for populations to use SNSs, but also because SNSs can be animportant site for young peoples’ critical literacy development.

The present study

Currently, there is a gap in the literature about children and young peoples’ experience ofusing SNSs (Merchant, 2012), from voices of young people themselves (Bartholomaeus,2013). Although mass media has previously been identified as the most powerful conveyorof socio-cultural ideals in adolescents and preadolescents (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006b;Levine & Smolak, 1996; Tiggemann, 2003), SNSs have effects that are yet to be completelyexplored. Given that adolescence is a period in which self-esteem tends to decrease(Shapka & Keating, 2005), and because identity formation begins in early adolescence(Finkenauer, Engels, Meeus, & Oosterwegel, 2002), feedback through SNSs needs to beexamined as a possible a conveyor of socio-cultural ideals and new norms. This paperintends to contribute to the knowledge of SNS practices through the study of SNS inter-actions of adolescent girls, from the perspective of the girls themselves. It will explore thefeedback provided by peers and others from SNS users, in an attempt to understand theeffect of immediacy that often parallels with the use of SNSs. It will take particular note ofthe implications associated with immediate feedback, and the nature of SNS feedbackinfluence on the development of identity. Importantly, the ties to the ACHPE key ideaswill be unpacked in prompting a strengths based approach, and critical questions forunderstanding interactions on SNSs.

4 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Method

Theoretical framework

The research was underpinned by the theoretical perspective of social constructionism.Social constructionism relies upon communication, combined with the notion of inter-action to define a shared system of meaning (Burr, 2003) that is continually constructedand reproduced through social life (Greenwood, 1994). Current social representations of‘beauty’ and what is ‘popular’ are dependent upon socially constructed assumptions,expectations and values. Through communication, the exchanging of ideas and percep-tions of reality are progressively conveyed and embedded within society. Reciprocal agree-ment enhances the creation of norms, infiltrated within society through the revalidation ofattitudes, beliefs and behaviours (Jacobs, Kemeny, & Manzi, 2004) ‘developed and trans-mitted within an essentially social context’ (Crotty, 1998, p. 42). Meaning is therefore notdiscovered but constructed. Social constructionism allows thorough exploration of thesocial meanings evident in the practice of participation and interaction online via SNSs.The researcher used this social constructionist approach to analyse participant responsesto the focus group interview topics. This provided an understanding and exploration of thesocial meaning, providing a useful lens in understanding how participants use SNSs toshape their beliefs around body image and ideals.

Participants and materials

Through the use of purposeful sampling (Patton, 2002), 28 adolescent girls, aged 12–14were recruited via 3Independent Schools in South Australia to voluntarily participate inthe study. The significance of the age range of adolescence related to previous studies per-taining to the link between preoccupation with body image and the media (Dohnt & Tig-gemann, 2006a; Tiggemann & Slater, 2013a, 2013b) and high SNS use (AustralianCommunications and Media Authority, 2008; Sensis, 2014). Furthermore, adolescenceis considered a critical time for identity establishment, increased self-awareness, self-con-sciousness, concern with social acceptance and preoccupation with image (Hargreaves &Tiggemann, 2002; Slater & Tiggemann, 2006). The schools were selected based on theirstatus as being Independent schools and all within similar higher socio-economic status(SES) demographics. A study has also linked adolescent girls of a higher SES to increasedsusceptibility to body dissatisfaction compared with those of lower SES (Wang, Byrne,Kenardy, & Hills, 2005).

Prior to the interviews, the researcher provided an email to the participating schoolscontaining a copy of the letter of introduction, the information letter, a letter to theparents/caregivers and consent and assent forms. In order to participate, students wererequired to return the parental/caregiver Consent form and the Assent form. Participationwas voluntary. The researcher also created a meeting time with the schools to furtherpromote the research project. Once participant response numbers were obtained, partici-pants were then randomly sampled to avoid teacher selection which may have putpressure on girls to partake in the research. Participants were encouraged to answer astruthfully as possible and to respect the research information as stated within theAssent forms. Ethics approval was granted through the university’s Social and BehaviouralResearch Ethics Committee.

