The present paper provides empirical data to support the use of social media as research environment. YouTube was chosen as a most appropriate format to target adolescents in experimental and cross-sectional designs given its popularity as well as its plasticity. We uniquely applied the YouTube format as (a) an environment to present manipulated media materials in controlled experimental designs; (b) an environment to study effects of peer feedback on various media contents; (c) a format to design a media-based questionnaire, specifically, the Media, Morals and Youth Questionnaire (MMaYQue). Various studies have been conducted that demonstrate the appropriateness of our YouTube transformations for each of these three purposes. The focus in the present paper is on the methodology of these studies to illustrate how we effectively transformed YouTube as a research tool.

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Adolescence is an important developmental stage during which both peers and the media have a strong influence. Both peer rejection and the use of morally adverse media are associated with negative developmental outcomes. This study examines processes by which peer rejection might drive adolescents to select antisocial media content by tying together developmental research on peer rejection and research on media effects. Assumed underlying mechanisms are rejection-based anger and frustration and the adolescent's moral judgment. A between-participants experimental design manipulated peer rejection versus acceptance in adolescents (Mage = 13.88 years; N = 74) and young adults (Mage = 21.37 years; N = 75), applying the Cyberball paradigm. Measures included the State Anger Inventory (STAXI) to assess feelings of rejection and the newly devised Media, Morals, and Youth Questionnaire (MMaYQue) to assess media preferences and moral judgment of media content. Using bootstrapping analyses, a double mediation was established: Higher levels of state anger in peer-rejected adolescents induced more tolerable moral judgments of antisocial media content, subsequently instigating a preference for antisocial media content. In contrast, the young adult sample showed no relations between peer rejection and antisocial media preference. Results are discussed within a downward spiral framework of combined peer and media influences.

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