Unfiltered research report

Authenticity, belonging and connection in young people’s digital wellbeing

This report, supported by TikTok, explores what young people and parents think about the concepts of authenticity, belonging and connection in their online lives, and how these feelings can be supported – by online platforms and more broadly.

DOWNLOAD REPORT (ENGLISH)

A group of people using their smartphones in a circle.

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Research background

Young people grapple with a great deal of social and emotional change in the teenage years: they are working out who they are, how to identify and manage their emotions and developing a sense of how they fit into wider peer groups. Inevitably, given the importance of technology in modern life, some of these changes play out in online spaces.

So, if young people are to be supported through the ups and downs of adolescence, it is critical to understand how online platforms influence their development.

Key findings

Authenticity

Authenticity was understood to mean being honest online. This was associated with sharing a full range of life experiences, including those which were not always perfect, rather than just the more positive moments. Some raised the specific issue of images, and identified authenticity online with showing one’s true physical self, without filters or editing.

Belonging and connection

Belonging and connecting online was associated by young people and parents with the ways that the online environment allowed them to belong to online friendship groups, and to make new connections, often centred around shared interests and activities.

Read the full report

Read a translated version

This report’s research was conducted with the help of teens and parents from different countries. As such, the below translations of the report are available in Indonesian, Dutch, Swedish and German in addition to the above English.

Indonesian

Dutch

Swedish

German

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