Abstract:

For better or for worse, online social networks have become adolescents’ new town square. Teenagers and young adults use SNS technology for various social activities, but most notably for selfpresentation, emotional self-disclosure and frustration ״venting, maintaining and creating social relations and affiliations, and even sharing learning materials. In popular media outlets, the negative effects and danger of SNS usage on teenagers’ social life are often highlighted (e.g., online bullying, sexting, privacy invasions, and procrastination). In the present chapter, we offer a complementary, novel approach for research on the relation between SNS use and psychological well-being: Since teenagers’ online SNS activities are logged and preserved, access to this information allows us to unobtrusively watch, monitor and learn about different facets of adolescents’ social and personal lives. We present first findings of a research program, that specifically focuses on detection of adolescents’ psycho-social distress, based on their SNS activities. We triangulate data obtained from expert judgments, interviews and self-report questionnaires, as well as computerized language processing methods. Finally, we offer a brief review on online counselling psychology and the various venues open to adolescents who seek emotional support via social networks.