Did you know that a vast majority of girls use Facebook (91%) and MySpace (28%) regularly? Thirty-eight percent have a Twitter account, and girls average eight tweets per day. These facts come from research and an interesting National Survey taken recently called, Who’s That Girl: Self Image in the 21st Century by Girls Scouts USA. The survey talked to 1,000 girls ages 14 – 17 and asked about their online personalities.
A few highlights of the survey were that the majority of girls downplay their positive characteristics online. It was also found that the way girls describe themselves online varies greatly from how they portray themselves online.
In Person:
82% would refer to themselves as smart
76% Refer to themselves as kind
59 % consider themselves to be a good influence
Online:
54 % describe themselves as fun
52 % describe themselves as funny
48 % describe themselves as social
33% of girls with low-esteem admitted to portraying their social network image differently than how they portray themselves in real life. 18% of girls with high self-esteem admitted to the same thing. On the other hand the survey also found "92 percent of girls would give up all of their social networking friends if it meant keeping their best friend."
You should take a look at the entire survey with your own child and use the results to open up a dialogue about social networks. Ask how your child see’s themselves and others online versus in real life. Even if your child doesn’t have an online profile yet, it’s still important to start educating them now on how to navigate themselves online.
