The digital lives of young people in Bodø

The analysis of young people's digital lives was carried out by combining two methods: qualitative interviews with young people in Bodø between the ages of 13 and 19, and a netnographic study of TikTok and Instagram.

The main findings of the report are

#1 - Young people in Bodø are largely exposed to hate speech, bullying and extreme content on social media.

#2 - Abuse and bullying mostly take place in private or closed communities, while a lot of extreme content is freely available on both TikTok and Instagram.

#3 - Social media increases the pressure on vulnerable groups in Bodø, especially the Sami, queers and people with an immigrant background.

#4 - Many people have developed a normalised relationship with extreme content, and few feel they can do anything about it. This may be because there is so much extreme content that they give up beforehand.

#5 - Young people rarely turn to adults, such as parents or school, when they experience digital abuse. They believe that adults will not understand or they are afraid of how they will react.

The analysis was carried out in collaboration with Common Consultancy for Bodø Municipality as part of the Nordic Safe Cities Trygg Digital By projects. The project was carried out with support from the Gjensidige Foundation.