AWeSome II aimed to further our understanding of adolescents’ social media experiences. In this project, we investigated, for example, how adolescents experience scrolling, posting, and interacting on social media, what makes them happy or sad while using social media, and whether their specific social media experiences affect their well-being, self-esteem, and friendship closeness.
The data collection of Project AWeSome II took place from December 2022 to August 2024, during which 480 Dutch were intensively followed. The project consists of five subsequent phases:
A qualitative intake interview (Jan 2023)
A baseline survey (Jan 2023)
A 100-day daily diary study (Jan-May 2023)
An optional online exit interview (May-June 2023)
AWeSome III is a large scale data donation project, where a sub-sample of 102 adolescents that participated in AWeSome II donated their TikTok archives, including millions of videos. The current TikTok data donation study took place from May 14 to November 14, 2024, and was a collaborative effort with adolescents.
Currently, we are working on analyzing the TikTok data to gain a better understanding of the content adolescents' encounter on the platform. Next, we will link these findings to the data gathered as part of Project AWeSome II, so that we can examine how exposure to particular types of content may affect adolecents' well-being.
For insights based on our baseline questionnaire, see our report: Through Teens’ Eyes: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Social Media.
