A nuanced, intimate picture of how young people live with and on social media.
Today's young people find themselves at the center of widespread debates about their online safety, and they are often told that social media platforms affect their mental health and body image by exposing them to cyberbullying and distressing images. Foregrounding their voices and experiences, The Kids Are Online explores how they navigate their identities across platforms and how they really feel about their young digital lives.
Ysabel Gerrard talked to more than a hundred teens to unpack the myths and realities of their social media use. Instead of framing today's big platforms as either good or bad, she identifies moments when young people encounter social apps in paradoxical ways—both good and bad at the same time. Using the concepts of stigma, secrecy, safety, and social comparison, she helps readers understand young people's experiences. The Kids Are Online proposes a series of recommendations for parents, families, schools, technology companies, and policymakers to imagine how we might build safer social media systems.
Ysabel Gerrard is Senior Lecturer in Digital Communication at the University of Sheffield. Alongside her academic writing, she has published in The Guardian, WIRED, and VICE.
"While conversations about young people and technology are drawn into unhelpful binaries and polarizations, Ysabel Gerrard listens carefully to young people's voices and experiences, drawing our attention to intriguing puzzles and paradoxes. A must-read for scholars, policymakers, parents, educators, and anyone with an interest in technology and society."—Ranjana Das, author of Parents Talking Algorithms: Navigating Datafication and Family Life in Digital Societies
"In this adept and delightful book, Gerrard escapes simplistic binaries to explore young people's experiences of social media as a central but messily complex part of their lives. While children's rights and mental health are endlessly debated by adults, The Kids Are Online amplifies young voices and reveals their platformed lives."—Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin University
"With great integrity and compassion, Gerrard navigates a minefield of concerns to show how the benefits and threats of young people's social media use entwine. Everyone in a position to give advice or make rules would benefit from reading this book."—Katrin Tiidenberg, author of Selfies: Why We Love (and Hate) Them
"Gerrard offers a fresh approach to help us navigate complex discussions about youth and social media. With care and clarity, The Kids Are Online shows that we can—and indeed must—embrace the nuance of social media."—Brooke Erin Duffy, author of (Not) Getting Paid To Do What You Love: Gender and Aspirational Labor in the Social Media Economy
"Transcending binaries of value or blame, this compelling book invites us to embrace the paradox of young people's commitment to the very platforms that may hurt them as we imagine a better digital future."—Sonia Livingstone, Director, Digital Futures for Children research center, London School of Economics
312 pp.5.5 x 8.5Illus: 5 b/w illustrations, 2 tables
9780520416093$27.95|£24.00Paper
Mar 2025