Youth 2.0: Social Media and Adolescence

This book grasps the duality between opportunities and risks which arise from children’s and adolescents’ social media use. It investigates the following main themes, from a multidisciplinary perspective: identity, privacy, risks and empowerment. Social media have become an integral part of young people’s lives. While social media offer adolescents opportunities for identity and relational development, adolescents might also be confronted with some threats. The first part of this book deals with how young people use social media to express their developing identity. The second part revolves around the disclosure of personal information on social network sites, and concentrates on the tension between online self-disclosure and privacy. The final part deepens specific online risks young people are confronted with and suggests solutions by describing how children and adolescents can be empowered to cope with online risks. By emphasizing these different, but intertwined topics, this book provides a unique overview of research resulting from different academic disciplines such as Communication Studies, Education, Psychology and Law. The outstanding researchers that contribute to the different chapters apply relevant theories, report on topical research, discuss practical solutions and reveal important emerging issues that could lead future research agendas.

Michel Walrave is a professor at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Antwerp. He is responsible for the research group MIOS which conducts research on, amongst others, young people's uses of digital technologies. His research is centered around online self-disclosure and privacy. He investigates adolescents’ and adults’ online disclosure of personal information to companies and in interpersonal communication.

Koen Ponnet is an assistant professor and researcher at the University of Antwerp and the Higher Institute for Family Sciences (Odisee). His main research interests are the determinants of risk and problem behaviour of adolescents and adults, both off-line and on-line. In his research he pays attention to the situation of vulnerable groups, like those who are at risk of Poverty.
Ellen Vanderhoven obtained a PhD in Educational Sciences at Ghent University and currently works as a senior researcher at iMinds-MICT, a research group at the Department of Communication Studies at Ghent University. She specialises in research concerning both education about technology (media literacy) and technology for education (educational technology). In both domains, her expertise lies in the design of educational materials, including evaluation studies in authentic classroom settings.
Jacques Haers SJ studied mathematics (Catholic University of Leuven), philosophy (Catholic University of Leuven; Hochschule für Philosophie, München) and theology (Catholic University of Leuven; Oxford University). He is a professor of systematic theology and liberation theologies at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies (Catholic University of Leuven), where he also chairs the Centre for Liberation Theologies. He also heads the University Parish at the Catholic University of Leuven. 
Barbara Segaert holds a master diploma in Oriental Studies, Islamic Studies and Arab Philology (Catholic University of Leuven), Belgium and a master in the Social Sciences (Open University), UK. Since 2002 she is scientific coordinator at the University Centre Saint Ignatius Antwerp where she develops academic programmes on various topics of relevance to contemporary society.