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 5

Data collection and analysis

Simpson and Freeman (2004) state that qualitative methods are essential to researchregarding health education and health promotion in order to understand a variety of per-spectives, including those of students themselves. Semi-structured focus group interviewswere identified as a suitable data collection technique given their ability to encourage par-ticipants to articulate their views and perceptions more explicitly (Punch, 2005), andprovide in-depth and rich, interactive data (Ary, Jacobs, & Sorensen, 2010; Bryman,2012). This method is also useful when exploring adolescent health issues (Staempfli,2007), and adolescents and the media (Borzekowski, 2000). A semi-structured interviewguide was employed in each of the focus group sessions to assist the interviewer toadopt a similar line of enquiry for each interview, ensuring researcher reliability(Patton, 2002). The guided interview schedule acted as a means through which other ques-tions were asked, particularly in terms of clarification. Interviews took place within theschool environment, ensuring that the crucial elements of safety and comfort were met.Five focus groups were conducted, consisting of three to five participants. Each focusgroup lasted between 25 and 70 minutes. All focus groups were audio-recorded by avoice recorder. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded by the researchers.

Thematic content analysis was undertaken following the methods outlined by Milesand Huberman (1994). Each transcript was coded by the first author to identify meaning-ful segments of text. Once the transcripts were coded completely, the codes were inter-preted into broader themes. Subsequently, member checking was completed by thesecond author to determine if the theme development was accurate before proceeding.The data were also compared to the original transcript by the first author to ensure anaccurate match to the descriptions in-text (Creswell, 2008). Through this iterativeprocess four key themes were identified. Each major theme has been categorised interms of its relation to the acquisition and understanding of SNS use and impacts. Thefollowing section presents the theme of feedback that emerged from the data. Subthemesthat emerged have enabled further exploration.

Results

Online feedback

Facebook was the most commonly used SNS for the study. It provides the opportunity forusers to ‘share’ and ‘post’ pictures and comments of and about themselves. Given the shifttowards online communicative culture, the ability to participate online opens new oppor-tunities for people to receive feedback on their posts. Peers hold one of the closest connec-tions to adolescents (Watkins, 2009), and hence, peer feedback is considered vital on SNSs.As people present themselves to the public in ways that they wish to be perceived(Goffman, 1959), the subsequent pressing of a ‘like’ button represents a form of accep-tance. Users of SNSs use the ‘like’ button to express personal approval of presentedphotos, videos, blogs and comments. Noteworthy, study participants were cognisant ofthe ‘numbers of likes’ that was associated with the notion of popularity:

G23: Yeah, ‘likes’, everyone thinks ‘likes’ is really good.G25: If you get lots of ‘likes’ it means you’re popular. It’s weird.

6 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Researcher: So how many ‘likes’ means you’re popular?G25: I think over a hundred.G23: Yeah.

As the symbol for a ‘like’ is a thumb up, this reinforces the idea that whatever has beenposted is positively appreciated by other SNSs users. The discussion about ‘likes’ andthe popularity attributed to visuals or comments through pressing the ‘like’ button isindicative of how this embedded concept is an important aspect when the participantsuse SNSs. Hence, the ‘like’ button can be seen as an indicator of popularity and therebyassists in the transmission of ideals, and understandings of what is popular, and what isnot. This is reflected in another discussion:

G15: I really care about getting more likes, because if someone posts a photo orsomething, they just act like they want more likes. With my mum, if sheposts a photo of me being pretty and stuff, she will get a lot of likes. Coswhen my mum posts my picture I got like 25 likes or something.

Researcher: How did that make you feel?G15: I just like to feel beautiful and stuff, like they’re saying ‘oh you’re beautiful’.

Through conversations it was evident that SNSs had become a place where judgement isactively sought. Feedback about physical aesthetics (i.e. bodies and clothing), and opinionstatements were taken literally and often, quite personally. It was clear that users of SNSsfelt a variety of emotions in response to feedback posted on the sites. When asked if thefeedback from SNSs was important to them, participants all stated ‘yes’ and tied this to‘self-esteem’, but also provided links to popularity:

G25: Like when people comment on your photo it makes you feel special.Researcher: What does ‘special’ mean?G25: I don’t know, like, loved.Researcher: Loved?G22: Known.G25: It makes you feel good about yourself when people like your photos and

comments and stuff.

While some positive experiences were expressed, others had the potential to feel disheart-ened if they received no feedback at all. That is, if they did not receive feedback, they felt asif they were not liked. The girls in this research spoke about the feelings that were evoked,or potentially evoked, after receiving little to no feedback after posting images or com-ments on SNSs. One participant described that she would feel ‘upset’ and when furtherasked about how immediate this feeling would come, she responded with ‘straightaway’. Another participant responded with feeling ‘depressed’, and another with ‘reallyinsecure’. The discussion then led to stories of friends taking images off of SNSs if therewas little or no feedback. Hence, if there was no response after a relatively short periodof time (length of time determined by the SNSs user), this was perceived as negative feed-back and therefore the posts would be taken off of the SNS.

