Youth Culture in a Digital World
Lecture 1 Introduction
1. How is it used? (How people use social media)
2. Why use social media?
3. Approaches in youth development
4. Identity development during adolescence
5. Practical information
Culture
“A group’s distinctive way of life, including its beliefs and values, its customs, and its art and
technologies”
- Geographical factors (related to a country/location)
- Social factors (based to groups that you wish to belong to, based on social economic
status, or based same goals)
- Temporal factors (based on age, generation)
Youth culture
Refers to:
- shared beliefs, behaviors, practices, and values of young people within a particular
society or subculture.
- the ways in which young individuals express themselves, interact with one another,
and distinguish themselves from older generations.
- is dynamic and can vary significantly across time and place, reflecting the cultural,
social, and historical context in which it emerges.
- (it is nog universal in this course, were a studying mostly western youth culture)
Key aspects
- Fashion and style, Music, Language, Social activities, Values and ideals, Media &
technology → focus on media & technology in this course → they converge online
Digital ( → binary) Media ( → way to spread information)
Social Media: Sharing, following and collaborating (users can do something on the media)
What about you? How do you think social media use affects your wellbeing?
Positively/negatively
Positively: I can stay in contact with my friends that live far away and who I can't see every
day
Negatively: My concentration in school isn't good because my phone is a distraction
Jonathan Haith: Social media is the cause for a anxious generation (public debate)
→ panicking about smartphones doesn’t help teens
,Disrupting or enriching traditional culture?
3 theories to answer this question
Social Presence Theory: People don’t see facial expressions when calling
Social Information Processing Theory: How people react to a short message (it can be
interpreted in different ways)
Channel Expansion Theory: People use emotions in texts to develop their messages
"Digital media has disrupted/enriched traditional communication" Ken Auletta
SIP: To sum SIP up: social media is not just disrupting or enriching our lives, it depends on
the receiver and how they process information.
How is it used? How you use it → two distinctions
- Replacement (vervanging) or addition (toevoeging)
- Passively (only scrolling, see what people do) or actively (it is actually beneficial)
Why use social media? Why you use it
Uses & Gratifications theory: "What purposes or functions does media offer for active
receivers?" (its about the needs that users have)
What about you? What purposes or functions does social media serve for you, and how
does it meet your needs or desires?
I can use it to see what my friends are doing, to have contact with them when I can’t see
them, I can arrange things with my friends and family, I can enjoy a good video, I can see
tips from other people and search for information
Uses & Gratifications
LASSWELL ( 1948 ) : four main reasons to use media
- Surveillance of the environment (the need to see what's going on in the world)
- Affective need (the need for emotional fulfillment)
- Cultural transmission (the need to know what are the values in the society)
- Entertainment (the need of relax)
Other needs: Self-promotion, maintain existing relationships, need for creativity, escapism,
expressing opinions (Sheldon et al, 2017).
,One size does not fit all
- Information: Twitter
- Social (connection): Instagram, Snapchat
- Entertainment: Instagram, Youtube
- Convenience/pass the time: Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter
Approaches in youth development
Is passively scrolling through Instagram to escape reality “as bad” as actively engaging in a
YouTube community to express your feelings?
Adolescence
- early adolescence (10-13)
- middle adolescence (14-17)
- late adolescence (18-24)
Youth development → tho theories
1. DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS APPROACH: Developmental tasks/challenges need to
be fulfilled(normative/general).
● Basic idea: Hierarchic list of tasks, met through biological or social
development (socialization), they need to do the task before they can develop
to next stage
● Erikson's developmental stages (1958): in each developmental stage their is
a problem/certain task that you are gonna explore
● Media effect: Effects depend on the age of the user
● Scary media
context and
trauma: Perceptual
stage (2-7) Looking
scary, Conceptual
stage (7+) Being
real
● Adolescents and
celebrities: Parents
are
examples/heroes
(<12), Influencers
are examples (+12)
, 2. RISK AND RESILIENCE APPROACH: Differential life experiences among children
(focus on individual differences)
● Basic idea: Risk and protective factors explain differences between people →
cumulative risk model
● Applications: Snowball effect, turn around models
● Snowball effect: the more risk factors, the bigger are
the consequences
● Turnaround model
What about you? What aspects of your personality or environment
do you believe help protect you from the negative effects of social media?
What is a model you can use to systematically assess the risk and
protective factors?
Ecological model
Micro Level: How do parents monitor and regulate their children’s media
use (tracking screentime, keeping media outside of the bedroom)?
Exo Level: Is school offering classes on online safety and social media
policies such as banning the smartphone from the classroom?
Macro Level: What do we believe and value regarding social media. Is it
entertainment, or dangerous?
All these levels interact with each other,
influence on certain outcomes in media use
Identity development (during adolescence)
- Basic idea: “An identity is, at least in
part, an explicit theory of oneself as
a person” (Moshman, 2005, p. 89),
we need theory to predict yourself,
and not only trust your gut feeling
- Identity dimensions: Personal,
Social: gender, ethnic, national,
online identity
Key components
- Self image: How young people perceive themselves
- Self-esteem: The ability to appreciate this self-image (focus), creative for yourself
Identity: Should be constructed during adolescence through exploration online and offline
"Virtual identity" or "online identity" vs actual identity
Lecture 1 Introduction
1. How is it used? (How people use social media)
2. Why use social media?
3. Approaches in youth development
4. Identity development during adolescence
5. Practical information
Culture
“A group’s distinctive way of life, including its beliefs and values, its customs, and its art and
technologies”
- Geographical factors (related to a country/location)
- Social factors (based to groups that you wish to belong to, based on social economic
status, or based same goals)
- Temporal factors (based on age, generation)
Youth culture
Refers to:
- shared beliefs, behaviors, practices, and values of young people within a particular
society or subculture.
