Social Media Use and Experiences of Cybervictimization: Links to Six Domains of Youth Well-Being

Given the near ubiquitous use of social media among youth, understanding associations with adolescent development is critical. The present study investigated the relationship between social media use, well-being, and cybervictimization in a sample of young people from New Zealand. A sample of 332 youth aged between 7 and 18 years of age (64.2% female) completed online surveys assessing their social media use, experiences of cybervictimization, well-being, and the mobile phone regulations in place at their school. Youth who used social media reported lower well-being across three domains (physical well-being, emotional well-being, and functioning at school) and were also more likely to have experienced cybervictimization than youth who did not use social media. Examination of effects specific to each platform indicated a unique effect of TikTok on lower school functioning and a unique effect of Snapchat on higher cybervictimization. Finally, phone use at school was associated with a greater frequency of cybervictimization. The results indicate lower well-being and greater risk of cybervictimization among youth who use social media, with differential effects between social media platforms. Findings suggest that student well-being and experiences of cyberbullying could be mitigated through the implementation of regulations at the school-level, such as restricting phone use at school.