In a unique setting, one in particular SNS, Tumblr, allows people posting informationto receive anonymous feedback. The users of this SNS have partial control of their onlineenvironment. Participants who used this SNS stated that the desire to know what peoplethink about you was the reason for using the anonymous feedback tool:

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 7

G25: You can turn off ‘anonymous’ … there’s a setting but I have it on, I don’t know why.G23: It’s interesting to see what people say.G25: Yeah.

Participants described the anonymous feedback that they had seen as primarily negative.For example, how much ‘hate’ others received on their images for ‘not being pretty’enough. Contrastingly, some study participants found this particular notion positivewith some anonymous comments being ‘nice’.

The desire to obtain immediate feedback

Given their immediate nature, SNSs are used as a primary source of immediate feedbackfor study participants. Participants sought immediate responses to visual and textual posts,as well as private messages exchanged between distinct groups. When asked about thelength of time they would leave a picture posted with no ‘likes’ before taking it down,most of the girls identified a minimal length of time. All participants expressed thedesire for immediate validation. The following discussion is representative of the girls’comments:

Researcher: And how long did you take before you took it [a picture] down?G22: About 10 minutes.G25: 10 minutes.G24: Yeah.G23: 2 minutes. *laughsResearcher: When you upload a photo are you sitting there waiting?Participants: YES! *All laughResearcher: Is that really important?Participants: YeahResearcher: Why?G23: Just self esteem.Participants: Yeah.

This was reiterated in another interview group:

Researcher: Do you think that if they didn’t get a like on it within the first week that theywould take it [the post] down?

G19: Probably.G20: I’ve seen people do that… all the time. Some people within 5 minutes if they

don’t get a like they’ll take it down.

Immediacy and expectations for immediate feedback represent a shift in online communi-cation norms. Attaining immediate feedback was at a high priority on study participants’minds when ‘posting’ pictures. It was evident that the girls saw immediate feedback asacceptance of the post, and in contrast, saw that a lack of ‘likes’ or feedback on apicture as a negative. Participants also indicated that they would wait for likes afteruploading a post to see whether they would immediately receive a ‘like’ notification.Hence, a link is established between the desire for immediate feedback and the use ofSNSs. This is reflected by participants waiting for desired feedback, simultaneously,increasing the use of SNSs.

8 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Immediacy of feedback seems to draw on two major emotions: sadness or exhilaration.If the feedback is not immediate it is considered to be depressing, which can have a nega-tive impact on self-esteem. Alternatively, if the feedback is immediate and abundant, theparticipants expressed a sense of excitement in that they felt ‘popular’. At this early stage ofthe girls’ SNS experience, the majority of this immediate feedback was still somewhat posi-tive. Evidently, in the event that negative comments occur, the feeling of excitement andpopularity will likely diminish.

‘Trading’ for feedback

Through the increasing use of SNSs, new ways of seeking feedback are being introduced.Participants repeatedly described these new ways, for example, ‘like for a rate’, ‘like for alike’ and ‘like for a paragraph’. These new concepts introduce trading a ‘like’ on someone’spicture in return for three main effects: (1) a ‘rate’ out of 10 of someone’s physique orgeneral being; (2) a ‘like’ on a corresponding photo or (3) a ‘like’ in return for a paragraphwritten about them. Therefore, while accumulating large numbers of ‘likes’ on a post canbe perceived as popularity, providing feedback via ‘likes’ can also have no meaning andsimply be a ‘trading’ tool. However, the way that this feedback is described, has a differentconnotation. Participants reflected upon their use of these new ways of seeking feedback:

Researcher: Do you ever say ‘like for a rate’? Or ‘like for a comment’?G26: Yeah… .G27: Sometimes.Researcher: Why do you do that?G26: So you can see how… .G26 & G27: What they think of you.G28: If it was someone that you kind of knew but you didn’t know really, really well

and you’re starting to get to know them better, you kind of want to know whatthey think of you.

Participants (All): yeah

This contemporary concept of inviting others to provide a ‘like’ in exchange for a ‘rate’, isakin to ‘collecting’ and ‘trading’, collectables in primary school, for example, cards. Interms of adolescent girls seeking opinions, confirmation and clarity regarding others’ per-ceptions of them, this is an important concept as SNSs enable them to enact this. A groupof girls intuitively indicated that things such as ‘trading likes’ seemed ‘stupid’, and yet theycontinued to engage in such practices given the socially constructed actions created byFacebook users, and amongst their own peers.

