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August 13, 2026Journal of Health Psychology

Becoming a “critical” social media user: Young women’s discursive negotiations of responsibility within public health discourses

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Authors

EREileen J. RabelUniversity of LausanneNCNilima ChowdhuryUniversity of LausanneALAntonia C. LyonsUniversity of Auckland

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Overview

Qualitative analysis reveals young women's positions in health discourses on social media, indicating new norms for responsibility.

Key Points

  • This article examines how young women navigate public health discourses regarding social media use. It aims to identify the subject positions they adopt concerning their digital engagement.
  • Qualitative study involving interviews with 18 young women who are regular social media users.
  • Application of critical discursive psychology and health psychology to analyze participants' narratives.
  • Identification of subject positions: guilty user, experienced user, and reflexive user.
  • Young women construct three main subject positions that reflect their engagement with social media and public health discourses.
  • The discourses emphasize individual responsibility and moral engagement shaped by neoliberal and postfeminist ideologies.
  • Results suggest the emergence of a normative ideal of critically aware social media users, contributing to neoliberal governance.

Cite This Study

Rabel et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7d76aa2b0e0cff3f6403d9https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053261473253
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1‘If you’re not careful, it can be toxic’: young women’s accounts of ‘healthy’ social media use and wellbeing2026
  2. 2Posting back at patriarchy: How young women negotiate risk and gendered expectations in online spaces2026
  3. 3Youth in the Stream: Digital Media, Self-Regulation, and the Responsibility of Society2026
  4. 4Reframing ‘vulnerability’ to digital harms: adolescent boys and young men navigating responsible digital citizenship2026
  5. 5‘It was too much technology … I chucked my laptop across the room': young women, networked affect and the positivity imperative2024 · 2 citations