- the ways in which young individuals express themselves, interact with one another,
and distinguish themselves from older generations.
- is dynamic and can vary significantly across time and place, reflecting the cultural,
social, and historical context in which it emerges.
- (it is nog universal in this course, were a studying mostly western youth culture)
Key aspects
- Fashion and style, Music, Language, Social activities, Values and ideals, Media &
technology → focus on media & technology in this course → they converge online
Digital ( → binary) Media ( → way to spread information)
Social Media: Sharing, following and collaborating (users can do something on the media)
What about you? How do you think social media use affects your wellbeing?
Positively/negatively
Positively: I can stay in contact with my friends that live far away and who I can't see every
day
Negatively: My concentration in school isn't good because my phone is a distraction
Jonathan Haith: Social media is the cause for a anxious generation (public debate)
→ panicking about smartphones doesn’t help teens
,Disrupting or enriching traditional culture?
3 theories to answer this question
Social Presence Theory: People don’t see facial expressions when calling
Social Information Processing Theory: How people react to a short message (it can be
interpreted in different ways)
Channel Expansion Theory: People use emotions in texts to develop their messages
"Digital media has disrupted/enriched traditional communication" Ken Auletta
SIP: To sum SIP up: social media is not just disrupting or enriching our lives, it depends on
the receiver and how they process information.
How is it used? How you use it → two distinctions
- Replacement (vervanging) or addition (toevoeging)
- Passively (only scrolling, see what people do) or actively (it is actually beneficial)
Why use social media? Why you use it
Uses & Gratifications theory: "What purposes or functions does media offer for active
receivers?" (its about the needs that users have)
What about you? What purposes or functions does social media serve for you, and how
does it meet your needs or desires?
I can use it to see what my friends are doing, to have contact with them when I can’t see
them, I can arrange things with my friends and family, I can enjoy a good video, I can see
tips from other people and search for information
Uses & Gratifications
LASSWELL ( 1948 ) : four main reasons to use media
- Surveillance of the environment (the need to see what's going on in the world)
- Affective need (the need for emotional fulfillment)
- Cultural transmission (the need to know what are the values in the society)
- Entertainment (the need of relax)
Other needs: Self-promotion, maintain existing relationships, need for creativity, escapism,
expressing opinions (Sheldon et al, 2017).
,One size does not fit all
- Information: Twitter
- Social (connection): Instagram, Snapchat
- Entertainment: Instagram, Youtube
- Convenience/pass the time: Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter
Approaches in youth development
Is passively scrolling through Instagram to escape reality “as bad” as actively engaging in a
YouTube community to express your feelings?
Adolescence
- early adolescence (10-13)
- middle adolescence (14-17)
- late adolescence (18-24)
Youth development → tho theories
1. DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS APPROACH: Developmental tasks/challenges need to
be fulfilled(normative/general).
● Basic idea: Hierarchic list of tasks, met through biological or social
development (socialization), they need to do the task before they can develop
to next stage
● Erikson's developmental stages (1958): in each developmental stage their is
a problem/certain task that you are gonna explore
● Media effect: Effects depend on the age of the user
● Scary media
context and
trauma: Perceptual
stage (2-7) Looking
scary, Conceptual
stage (7+) Being
real
● Adolescents and
celebrities: Parents
are
examples/heroes
(<12), Influencers
are examples (+12)
, 2. RISK AND RESILIENCE APPROACH: Differential life experiences among children
(focus on individual differences)
● Basic idea: Risk and protective factors explain differences between people →
cumulative risk model
● Applications: Snowball effect, turn around models
● Snowball effect: the more risk factors, the bigger are
the consequences
● Turnaround model
What about you? What aspects of your personality or environment
do you believe help protect you from the negative effects of social media?
What is a model you can use to systematically assess the risk and
protective factors?
Ecological model
Micro Level: How do parents monitor and regulate their children’s media
use (tracking screentime, keeping media outside of the bedroom)?
Exo Level: Is school offering classes on online safety and social media
policies such as banning the smartphone from the classroom?
Macro Level: What do we believe and value regarding social media. Is it
entertainment, or dangerous?
All these levels interact with each other,
influence on certain outcomes in media use
Identity development (during adolescence)
- Basic idea: “An identity is, at least in
part, an explicit theory of oneself as
a person” (Moshman, 2005, p. 89),
we need theory to predict yourself,
and not only trust your gut feeling
- Identity dimensions: Personal,
Social: gender, ethnic, national,
online identity
Key components
- Self image: How young people perceive themselves
- Self-esteem: The ability to appreciate this self-image (focus), creative for yourself
Identity: Should be constructed during adolescence through exploration online and offline
"Virtual identity" or "online identity" vs actual identity
