Mapping Stakeholder Perspectives on Children's Online Lives on Twitter Using Social Network Analysis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student of communication ،Allameh Tabataba'i university،Tehran ،Iran

2 Full Professor, Faculty of Communication Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University،Tehran

Abstract
The pervasive use of technology among children and adolescents has made issues related to their digital life a new public concern. This issue has engaged various stakeholders including parents, educators, child rights advocates, technology companies, and policymakers. Each of these stakeholders has its own perspectives and concerns about cyberspace and how to govern it. This study aims at identifying the main stakeholders in the cyberspace policy for children and adolescents as well as to identify the uncertainties that affect policymaking in this area. To this end, the content of 356,210 tweets in the 8 months leading up to August 2023 was analyzed using content analysis and social network analysis methods.
The results show that there are 5 main stakeholder groups in cyberspace for children and adolescents: parents, educators, child rights advocates, technology companies, and policymakers. These stakeholders engage in dialogue with each other on 6 main topics: access to educational resources, global communication, creativity and self-expression, digital literacy and skills, cyberbullying and harassment, privacy risks, and digital addiction and mental health.
This study identified three pairs of influential policy uncertainties, each of which was favored by one or more stakeholder groups: the uncertainty of global governance advocates versus local governance advocates, the uncertainty of open access to information advocates versus information security advocates, and the uncertainty of free market advocates versus government intervention advocates. The diversity of stakeholders and their views on cyberspace is a major challenge for policymakers. Policymakers must seek ways to balance the interests and concerns of different stakeholders while taking this diversity into account.
 

Keywords


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Volume 17, Issue 3
Special Issue: Social Network Analysis
Autumn 2023
Pages 5-32

  • Receive Date 13 September 2023
  • Revise Date 09 March 2024
  • Accept Date 10 March 2024
  • First Publish Date 10 March 2024
  • Publish Date 23 September 2023