'Our results suggest that many early adolescents experience some form of digital stress,' the researchers conclude. Participants indicated that they felt overwhelmed if they received a high number of notifications, and found it difficult to prioritise these. The study also touched on stress caused by receiving too many notifications and messages on their smartphones When it came to handling messages from patents, the teenagers were split in their opinions.įour of the nine focus groups indicated that they would immediately open it and respond to a message from a parent if needed, while three said that they would not respond immediately or would purposefully not open or read a message. However, if it was only an acquaintance, six of the nine focus groups indicated that they would often ignore the message. For example, participants in seven of the nine focus groups indicated that, if it was a good friend, they would respond instantly regardless of what they were doing at the time. This allowed them to send reminders to friends who have received a message but still had not replied.Įxpectations vary depending on who the teenager is messaging. They used these to verify whether someone actually read the message. However, while the 'read-feature' and 'online' features on social media created pressure to promptly respond, youth from five out of nine focus groups indicated that they would not want to live without these features. In all of the nine focus groups, the participants indicated they expected an immediate response if a message had been read, and experienced frustration if they did not receive an immediate reply after their friend read their text messages. These included whether or not the message has been read by the recipient, whether or not they are being 'stalked' for an reply, how concerned they are about avoiding conflict with the person they are messaging, and the urgency of the message itself. The participants identified four main factors that determine whether they expect others to react quickly to their messages, or whether they perceive the need to promptly respond to messages themselves. Researchers from Arizona State University held nine focus group interviews with 51 secondary school students in Belgium between the ages of 13 and 16. The study, published in Elsevier journal Telematics and Informatics, investigated adolescents' feelings of stress within friendships associated with digital media use. 'Their stresses are reinforced by specific social media features, such as "like" buttons and "seen-function", and they can have a serious impact on the relationships with their friends.' 'Our study concludes that many adolescents experience at least one type of digital stress,' said study author Joris Van Ouytsel from Arizona State University. Teenagers who participated in the study reported feeling that they had to be constantly available online, with the 'read' or 'seen' app function creating a pressure to respond to their friends’ messages quickly.Ĭonversely, participants reported that they expected their friends to respond quickly to their own messages, going so far as to 'stalk' friends who were slow to respond by messaging them via a different app. Now a new study has revealed that read receipts may be having a negative effect on the mental health of young teenagers, with researchers identifying a trend they call 'availability stress'. If you have any content to suggest for the Recommended Viewing section, message the mods with a link.For many, WhatsApp's blue ticks are a useful feature that let users know exactly when their message has been read.įor others, however, these so-called 'read receipts' are problematic, putting pressure on the receiver of the message to respond promptly, and creating anxiety for those who are awaiting a reply.Īnd it's not just WhatsApp that has read receipts all of the major social media and messaging apps including Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, iMessage, Google Messenger, Telegram and Signal provide some form of notification that your message has been seen. Interviews with people working in the UK's Creative Industries.
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