“I Don’t Want to Be Bad Mommy,but I Also Don’t Want to Be the Bad Mom”: How Mothers Story Their Experiences Navigating Social Media with Their Children

Abstract

Social media use by adolescents can influence their health, and therefore, parents are encouraged to mediate and monitor their children’s social media. Given that mothers are more likely to do so, this study uses narrative methodology to explore mothers’ lived experiences navigating social media with their adolescent children. In-depth interviews were conducted with mothers whose children use social media. The interview guides were informed by parental mediation theory and constructs related to mothering, such as intensive mothering and good mothering. The themes reveal a tension that many mothers experience using technology as protection. Many mothers initially agree to let their children use social media to protect them; however, in turn, mothers must employ protection from technology to safeguard their children from risk. This process is storied by mothers as a reflection of their role and pressure to protect not only their children but also their status as a “good mom.”