OVERVIEW
I conducted year-long research on adolescents' relationships with personal technology in partnership with a Google Hardware UX Lead. I first authored a journal paper which resulted in publication in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The paper aims to inform future tech product design and policies to support adolescents' well-being.
Citation: Jee M, Khan A, Nazneen N. Understanding Adolescents' Perceptions and Aspirations Towards Their Relationship With Personal Technology: Survey Study. JMIR Form Res. 2021 Dec 23;5(12):e27852. doi: 10.2196/27852. PMID: 34941556; PMCID: PMC8738985.
👩💻 Type: Research
💡 Role: First Author
🗓️ Timeline: Feb 2021 - January 2022
MOTIVATION
During my high school years, I witnessed firsthand the paradoxical impact of technology on my peer group. On one hand, social media provided a venue for teens to build community, express themselves creatively, and mobilize around shared causes. On the other hand, I witnessed the decline in health of those around me suffering addiction to their devices, while resenting the loss of focus and freedom.
Witnessing how the same technology could have both beneficial and harmful effects sparked a curiosity within me to dive deeper into this complex dichotomy.
PROCESS
I determined a survey would efficiently gather self-reported data from many adolescents - especially important given COVID-19 restrictions. An anonymous online survey would enable adolescents to honestly share their relationships with personal devices without bias. I provided a standardized format and randomized answer choices to reduce potential skew in the results. This survey was deployed through different social media platforms to a diverse range of adolescents and collected 621 participants.
Survey Design
The survey included 3 main questions that were designed to analyze adolescents’ perceptions of their own personal technology (lens 1: adolescents as users) versus the opinion of adolescents of their parents, siblings, and friends' use (lens 2: adolescents as bystanders) and to identify the type of relationship they desire to have with their technology (lens 3: aspirational). Our 3-lens approach captured a more holistic understanding of adolescents’ attitudes and perspectives towards personal technology.
The following questions were carefully included in the survey:
Q1. Choose 3 options that best describe the relationship between you and your personal technology.
Descriptors: Creates barrier, Enabler, Overwhelming, It’s just a tool, Empowering, Private, Addictive, Essential, Distractive, Hurtful, Provides an escape, Emotional, Other
Q2. Choose 3 options that you think best describe the relationship between your parents, siblings, or friends and their personal technology.
Descriptors: Creates barrier, Enabler, Overwhelming, It’s just a tool, Empowering, Private, Addictive, Essential, Distractive, Hurtful, Provides an escape, Emotional, Other
Q3. What persona would you wish your personal technology to match the most with?
Response Options: I don't believe in personal connection with mobile technology, My best friend, My twin sibling, My personal assistant, My coach/mentor, Other
Descriptor Selection Process
To determine a list of descriptors for Q1 and Q2, I initiated 3 rounds. In the first round, I collected a list of descriptors to be used as a general guideline to develop a larger list of descriptors. In round 2, I expanded this list by drawing descriptors from prior literature across positive, negative, and neutral associations to ensure a full spectrum. In round 3, I further validated the descriptors and had the adolescents categorize them. This meticulous selection process yielded a holistic, unbiased set of descriptors.
For Q3, were based on trusted relationships (eg, best friends, siblings), exciting technology offerings (eg, personal assistant Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant), and coach or mentors (eg, learning and fitness apps).
KEY FINDINGS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
• Novel 3-lens approach
• The top 3 selected descriptors that adolescents chose to describe their own relationship with technology were “Distractive,” “Essential,” and “Provides an escape.”
• The top 3 selected descriptors that adolescents chose to describe others' (parents, siblings, friends) relationship with technology were “Essential,” “Distractive,” and “Addictive.”
• There was both alignment and mismatch between adolescents’ perceptions of their own versus others' relationship with personal technology.
• Adolescents' aspirations for their relationship with their personal technology varied across ages: 13 to 15- year olds' top choice was “best friend”, 16 to 17-year olds’ top choice was “I don't believe in personal connection with mobile technology,” and 18 to 19-year olds’ top choice was “My personal assistant.”
FEEDBACK
"I think that this paper in principle addresses an important, and very timely matter in the field of social media use and wellbeing research. Overall, the paper is well written." — Reviewer #1
"I am very impressed that this is the product of high school students, and applaud their effort in pulling together this very interesting paper." — Reviewer #2
"I commend the authors for the care that was taken and the procedure that was implemented in determining and selecting answer categories for the questions." — Reviewer #3
NEXT STEPS
In the follow-up research, we will conduct a series of focus groups with adolescents of different ages. We will focus on understanding the rationale behind adolescents’ perception of technology relationships and validate the findings from this study.