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.