Researcher: Do you like many people’s photos?Participants (All): Yeah.G25: I do like ‘“like” and I’ll return’Participants (All) laugh.G25: Why not?Researcher: So you trade ‘likes’?G25: Yeah.Participants (All) laugh.G25: Sometimes.

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 9

G23: It sounds so stupid.G25: I know!Researcher: It’s hard when you’re talking about it.G23: Yeah.G25: What has Facebook come to?

This realisation of engaging in a seemingly unusual form of behaviour occurred morethan once within the same interview. Indeed, it was apparent from the participants’responses that these girls had never engaged in a discussion with each other around‘what happens on Facebook’ and why they carried out certain actions. Significantly,they had also never discussed how certain comments made them feel. Despite this realis-ation, the girls identified a culture associated with Facebook that offered them engagementand participation, which kept them actively involved. It was also a culture that created afeeling of validation, particularly around the comments and photos that they each posted,no matter if they had to trade for the ‘likes’ or not.

Discussion

At the core of this research is adolescent girls’ identity construction, linked with bodyimage, self-esteem and the use of SNSs. Closely tied to these concepts is the notion of feed-back provided by users on personal posts. It is understood that positive feedback is relatedto positive self-esteem and negative feedback to negative self-esteem (Pempek et al., 2009).More specifically, a study conducted by Valkenburg, Jochen, and Schouten (2006) inves-tigating consequences of friend networking sites found that positive feedback benefittedadolescents’ social self-esteem and well-being, whereas negative feedback had adverseeffects. Further research has indicated that external cues and social feedback result inreconstructions of identity and regulation in accordance to acceptance (Siibak, 2010). Sig-nificantly, feedback received from others is central to developing the perceptions ofoneself, particularly during their time at school (Cassidy et al., 2003).

Previous research suggests that youth desire responses to the content posted online(Stern, 2004). Stern (2004) proposes that this comes from the desire for self-validationor the formation of relationships. For the girls in this research, their desire for immediatefeedback from SNS users demonstrates its value and significance within their lives, par-ticularly for social and self-validation. This validation is based on the feedback othersprovide to them which signified approval or disapproval (Stern, 2004). As previouslynoted, feedback is critical to children and adolescents’ self-esteem, and development ofperceptions of self (Cassidy et al., 2003; Mead, 1934). Participants within this studynoted a strong reliance upon SNS users to attain feedback. In the context of this research,participants sought favourable feedback in order to maintain high self-esteem, reflectingself-enhancement theory (Cassidy et al., 2003). This was evident in the concept oftrading for likes. Noteworthy, the concept of anonymous feedback may create potentiallinks to self-verification theory as participants indicated intrigue to ‘see what people say’.

While historically friends and family have played fundamental roles in identity for-mation (Erikson, 1968), the ways of receiving this feedback have been altered, withSNSs becoming the sounding boards for identity experimentation (Stern, 2004). Attainingfeedback from other SNS users mimics the way that Erikson (1968) describes how social

10 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

interaction facilitates identity construction offline (Stern, 2004). It is through this develop-ment that the immediacy of feedback compounds with multi-reinforcing comments frompeers and others to rapidly emphasise the effects of media (as a conveyor of socio-culturalideals). This differs from other forms of media such as magazines, where the effect is notreinforced immediately on masses as it may take a longer period of time for a group ofpeople to read and discuss the same magazine. Therefore, digital connectedness heavilyinfluences, and compounds the effects of SNSs through the immediacy of positive or nega-tive reinforcement.

There are a number of assumptions one can make in regard to the reasons underpin-ning the desire for immediate feedback. One might assume that it is the desire for peeracceptance in the developmental stage of adolescence. Alternatively, it could be the devel-opment of new media and the new participatory online culture driving this need for vali-dation as a new socially constructed cultural norm. The socially constructed ideology ofpopularity on SNSs may also begin to resonate throughout this experience. Regardlessof the underlying reasons, the age group involved in this study are at a vital stage fortheir development of self, with feedback from their environment impacting upon theirself-perceptions and self-esteem (Cassidy et al., 2003).

New forms of feedback mentioned by participants, such as ‘like for a rate’, have intro-duced new ways of receiving and trading feedback. This concept draws on the ability togather popularity based on physical appearance. The trading of ‘likes’ on comments orposts provides an argument to suggest a strong desire for validation. Referring to adoles-cence as a period of time where cues from peers are a vital aspect of creating one’s identity(Antheunis & Schouten, 2011), trading ‘likes’ as a type of public evaluation, althoughmanipulative, becomes beneficial to well-being and self-esteem (Antheunis & Schouten,2011; Valkenburg et al., 2006). The participants expressed the unspoken rules of thisnew type of feedback, stating that positive feedback should be the only response regardlessof whether the respondent perceives the individual to be attractive or not. This rule wasestablished to ensure positive feedback was received in return. This constant desire forvalidation may reflect in SNSs becoming a way of enhancing adolescent’s self-esteem.

