Adolescents’ Blogs and Social Networking Profiles

Out of all teenagers online, fifty-five percent of them use and create online social networking profiles (Williams, Merten, 2008). The notion of blogging among adolescents, and the way they socially interact, becomes a significant research topic since more than half of teenage Internet users are interacting online. This research may also lead into what potential effects this phenomena may have on other components of their lives.

Social networking profiles among adolescents are important and useful research tools because they are filled with information voluntarily posted by the individuals about themselves. These profiles are filled with personal thoughts, feelings, beliefs, likes or dislikes, activities, and much more personal information. Most of the time it is put in a public area with unlimited access for anyone (with Internet connection) to read. The author or the blog or individual who created the profile gets to choose the amount of personal information it contains. For social scientists blogs and social networking profiles allow for unobtrusive observations of realistic human behaviors and interactions with no actual contact or intrusion (Williams, Merten, 2008).

Within adolescent blogs and profiles you can find information surrounding their everyday lives and what they do on a daily basis. For some adolescents you know what they are doing all day long, as they do it (Williams, Merten, 2008). They tend to document whatever they choose to disclose about themselves, which then allows them to interact with others as they post comments or respond back.

There are many themes that surround adolescent blogs and profiles. Some of these themes are romantic relationships, friends, conflicts, school, popular culture, sexuality, parents, substance use, self-expression, depression, and self harm (Mazur, 2005). Social networking sites, profiles, and blogs seem to have become the new standard form of communication between adolescents, as compared to cell phones, email, or instant messaging (Mee, 2006).

Mazur (2005) found a few differences between blogging (or posting to social networking sites) and other forms of communication. One is that they are more easily accessible, at any time and any location. Two is that they leave a trail of observable dialogue that can be printed or stores. Finally, they integrate advanced multimedia component. The freedom of creation and expression allocated to the ability to construct a personal profile or online environment for adolescents, allow the public to depict how they view themselves or how they want others to view them.

Blogging and social networking sites and profiles are as meaningful to adolescents as they believe it to be. They play as large a role in their life as they allow. The more an adolescent participates online, whether it’s on blogs or social networking sites, the more importance they are likely to associate with it. The words on the screen have as much power as both the author and the reader assign them; this in turn develops co-constructed meanings. While adolescents are unique individuals sitting at a computer typing their thoughts or posting personal information about themselves, they are also students, children, employees, and citizens. All of these roles come with various rules, regulations, codes of ethics, and standards of behavior attached to each identity. Online communication has the potential to interact with, affect, or be influenced by all other spheres of life.

Introduction on Social Media's Effect

Social media and online communication has become a pervasive part of everyday life for many individuals. We now establish social networking sites, such as facebook, and online games, video-sharing sites, and other devices, like Ipods and mobile phones as fixture of the youth culture today. What we do not realize is that this digital and technological age is affecting all of us. It’s hard to believe that only ten years ago we were still using pagers and cell phones as big as bricks if we had a cell phone at all. However, this generation has grown up with these technologies as a part of their everyday life, this is why I chose to focus mainly on the effect social media has on this evolving youth culture.

To many adults, social media is considered just an interesting phenomenon or even a buzzword, however; to teenagers and young adults they are a way of life. Research shows that active participation on sites like Facebook and Myspace, communicating via texting and chat programs, and creating blogs are everyday occurrences for this generation of youth (Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith, et al., 2008). Yet they do not always consider the impact of these tools on their lives.

According to recent studies, by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the majority of today’s youth are living an intensively connected lifestyle. The studies show that 94% percent of pre-college youth ages 12 through 17 use the Internet and/or email (Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith, et al., 2008). Many of them have their own computer that is separate and distinct from the “family” pc providing them individual access to the online world (Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith, et al., 2008).

Mobile phones are also a large part of social media, providing access and communication with friends and family, not only through just speaking to them but also through a wide range of social media applications such as, texting, Internet access, and photo and video sharing capabilities. Mobile phones are now being given to children as young as 8; my younger cousin who just turned 8 received a cell phone for her birthday. My ten-year-old brother owns a cell phone and is able to do so much more on it than my mother and father combined.

Teens use social media platforms for more than simple voice communication. Social media are becoming a primary outlet and expressive written medium through web pages, blogs and more such as Facebook and Myspace (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, et al., 2007). Beyond the written word, social media also provides a platform for youth expression through art, photo and video sharing sites. The ability to decorate your site or page the way you wish is an example of this expression. This opportunity and freedom of expression fueled rapid growth in teen use of social media (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, et al., 2007). Pew reports that teen use of blogs, for example, doubled from 2004 through 2006 (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, et al., 2007). In addition, the report showed usage differing across the genders; with girls most often contributing to blogs and boys most often participating in content sharing (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, et al., 2007).

This is just an introduction to the stimulating world of social media in our everyday lives, especially in the youth culture today. I am excited to further these topics in future blog posts and touch on them individually, really diving into the depth of social media’s effect on our youth today.

Lenhart, A., Arafeh, S., Smith, A., Macgill, A. R., “Writing, Technology and Teens”, Pew Internet

and American Life Project, 2008.

Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Macgill, A. R., Smith, A., “Teens and Social Media: The Use of Social

Media Gains a Greater Foothold in Teen Life as they Embrace the Conversational Nature

of Interactive Online Media”, Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2007.

Welcome!

This blog is being written for a graduate Media Studies class I am taking at Rutgers University.

I am looking forward to exploring the effects social media can have on people's lives. I am especially interested in social media's effect on the lives of teenagers and young adults, and plan to delve into research revolving around these age groups.

I am, by no means, an expert on this topic; I am merely a student curious about the world around me. Therefore, I encourage any comments to messages I may post in hopes of really picking apart this subject thoroughly, and with a wide variety of view points. I will also provide information from those who do possess authority in the field.