Teen Social Media Practices and Perceptions of Peers: Implications for Youth Services Providers and Researchers.

This paper presents the results of an empirical study examining teen social media practices, which was collaboratively developed, carried out, analyzed, and presented by a team of researchers that included seven teens. This co-designed study characterizes the social media use of thirteen teens through a survey, highlighting their complex relationships to technology and their prioritization of learning when online. Further, the results highlight that some teens' assessment of information shared through social media is socially informed, while others rely on preexisting perceptions and beliefs when deciding what to believe on social media. Through the analysis of these findings, the teen researchers who participated in the project had access to opportunities for metacognition and literacy skills development. By connecting the co-designed study and the experiences of the teen researchers, this paper contributes an argument that teens have complex perceptions of their relationships with social media and that collaborative research with teens is achievable and valuable, with direct implications discussed for youth services providers in libraries as well as researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]