It was clear from participants in this research that the pictures deemed to be acceptablefor posting on social media sites were heavily influenced by the broader social and culturalideals associated with popularity and beauty. Reflective of all of the interviews, participantswere self-conscious when deciding on images to post, and were concerned with peer jud-gement. Contemporary SNSs have the ability to heighten the role of impression manage-ment through feedback and immediate responses of others. In this way, SNSs create aplatform for immediacy of feedback where popularity may influence ideals, beliefs andperceptions. On SNSs, this notion of immediate feedback acts as an instant conveyor ofmessages to a wide audience producing a homogenising effect, thereby playing a pivotalrole in social and cultural conformity.

Recommendations

Attending to the educative needs of girls’ identity and body image issues in middle school-ing years is imperative in developing attitudes and behaviours that recognise the socialconstruction of what is desirable or ‘cool’. Understanding approaches to the ACHPEkey ideas can encourage schools and their teachers to consider the most effective ways

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 11

in which young people can explore and maximise SNSs for good living. Firstly, it is vital foreducators to use a strengths based philosophy in understanding more about the media thatstudents enjoy before assisting them in critically assessing it (Fuller & Damico, 2008; Mer-chant, 2012). Rather than focusing on potential health risks, ACARA (n.d.) describe astrengths based approach to mean focusing on ‘supporting students to develop the knowl-edge, understanding and skills they require to make healthy, safe and active choices thatwill enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing’. In viewing student strengths, animportant aspect in doing this is to learn from students about their current popular mediachoices. Furthermore, this can be enforced by understanding, acknowledging and validat-ing that learning takes place in various environments, including on SNSs (Merchant,2012).

As educators, we need to understand that SNSs act as an instant conveyor of messages,which has the capacity to create conformity. At an applied level, educational institutionscould use this to their benefit by communicating desirable school messages within theonline realm. That is, schools have the potential to convey particular messages that arevaluable to the school community using SNSs as a vehicle for immediate recognitionand response. Further research needs to be undertaken to develop best practice modelsto assist teachers in the classroom given the rapidly changing nature of SNSs and themanner in which it is used.

Rosen et al. (2013) emphasised the importance of feedback seeking for in early adoles-cence. Participants within this study engaged strongly with other SNS users to attainfeedback, and held a desire for this feedback to be immediate, linking to emotions ofhigh self-esteem. Reflective of self-enhancement theory (Cassidy et al., 2003), the desirefor immediate feedback also needs to be addressed both at school and at home toengage with the changing needs in contemporary society. It is imperative that educatorshave a clear understanding of the way in which contemporary SNS feedback impact onadolescent girls and the role it can play in self-validation. Education practitioners havethe ability to link educative feedback to the needs of the contemporary, digitally ‘savvy’students. Educators can develop strategies to more appropriately engage the student audi-ence through digital educational feedback that is quicker and more responsive to that pre-viously used. Publishing online results, giving students their own school profile page,listing individual and collective history of achievements, praising initiatives, and havinggreater emphasis on achievements, may provide the same type of validation that issought from SNSs.

Secondly, including a critical inquiry approach is becoming increasingly importantwhen concerning SNSs. Ashcraft (2009) maintains that ‘[c]onversations about mediamessages and how they are produced and reproduced can be a powerful resource fordeveloping young adolescents’ critical analysis about a variety of content’ (p. 601). Educa-tors can encourage students to think critically and examine media content by engaging incritical questioning (Begoray, Banister, WharfHiggins, & Wilmot, 2014). While it is diffi-cult to alter or control the use of SNSs, schools offer the ideal site in which to educate bothgirls and boys on the issues associated with comments posted on SNSs that may disparagean individual and damage their self-esteem. Starting this process early in schooling pro-vides a significant period for children to adopt positive attitudes and recognition for ado-lescence and beyond. Extending this process and taking it away from the schoolenvironment, to home and with peers, is the challenge that then needs to be addressed.

12 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Engaging with the ACHPE curriculum on this will enhance critique, and prompt the chal-lenging of assumptions and stereotypes.

