News | Topic: Social Media

Q+A: The Secret Lives of Teens Online

Christianity Today interviews author Nancy Jo Sales are her new book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers. Read the interview here.

Snapchat Account Provides Free Counseling For Teens in Abusive Relationships

Snapchat, the photo-message app that has quickly become mainstream not only for teens but big brands as well, now features an account created to help teens in abusive relationships. Because Snapchat offers a social platform with a lot of privacy, it’s an avenue for teens to receive counseling without their significant others being able to look at their social profiles.

Read the article here. 

Social Media Can Leave Young Girls Vulnerable

A new book called “American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers” examines how easy it is for predators to befriend girls online.

The publication comes following a case in Virginia where two college students are charged with the murder of a young girl one of them had met online.

Read the article here.

Tinder and Hook Up Apps Blamed for Rise in STDs

A recent uptick in STD cases follows the growing popularity over the last few years of hook up apps like Tinder, which tend to create more opportunities for casual and anonymous sexual encounters.

Read the article here. 

Parents Unaware of Popular Teen Secret-Posting App

The After School App allows teens to post secrets about their classmates, but like similar apps has dissolved into a platform for bullying.

Read the article here.

Number of Victims of Revenge Porn Strikingly High

Over the last six months, 175 people have come forward in England and Wales to report they are victims of revenge porn.

Read the article here.

‘Coming Out’ Numbers Show Many Are Revealing Sexuality on Facebook

The rate of individuals announcing their change in sexuality is three times that of a year ago, according to Facebook.

Read the article here.

Half of Images on Pedo Sites Stolen From Social Media

A new study from Australia reports that up to half of the images of children shared on pedophile websites originally came from social media. Read the article here.

L.A. Schools Want Kids to Think Before They Sext

Educators, an attorney and a police officer lay out the consequences of sexting – public humiliation, loss of educational and job opportunities, possible criminal violations — and hammer home a message: Think twice. What you do now matters later,

Read the full article here.

MTV and Trojan Keep Up Relevancy of Sex Ed Campaign With YouTube

Trojan and MTV hope to keep the ongoing sex education awareness campaign relevant for the target audience by rolling out a new approach featuring YouTube personality Laci Green.

Read the article here.

How A Dating App Hookup Landed A Teen On The Sex Offender Registry

An Indiana teenager was placed on the sex offender registry after meeting an underage girl on the Internet, who lied about her age, and then having sex with her.

Read the article here.

Social Media Linked to Divorce (Again)

Another survey from a British law firm cites social media as a frequently mentioned contributing factor in a disturbing number of divorce cases. Read the article here.

Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015

A majority of teens report access to a computer, game console, smartphone and a tablet.

Read the full research report (and download the full .pdf version) from Pew Research Center here.