Street Children and Social Media: Identity Construction in the Digital Age

Street children’s social media profiles and posts reveal their understanding of Facebook affordances, comprising risk and opportunity. Street children and youth are keen users of Facebook, although their use patterns have been poorly studied around the globe. To select Bolivian street children’s Facebook profiles there was first an exploratory search to see which of the first author’s street-connected friends had an active profile. Social media allow children living on the street free virtual participation to vindicate, to amplify, and to edit their story so that their strength and capacity for self-improvement can be acknowledged by a broader audience than they can reach through their offline interactions. Attempts to make Facebook audiences think that they are more than street children were widespread. Street children’s rights continue to be at risk in the digital environment and, therefore, awareness of their social media participation is fundamental.