Critical inquiry around SNSs and the societal construction of popularity and beauty earlyin the lives of girls also has the capacity to challenge the notion of the importance of SNSswithin contemporary society as being something that provides validation for physical andbodily aesthetics. Also, engaging students in analyses of media images and online culturaldevelopments will increase their empowerment and critical digital literacy. An example ofa program implementing a critical inquiry approach is MediaSmart, an effective media lit-eracy program which develops critical analysis of media, and enhances self-esteem (Wilksch&Wade, 2009). It is important to note that encouraging critical thinking and inquiry in stu-dents is challenging and ‘[c]ritical consciousness-raising and identity work with studentstake[s] time’ (Pirbhai-Illich, 2010, p. 262). Furthermore, developing critical inquiry mayrequire several repetitions prior to becoming meaningful to students, and allowing the devel-opment of useful skills (Begoray et al., 2014; Pirbhai-Illich, 2010).

While the findings are insightful to adolescent girls’ use of SNSs, this study is notwithout its limitations and should therefore be interpreted with caution. First, these col-lective perceptions result from a homogenous sample recruited from one South Australianregion. While it was beyond the scope of the research to capture, with purpose, the influ-ence of demographic location and/or SES on SNS participation, these variables are impor-tant considerations for future research. Furthermore, although this study makes a valuablecontribution to the adolescent SNS literature by exploring some key issues around feed-back, they emerge from a group of girls affiliated with one age group and one gender.It is likely that the nature of adolescent SNS participation may vary with the changingage and gender.

Conclusion

This paper collectively explores some key issues faced by girls in middle schooling years,and SNSs as an avenue for identity development and social interaction. Evidence suggeststhat online feedback through SNSs is creating a significant issue for middle school yeargirls and their construction of identity. This study provides some insight into adolescentgirls’ use of SNSs, and presents the voices of girls who are in the midst of a developing‘digital native world’. That is, a world where people will have grown up using technology,the Internet and mobile devices. The data are contextually relevant to the age cohort andprovides a unique perspective to understand the way in which adolescent girls in middleschooling years use SNSs within the context of their lives. While there were some positiveperceptions of online feedback, this study also identified a number of potential issuesinvolving the desire for immediate feedback and the repercussions of negative feedback.As the role and function of global SNSs grows exponentially, contemporary society willreflect both its positive and negative influences. This paper reports on one of those influ-ences based on the significance of the immediacy of feedback among a group of adolescentgirls who have just begun engaging with SNSs. Importantly, this study not only revealedsome of the perceived ideas about SNSs and adolescents, but it also gave insight into theimplications for educative needs as technology develops. It has also denoted the need forenhanced scholarly attention in pursuing greater understanding around this ever diversi-fying landscape.

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 13

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Stephanie Jong is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Education at Flinders University in South Aus-tralia. Her research focuses on the influence of social networking sites on the health practices ofyoung females, explicitly the subsets of fitness and exercise. Stephanie is also interested in the inno-vative use of methods for research.

Professor Murray Drummond is the director of the Sport, Health and Physical Education (SHAPE)research centre at Flinders University. His primary research interests revolve around masculinities,health and sport.

References

Antheunis, M. L., & Schouten, A. P. (2011). The effects of other-generated and system-generatedcues on adolescents’ perceived attractiveness on social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 16(3), 391–406. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2011.01545.x

Ary, D., Jacobs, L., & Sorensen, C. (2010). Introduction to research in education (8th ed.). Belmont,CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Ashcraft, C. (2009). Literacy and sexuality: What’s the connection? Journal of Adolescent & AdultLiteracy, 52(5), 636–638. doi:10.1598/JAAL.52.7.9

Australian Communications and Media Authority. (2008). Internet use and social networking byyoung people. No. 1. Retrieved June 23, 2012, from www.acma.gov.au

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Health and physical education:Key ideas. Retrieved 12/05, 2016, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/key-ideas

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2012). The shape of the Australian cur-riculum: Health and physical education. Sydney: Author. Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/shape_of_the_australian_curriculum_health_and_physical_education.pdf

Bartholomaeus, C. (2013). Updating young people’s status: What young South Australians say abouttheir Facebook use. Y. A. C. o. S. Australia (Ed.). Adelaide: Youth Affairs Council of South Australia.

