Updating Young People's Status: What Young South Australians Say About Their Facebook Use

Young people’s use of social network sites has received significant attention in the media, within the political sphere, and in everyday debates. These views are often negative and inflammatory.

Despite the fears surrounding young people’s social network site use – and allusions to (cyber) bullying, privacy issues, and time wasting – there has been little research that asks young Australians about their use and attitudes toward Facebook.

In early 2013, the Youth Affairs Council of South Australia (YACSA) conducted research with 13-24 year old South Australians to find out about their use of and opinions towards Facebook.

The report highlights that the use of and attitudes towards Facebook are complex and varied. It also found that calls for young people to simply stop using Facebook are over-simplistic and ignore many of the positive aspects that this kind of interaction brings.