How Social Media Exacerbates Teen Dating Violence

An overwhelming majority of teens around the world use social media. And, while social media is not inherently bad (in fact, a lot of organizations use it to promote their goals and ask for donations), too often we find that more and more teens are dying by suicide each year. As teens become more skilled at using social media, and as new apps are released by tech gurus, teens will also use apps for dating purposes. Even the most sheltered of teenagers might still find a way to tap into the world of online dating, Snapchatting or other communication means. In fact, these apps are increasingly being used as a means of power, control and abuse. For teens, this means they are much more susceptible to dating violence and predatory behavior from pedophiles.

Social Media: Always Connected

When social media took the world by storm in the mid - late 2000s, no one expected it to get as large as it did. In fact, after Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were introduced in the mid 2010s, the dynamic changed. Each generation of social media users tends to prefer certain apps over others, and the etiquette between the platforms varies as much as the users do. While a majority of Generation X’ers and older prefer the simplicity of Facebook, a large portion of Generation Z’ers prefer Snapchat and newer platforms, such as TikTok. (If these apps make no sense to you, that’s okay! Use a quick Google search to find out some information about the apps and how they work)

With this consistent connection comes new protocol in relationships. Couples can not only tell the world about their dates and major life events (such as engagements, weddings and pregnancy), but they can also broadcast their struggles to the world. Due to the ‘block-and-unblock’ culture of social media, individuals can easily remove someone from their lives without needing to do much else but click a button.

But, this connection comes with a price. Consistent connection means that your every move can be followed by your followers - they’re literally called your followers. If you don’t post in a certain amount of time, the platforms will message you to remind you that your followers haven’t heard from you. Some apps will send you a notification if one of your followers posts/tweets that day. This leads to a dependence on internet interaction, including monitoring likes, comments and tags for different posts.

Teens & Technology

Because today’s teens have grown up in the time where technology is the most accessible, most of them have perfected the internet and user apps in ways that we cannot imagine. Almost all teens have access to smartphones, and an overwhelming majority use them everyday, according to the Pew Research Center. Teens are proficient in a variety of technological aspects - most of this comes from the creation of memes. Ironically, teens during the early 2000s did the same types of things on the internet creation wise. MySpace was largely used by teens and young adults between 2005 - 2008, especially in the area of music promotion (but, of course, experienced a huge decline once Facebook opened its doors to non-college users). Those teens and young adults are now over the age of 27, but their impact on the internet has transcended to teens now.

Today, teens all over the world prefer to use Youtube, Instagram, and (most recently) TikTok. However, this ever-evolving world of apps and global connection presents a problem for teens who are in relationships. With the right combination of abusive behavior and toxic manipulation, teens can use their technology to harm their peers.

Teen Dating Violence & Social Media

While some teens don’t date during their adolescent years, others do - and their experiences are not always the same. Many adults categorize teen relationships as childish, not recognizing the impact that teen relationships have on adult behavior later in life. For many teens, the experiences they have in their teen relationships directly affect their opinions on dating in the adult world, and, if gone unchecked, can traumatize them for the future.

Teen Dating Violence, which occurs to an overwhelming majority of teens, does not always manifest itself in physical abuse. In fact, much teen dating violence occurs more covertly through emotional and mental abuse. In the world of social media, where teens are consistently connected to each other through a variety of means, there are plenty of ways they can behave toxically and abusively to their significant others. This includes following locations on the SnapMap, over-texting when not receiving responses or creating multiple Finstas to ‘keep track of’ or ‘test’ a SO to ‘check’ for cheating. These behaviors, while not necessarily abusive in the legal sense, are toxic and have the potential to lead into something much more aggravated.

These behaviors aren’t uncommon. In fact, even six years ago, teens were reporting manipulative behavior through text messaging. For all intensive purposes, professionals in the domestic violence advocacy field categorize these behaviors as Teen Dating Violence. The toxic actions committed by one SO can negatively affect the other - teens who are constantly having to focus on making their SO happy might stop doing well in school, lose weight or have other physical ailments as a result of stress.

Even worse, some apps are designed to perpetuate dating violence. A recent survey conducted by NortonLifeLock indicates that some apps will change their branding after they’re labeled as Stalkerware. Yes, that’s right - malware that specifically serves to stalk individuals’ internet usage has been deemed Stalkerware. These apps, which might seem comical at first, are actually used by abusive partners to track movements and interactions of their significant other.

Using Social Media to Catch Abusers

While it might seem like social media is all bad, there are some positives to it. With social media, individuals can ‘out’ their abusers by posting screenshots of messaging for others to see (and the private messaging/comment spamming that follows can be retribution enough) and law enforcement can track app usage through IP addresses and other technical information. Even though many people use social media to harm others, organizations and government entities are fighting back with the same tools used to hurt.