We conducted an online survey among 881
Dutch adolescents between 10 and 19 years of age
586 VALKENBURG ET AL.
s
Use of
site H1
Relationships
formed
Tone of
reactions
H2a H2b
H3a H3b
H4
H6
H5
Frequency
of reactions Well-being Social
self-esteem
FIG. 1. Hypothesized model on the relationships among use of friend networking site, social self-esteem, and
well-being.
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who had a profile on the friend networking site
CU2 (“See You Too”); 45% were boys and 55% were
girls (M age = 14.8; SD = 2.7). A profile on CU2 includes
demographic information, a description of
the user and his or her interests, and one or more
pictures. Reactions of other CU2 users to the profiles
are listed at the bottom of each profile (for
more information, see www.cu2.nl).
Upon accessing their profile, members of the site
received a pop-up screen with an invitation to participate
in an online survey. The pop-up screen
stated that the University of Amsterdam conducted
the survey in collaboration with CU2. The adolescents
were informed that their participation would
be voluntary, that they could stop with the questionnaire
whenever they wished, and that their responses
would be anonymous.