A (Private) Public Space - Examining the Use and Impact of Digital and Social Media Among Adolescents in Kenya

As a part of its Voices of Youth Citizens initiative (formerly Digital Citizenship and Safety), the Social and Civic Media Section of UNICEF commissioned InterMedia, along with its research partners, to conduct a study on the impact of digital technologies on young people. Specifically, the study focused on exploring how 152 children, 12 to 17 years old, in Kenya, use social media and other digital technologies, and what impact these technologies have on this group, particularly from the perspective of child rights. The study involved holding digital youth clinics in four locations in Kenya, with children and young people who have access to mobile phones and the internet. It focused on understanding digital behavior, and perceptions of risk and safety among these active, young users of digital and social media. As this was primarily a qualitative study, the findings are not necessarily representative of Kenyan young people at large.