Call for Papers:

From Adolescence and Adulthood: Uncovering Youths’ digital practices in a continuously changing world
Media International Australia Journal Special Issue
https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/CfP%20From%20Adolescence%20and%20Adulthood_Q2%202026-1744054262703.pdf

Editing team: Bruce Mutsvairo, Moa Eriksson Krutrök and Tanja Bosch

Deadline for full draft submissions: July 31, 2025

Research on the appropriation of digital platforms and their impact has grown rapidly over the last two decades. Although research on digital platforms has expanded, there remains a gap in understanding how young adults specifically navigate, appropriate, and experience digital technologies. In recent research, only a few of these studies have taken a special interest in the use of digital technology among the youth, particularly those considered to be young adults (see Van der Waal et al., 2024; Mohamed et al., 2024; Montag et al., 2024). Given the rapid evolution of the digital landscape, it is crucial to examine these shifts, particularly in relation to youth digital practices. This themed issue offers a timely platform for scholarly engagement with the critical digital issues that shape young people’s lives in a fast-changing world.

Technological use has far-reaching consequences for young people. Globally, youth are leveraging social media to express themselves, connect with like-minded communities, and forge their individual identities (Wilska, 2023). These platforms also serve as a key source for staying informed about current events (Wunderlich et al., 2022) and fostering a sense of belonging (Smith & Anandavalli, 2021). On the downside, social media exposes young people to cyberbullying and could trigger severe mental health problems. Digital platforms also influence youths’ purchasing culture, with influencers playing an all-important role in shaping their decision-making. The need for novel insights into youths’ digital practices becomes more relevant when considering how young people embrace technological changes in this fast-moving tech world.

Accordingly, this special issue focuses on the global mapping of youths’ online landscape. More specifically, we seek to understand how young adults, including those from indigenous communities are addressing the digital media pressures of today. We invite both theoretical and empirical papers that explore a wide range of questions, including:

• Which social media or other digital platforms do youth engage with, and how and why do they access these technologies? What are the impacts of their usage?
• How are young adults using social media and for what purposes? Which platform affordances and/or sociotechnical conditions shape their communication and interaction?
• How are young people from different cultural and societal contexts using digital
• platforms to drive positive social, political, and economic change?
• Are digital platforms enhancing youth engagement in civic participation and public discourse?
• What are the dominant social media platforms used by youth, and what drives their platform preferences?
• How do youth’s online worlds co-exist with their offline everyday lives, and how do youth relate to possible discrepancies?
• What digital skills are necessary for youth from diverse societies to effectively participate online, and what are the consequences for those who lack these skills?
• What challenges do young people face in their use of online platforms, and how do these challenges vary across different contexts?

The editing team welcomes full draft submissions until July 31, 2025 by email to b.mutsvairo@uu.nl. The guest editors will read drafts and provide feedback,

ultimately inviting shortlisted papers to be submitted to MIA for double blind peer review by November 30, 2025. The eventual publication of this issue is expected in Q2 2026.

References

Mohamed, T. I., Zhran, A. R., Osman, N. A. Q., & Badr, A. N. (2024). The role of social media in enhancing adolescents’ digital life quality- survey study in the UAE. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 29(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2024.2358081

Montag, C., Demetrovics, Z., Elhai, J. D., Grant, D., Koning, I., Rumpf, H. J., M. Spada, M., Throuvala, M., & van den Eijnden, R. (2024). Problematic social media use in childhood and adolescence. Addictive Behaviors, 153, 1-6. Article 107980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.107980

Smith, D., Leonis, T., & Anandavalli, S. (2021). Belonging and loneliness in cyberspace: impacts of social media on adolescents’ well-being. Australian Journal of Psychology. 73(1), 12–23.

van der Wal, A., Valkenburg, P. M., & van Driel, I. I. (2024). In Their Own Words: How Adolescents Use Social Media and How It Affects Them. Social Media + Society, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241248591

Wilska, T.-A., Holkkola, M., & Tuominen, J. (2023). The Role of Social Media in the Creation of Young People’s Consumer Identities. Sage Open. 13(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231177030

Wunderlich, L., Hölig, S., & Hasebrink, U. (2022). Does Journalism Still Matter? The Role of Journalistic and non-Journalistic Sources in Young Peoples’ News Related

Practices. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 27(3), 569-588. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211072547