Relationships
What is Context ?
How young people experience life online
Types of online technology children and young people use to form and manage relationships include:
- social media
- messaging apps and text
- online video-messaging
- online streaming
- web chat and forums
- online games
- online dating platforms
- online marketplaces
Sometimes the role of technology in relationships, or the reasons for it, can be harder to spot.
Technology can help people develop relationships where no other person is involved. This can include:
- parasocial (one-way) relationships with celebrities or fictional characters
- friendships with artificial intelligence chatbots
- romantic relationships with artificial intelligence chatbots
Technology can also be used to control, manipulate, or coerce children and young people.
Motivations and risks
Risks
There are online risks associated with forming and managing romantic relationships. This could be:
Managing family relationships and tech can also provide opportunities for risk.
There are online risks associated with child sexual abuse and the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material, including:
Risks are also associated with harmful online behaviours with friends and peers like:
Criminal online behaviours may lead to risks like:
Motivations
Reasons children and young people use tech to manage relationships include:
- staying in touch with family and friends
- meeting new people and romantic partners
- meeting people in different countries or locations
- joining communities they identify with
- sharing views and opinions
- to express themselves
- to play
- to buy, sell or trade
- to collaborate
- to learn
Technology can help children and young people form and develop relationships easily, privately, and with fewer boundaries than they may experience offline. Relationships can be formed out of sight of others, such as family, peers, or authorities. There can be risks and harms associated with this.
Technology can play a positive role in a child or young person’s relationships. It could help a young person to:
- socialise and access entertainment
- develop skills and hobbies
- meet and connect with new people
- access emotional and mental health support
- develop romantic and sexual relationships
- experience happiness and wellbeing
- boost their confidence and self-esteem
Young people’s voice
Young people’s experience of the context
What are the risks for young people experiencing or engaging with this online?
The risks are having not good enough knowledge about what you're doing or the risk could be meeting someone that's not who they say they are. You could meet someone who is 35 but will portray as the same age as you, the same gender as you. They could be different genders and they could talk to you about things that you may not feel comfortable with, but you'll keep talking to them because you'll have built up a conversation over time, which would then lead you to, you know, trust them. When in reality you can't.
Backpack Youth Advisors: Relationships 22/11/23
There’s a lot of negativity surrounding online relationships and social media, erm, which is, it’s true, it can be pretty awful, but I think if children are educated properly, and instead of scaring them away, sort of... Just sort of say, “It’s okay, but please be really, really careful, talk to someone you trust, talk to a teacher,” you know, because it can be amazing.
A research project exploring young people’s use of technology in their romantic relationships and love lives. Brook & CEOP 2017
Where young people explore relationships online
Read more about relationships
Share your experience with regards to relationships and technology
You can tell us about:
- other terms you might have heard
- conversations you’ve had with young people
- a related platform or app
- another related risk or harm