Begoray, D. L., Banister, E. M., WharfHiggins, J., & Wilmot, R. (2014). Online, tuned in, turned on:Multimedia approaches to fostering critical media health literacy for adolescents. Asia-PacificJournal of Health, Sport and Physical Education, 5(3), 267–280. doi:10.1080/18377122.2014.940812

BorzekowskiD. L. (2000). Common themes from the extremes: Using two methodologies toexamine adolescents’ perceptions of anti-violence public service announcements. Journal ofAdolescent Health, 26(3), 164–175.

boyd, D.M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journalof Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210–230. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x

Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Burr, V. (2003). Social constructionism (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.Cash, T. F. (2005). The influence of sociocultural factors on body image: Searching for constructs.

Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 12(4), 438–442.Cassidy, J., Ziv, Y., Mehta, T. G., & Feeney, B. C. (2003). Feedback seeking in children and adoles-

cents: Associations with self-perceptions, attachment representations and depression. ChildDevelopment, 74(2), 612–628. doi:0009-3920/2003/7402-0019

Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of selfesteem. San Francisco, CA: Freeman.Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and

qualitative research. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

14 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Crotty, M. (1998). The foundation of social research. Meaning and perspective in the researchprocess. London: Sage.

Dohnt, H., & Tiggemann, M. (2006a). Body image concerns in young girls: The role of peers andmedia prior to adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(2), 135–145. doi:10.1007/s10964-005-9020-7

Dohnt, H., & Tiggemann, M. (2006b). The contribution of peer and media influences to the devel-opment of body satisfaction and self-esteem in young girls: A prospective study. DevelopmentalPsychology, 42(5), 929–936. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.42.5.929

Erikson, E. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York, NY: Norton.Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., Meeus, W., & Oosterwegel, A. (2002). Self and identity in early

adolescence: The pains and gains of knowing who and what you are. In T. M. Brinthaupt & R. P.Lipka (Eds.), Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions (pp.25–56). Albany, NY: University of New York Press.

Fuller, H. A., & Damico, A. M. (2008). Keeping pace with teen media use: Implications and strat-egies for educators. The Journal of Educational Research, 101(6), 323–332. doi:10.3200/joer.101.6.323-332

Goffman, E. (1959). ‘Performances’ in the presentation of self in everyday life. New York, NY: DoubleDay Anchor Books.

Goodings, L. (2011). The dilemma of closeness and distance: A discursive analysis of wall posting inmyspace. Forum Qualitative Social Research, 12(3), Article no. 16.

Greenwood, J. (1994). Action research and action researchers: Some introductory considerations.Contemporary Nurse, 3(2), 84–92.

Hargreaves, D., & Tiggemann, M. (2002). The effect of television commercials on mood and bodydissatisfaction: The role of appearance-schema activation. Journal of Social and ClinicalPsychology, 21(3), 287–308.

Hargreaves, D., & Tiggemann, M. (2003). The effect of “thin ideal” television commercials on bodydissatisfaction and schema activation during early adolescence. Journal of Youth andAdolescence, 32(5), 367–373. doi:0047-2891/03/1000-0367/0

Hodkinson, P. (2011). Media, culture and society: An introduction. London: Sage.Jacobs, K., Kemeny, J., & Manzi, T. (2004). Social constructionism in housing research. Aldershot:

Ashgate.Joiner, T. E. (1999). Self-verification and bulimic symptoms: Do bulimic women play a role in per-

petuating their own dissatisfaction and symptoms? International Journal of Eating Disorders,26, 145–151.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunitiesof Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Kim, J., & Lennon, S. (2007). Mass media and self-esteem, body image and eating disordertendencies. Clothing & Textiles Research Journal, 25(1), 3–23. doi:10.1177/0887302X06296873

Levine, M. P., & Smolak, L. (1996). Media as a context for the development of disordered eating. InL. Smolak., L. Levine, & R. Striegel-Moore (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology of eatingdisorders: Implications for research, prevention, and treatment. (pp. 235–237). Mahwah, NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Livingstone, S. (2003). The changing nature of audiences from the mass audience to the interactivemedia user. In A. N. Valdivia (Ed.), A companion to media studies (pp. 337–359). Oxford, UK:Blackwell.

Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers’ use ofsocial networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10(3),393–411. doi:10.1177/1461444808089415

Lopez, S. J., & Louis, M. C. (2009). The principles of strengths-based education. Journal of Collegeand Character, 10(4), 1–8. doi:10.2202/1940-1639.1041

Macdonald, D. (2013). The new Australian health and physical education curriculum: A case of/forgradualism in curriculum reform? Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and Physical Education,4(2), 95–108. doi:10.1080/18377122.2013.801104

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 15

McCuaig, L., Quennerstedt, M., & Macdonald, D. (2013). A salutogenic, strengths-based approachas a theory to guide HPE curriculum change. Asia-Pacific Journal of Health, Sport and PhysicalEducation, 4(2), 109–125. doi:10.1080/18377122.2013.801105

Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Merchant, G. (2012). Unravelling the social network: Theory and research. Learning, Media and

Technology, 37(1), 4–19. doi:10.1080/17439884.2011.567992Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research & evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Pempek, T. A., Yermolayeva, Y. A., & Calvert, S. L. (2009). College students’ social networking

experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 227–238.doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.010

Pirbhai-Illich, F. (2010). Aboriginal students engaging and struggling with critical multiliteracies.Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(4), 257–266. doi:0.1598/JAAL.54.4.3

Punch, K. P. (2005). Introduction to social research – quantitative & qualitative approaches.London: Sage.

Rosen, L. H., Principe, C. P., & Langlois, J. H. (2013). Feedback seeking in early adolescence: Self-enhancement or self-verification? The Journal of Early Adolescence, 33(3), 363–377. doi:10.1177/0272431612441070

Sensis. (2014). Yellow Social Media Report 2014. What Australian people and businesses are doingwith social media. Australia.

Sensis. (2015). Sensis social media report. How Australian people and cusinesses are using socialmedia. Melbourne, Australia.

Shapka, J. D., & Keating, D. P. (2005). Structure and change in self-concept during adolescence.Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 37, 83–96.

Siibak, A. (2010). Constructing masculinity on a social networking site: The case-study of visualself-presentations of young men on the profile images of SNS Rate. Young, 18(4), 403–425.doi:10.1177/110330881001800403

Simpson, K., & Freeman, R. (2004). Critical health promotion and education: A new research chal-lenge. Health Education Research, 19(3), 340–348. doi:10.1093/her/cyg049

Slater, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2006). The contribution of physical activity and media use duringchildhood and adolescence to adult women’s body image. Journal of Health Psychology, 11(4),553–565. doi:10.1177/1359105306065016

Staempfli, M. (2007). Adolescent playfulness, stress perception, coping and well being. Journal ofLeisure Research, 39(3), 393–412.

Steinfield, C., Ellison, N. B., & Lampe, C. (2008). Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online socialnetwork sites: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 434–445. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.002

Stern, S. R. (2004). Expressions of identity online: Prominent features and gender differences inadolescents’ World Wide Web home pages. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,48(2), 218–243. doi:10.1207/s15506878jobem4802_4

Swann,W. B.,Wenzlaff, R. M., Krull, D. S., & Pelham, B.W. (1992). Allure of negative feedback: Self-verification strivings among depressed persons. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 293–306.

Tiggemann, M. (2003). Media exposure, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating: Television andmagazines are not the same!European Eating Disorders Review, 11(5), 418–430. doi:10.1002/erv.502

Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2013a). NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and body image concern inadolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 46(6), 630–633. doi:10.1002/eat.22141

Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2013b). NetTweens: The internet and body image concerns in pre-teenage girls. The Journal of Early Adolescence. doi:10.1177/0272431613501083

Valkenburg, P. M., Jochen, P., & Schouten, A. P. (2006). Friend networking sites and their relation-ship to adolescents’ well-being and social self-esteem. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 9(5), 584–590. doi:10.1089/cpb.2006.9.584

16 S. T. JONG AND M. J. DRUMMOND

Wang, Z., Byrne, N. M., Kenardy, J. A., & Hills, A. P. (2005). Influences of ethnicity and socioeco-nomic status on the body dissatisfaction and eating behaviour of Australian children and ado-lescents. Eating Behaviors, 6(1), 23–33. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2004.05.001

Watkins, S. C. (2009). The young and the digital. What the migration to social-network sites, gamesand anytime, anywhere media means for our future. Boston, MA: Beacon press Books.

Wilksch, S. M., &Wade, T. D. (2009). Reduction of shape and weight concern in young adolescents:A 30-month controlled evaluation of a media literacy program. Journal of the American Academyof Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48(6), 652–661. doi:10.1097/CHI.0b013e3181a1f559

Willett, R. (2008). Consumer citizens online: Structure, agency, and gender in online participation.In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, identity, and digital media (pp. 49–70). London: The MIT Press.

Wilson, R. E., Gosling, S. D., & Graham, L. T. (2012). A review of Facebook research in the socialsciences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(3), 203–220. doi:10.1177/1745691612442904

Wood, K. C., Becker, J. A., & Thompson, J. K. (1996). Body image dissatisfaction in preadolescentchildren. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 85–100. doi:10.1016/S0193-3973(96)90007-6

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF HEALTH, SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 17