Hoorcolleges Youth Culture in a Digital World
Hoorcollege 1 Introduction
Culture = a group’s distinctive way of life, including its beliefs and values, its customs and its
art and technologies.
- Geographical
- Social
- Temporal
Youth culture
- 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
- Youth culture is dynamic and can vary significantly across time and place, reflecting
the cultural, social, and historical context in which it emerges
Fashion and style, music, language, social activities, values and ideals, media and technology
- Comes together online: media & technology
Digital media
- Binary: denken vanuit verschillende hoeken?
- Way to spread information
Social media: sharing, following and collaborating
Digital media has disrupted/enriched traditional communication
Social presence theory
- Sense of being together lower in digital media
- Disrupted traditional communication
Social information processing theory
- Communicators interpersonal needs prompts them to try their best (depending on the
receiver)
- In the middle, not disrupted nor enriched traditional communication
- Social media is not just disrupting or enriching our lives, it depends on the receiver
and how they process information
- Special skills to learn these things online, interpretating cues
Channel expansion theory
- Users with experience will strive to develop necessary skills
- Enriched traditional communication
How you use it
- Replacement or addition
- Passively or actively
Why you use it
, - Uses & Gratifications theory: what purposes or functions does media offer for active
receivers?
Uses & Gratifications
- Lasswell (1948)
Surveillance of the environment
Affective need
Transmission of social heritage
Entertainment
- Self-promotion, maintain existing relationships, need for creativity, escapism,
expressing opinions
Different for social media platforms
One size does not fit all
- Information (twitter)
- Social (instagram & snapchat)
- Entertainment (instagram & youtube)
- Convenience/pass the time (youtube, snapchat, instagram, twitter)
Approaches in youth development
Developmental Tasks Approach
- Developmental tasks/challenges need to be fulfilled
- Basic idea: hierarchic list of tasks; met through biological or social development >
cumulative
- Applications
Erikson’s developmental theory
Havighurst developmental theory
- Media effect example
Effects depend on the age of the child
Scary media content and trauma
Perceptual stage (2-7): looking scary
Conceptual stage (7+): being real
Adolescents and celebrities
Parents are examples (<12)
Influencers are examples (12+)
Risk and Resilience Approach
, - Differential life experiences among children
- Basic idea: risk and protective factors explain differences between children >
cumulative risk model
- Applications
Snowball effect
Turn around models
What are protective factors in personality and environment that protect from
the worst effects of social media?
Ecological model
- Using Bronfenbrenner to explain the possible risk and resilience factors on the
individual
Micro: how do parents monitor and regulate their children’s media use (tracking
screentime, keeping media outside of the bedroom)?
Exo: is school offering classes on online safety and social media policies such as
banning the smartphone from the classroom?
Macro: what do we believe and value regarding social media. Is it entertainment,
or dangerous?
Interconnected, but not identical
- Overlap between offline and online world
- Anonimity: different, more extreme forms of behavior (cyberbullying)
- Creativity: playing around, discovering who you are
- Asynchrony: communication at your convenience, breaking time and space
constraints
- Controllability: the ability to decide what information to share or omit
, Identity development during adolescence
Key components
- Self image: how young people perceive themselves
- Self-esteem: the ability to appreciate this self-image
Theatre theory (Goffman)
- Front stage: how do I want people to see me
- These identities (online and offline) can intersect
Hoorcollege 2 Media effects
1. What are media effects?
Media use = the intended or incidental use of media channels (telephone, email),
devices (smartphone, game console), content/messages (games, narratives, advertising,
news) or all types of platforms, tools, or apps (Facebook, Instagram, Uber).
Media effects = the deliberate (feel good movies) and non-deliberate (product placing in
TVshows) short- and long term (you buy the product you see all the time) individual or
collective (social norms) changes in cognitions, emotions, attitudes and behavior that result
from media use.
2. The history of media effect theories
Media effects timeline
Hoorcollege 1 Introduction
Culture = a group’s distinctive way of life, including its beliefs and values, its customs and its
art and technologies.
- Geographical
- Social
- Temporal
Youth culture
- 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
- Youth culture is dynamic and can vary significantly across time and place, reflecting
the cultural, social, and historical context in which it emerges
Fashion and style, music, language, social activities, values and ideals, media and technology
- Comes together online: media & technology
Digital media
- Binary: denken vanuit verschillende hoeken?
- Way to spread information
Social media: sharing, following and collaborating
Digital media has disrupted/enriched traditional communication
Social presence theory
- Sense of being together lower in digital media
- Disrupted traditional communication
Social information processing theory
- Communicators interpersonal needs prompts them to try their best (depending on the
receiver)
- In the middle, not disrupted nor enriched traditional communication
- Social media is not just disrupting or enriching our lives, it depends on the receiver
and how they process information
- Special skills to learn these things online, interpretating cues
Channel expansion theory
- Users with experience will strive to develop necessary skills
- Enriched traditional communication
How you use it
- Replacement or addition
- Passively or actively
Why you use it
, - Uses & Gratifications theory: what purposes or functions does media offer for active
receivers?
Uses & Gratifications
- Lasswell (1948)
Surveillance of the environment
Affective need
Transmission of social heritage
Entertainment
- Self-promotion, maintain existing relationships, need for creativity, escapism,
expressing opinions
Different for social media platforms
One size does not fit all
- Information (twitter)
- Social (instagram & snapchat)
- Entertainment (instagram & youtube)
- Convenience/pass the time (youtube, snapchat, instagram, twitter)
Approaches in youth development
Developmental Tasks Approach
- Developmental tasks/challenges need to be fulfilled
- Basic idea: hierarchic list of tasks; met through biological or social development >
cumulative
- Applications
Erikson’s developmental theory
Havighurst developmental theory
- Media effect example
Effects depend on the age of the child
Scary media content and trauma
Perceptual stage (2-7): looking scary
Conceptual stage (7+): being real
Adolescents and celebrities
Parents are examples (<12)
Influencers are examples (12+)
Risk and Resilience Approach
, - Differential life experiences among children
- Basic idea: risk and protective factors explain differences between children >
cumulative risk model
- Applications
Snowball effect
Turn around models
What are protective factors in personality and environment that protect from
the worst effects of social media?
Ecological model
- Using Bronfenbrenner to explain the possible risk and resilience factors on the
individual
Micro: how do parents monitor and regulate their children’s media use (tracking
screentime, keeping media outside of the bedroom)?
Exo: is school offering classes on online safety and social media policies such as
banning the smartphone from the classroom?
Macro: what do we believe and value regarding social media. Is it entertainment,
or dangerous?
Interconnected, but not identical
- Overlap between offline and online world
- Anonimity: different, more extreme forms of behavior (cyberbullying)
- Creativity: playing around, discovering who you are
- Asynchrony: communication at your convenience, breaking time and space
constraints
- Controllability: the ability to decide what information to share or omit
, Identity development during adolescence
Key components
- Self image: how young people perceive themselves
- Self-esteem: the ability to appreciate this self-image
Theatre theory (Goffman)
- Front stage: how do I want people to see me
- These identities (online and offline) can intersect
Hoorcollege 2 Media effects
1. What are media effects?
Media use = the intended or incidental use of media channels (telephone, email),
devices (smartphone, game console), content/messages (games, narratives, advertising,
news) or all types of platforms, tools, or apps (Facebook, Instagram, Uber).
Media effects = the deliberate (feel good movies) and non-deliberate (product placing in
TVshows) short- and long term (you buy the product you see all the time) individual or
collective (social norms) changes in cognitions, emotions, attitudes and behavior that result
from media use.
2. The history of media effect theories
Media effects timeline
