Journalism and Digital Communication

Life In Media Survey

Life in Media Survey

This is the first output related to the Life in Media Survey and is a study of N=1,510 11- to 13-year-olds in Florida, surveyed Nov.-Dec. 2024. It may be the most comprehensive and thorough survey of digital media use and wellness among young adolescents ever conducted. The study covers smartphone ownership and use, social media use, gaming, news consumption, streaming, cyberbullying, depression, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and other topics among a statewide representative sample in Florida. It was conducted by researchers at the ±«Óãtv and the data were collected by The Harris Poll.

featuring the study's lead author is a good summary of the findings.

In the future, the Life in Media Survey will study some 8,000 11- to 13-year-olds nationwide and track the same respondents over the ensuing 25 or so years.

Click here for the full report, or on the cover art below.

To contact the corresponding author, email justindmartin@usf.edu or lifeinmediasurvey@gmail.com.


Full Report | Foreword | Executive Summary & Conclusions | Method & Questionnaire 

Life in Media Survey

Report Authors

Dr. Justin D. Martin, Ph.D.

Justin D. Martin, Ph.D.

(Department of Journalism and Digital Communication, ±«Óãtv)

Dr. Stephen W. Song, Ph.D.

Stephen W. Song, Ph.D.

(Department of Journalism and Digital Communication, ±«Óãtv)

Dr. Wendy Rote, Ph.D.

Wendy M. Rote, Ph.D.

(Department of Psychology, ±«Óãtv) 

(College of Public Health, ±«Óãtv)

Logan T. Rance, M.S.

Logan T. Rance, M.S.

(Department of Journalism and Digital Communication, ±«Óãtv)

Dr. Joshua M. Scacco, Ph.D.

Joshua M. Scacco, Ph.D.

(Department of Communication, ±«Óãtv)

(MediaWise at the Poynter Institute)

News Coverage















Academic Papers

Conference papers 

Rote, W. M., Martin, J. D., & Song, S. W. (2025, forthcoming). Parental mediation of early adolescent media use: Latent profiles and associations with youth adjustment and digital behavior. To be presented at the Digital Media and Developing Minds International Scientific Congress, Washington, D.C., July. 

Song, S. W., Scacco, J. M., McLauchlan, J. S., Rance, L. T. & Martin, J. D. (2025, forthcoming). Household Partisan Composition and Source Credibility Perceptions in Adolescents. To be presented at Assessing Affective Polarization among Young People, hosted by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and Georgetown University’s Civic Education Research Lab, Washington, D.C., April. 

Journal article 

Under review (2025). Anxious adolescents? Digital media use, perceived technological impairment, and internalizing problems among 11- to 13-year-olds.

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