Alcohol and social media: drinking and drunkenness while online
Our New Zealand-based research provides new insights, drawn from focus group and interview data gathered from 18- to 25-year-olds, about how alcohol use and technology converge in drinking and drunkenness while online. Alcohol consumption is a key source of harm and damage to population
health, particularly for young people whose engagement with web-based communications may be exacerbating problems. Participants’ talk around alcohol and SNS use is complex, with expressions of caution and regret, juxtaposed with accounts of fun, excitement and pleasure. Sharing, narration
and elaboration of experiences of alcohol use online reinforce the social nature of risky drinking practices. The interface of social media and alcohol use is attracting novel forms of alcohol marketing that penetrates virtual and offline spaces, undermining conventional public health policies,
approaches and tools for reducing population-level alcohol consumption.
Keywords: alcohol; intoxication; social media; social networking systems; young people
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Whariki Research Group, SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, School of Public Health, Auckland, New Zealand 2: School of English and Media Studies, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand 3: School of Psychology, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand 4: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, UK 5: Institute of Criminology, School of Social & Cultural Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Publication date: 01 January 2016
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