Protecting Preteens on Facebook: An Exploratory Examination of Parental Mediation Strategies for Children’s Facebook Use in Singapore

Abstract

Children are particularly vulnerable to the risks of going online, yet the profile of the child Internet user is becoming younger, particularly on social media. Parental mediation describes efforts by parents to translate the complexities of the physical/social environment as well as mass media into terms that children at various levels of cognitive development can understand. This exploratory study examined parental mediation strategies as predictors of parents’ intention to control underage use of Facebook in Singapore, a country with high internet penetration but little data protection regulation. The study found that parents with mediation styles that were highest on Regulated mediation (Restrictive and Selective mediation) as well as parents whose eldest child was female showed the highest level of intentions to control underage Facebook usage. Additionally, the younger the age group of the eldest child in the family, the more likely parents were to express intentions to control Facebook usage.