6. Teen identity in a digital age
What is identity and how does it develop? Varied disciplinary views of identity have emerged and each has a different focus. In this section, we outline classic theoretical approaches of viewing adolescent identity formation--the psychological and the sociological view-- and consider them in light of youth’s digital media use. Teens’ developing sense of identity may be impacted by their use digital and networked technologies (Katie’s lecture, 2017). As such, we explore how teen identity and intimacy play out in a social media landscape.
Psychological views of identity
One approach to viewing tween and teen identity is the psychological view. This view centers on youth separating from their parents and figuring out who they are in within society. Developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson, put forward the concept of a psychosocial moratorium, or a type of “time out” where adolescents are given time and space to explore different identities (Katie’s lecture, 2017). Sherry Turkle’s (2011) early research about the Internet celebrated the anonymous affordances of online spaces as a potential avenue for psychosocial moratorium.
Yet, recent technological and societal changes have made it harder for teens to achieve this type of freedom. With many young people’s lives embedded with digital and networked technologies, a frequent concern is whether teens are given this ability to explore identities when mistakes are preserved online long after their teen years. When teens’ offline and online lives are becoming blurred, the anonymity that characterized the early Internet is now harder to achieve.
Sociological views of identity
For sociologists, identity is viewed as a social and cultural construction. This approach finds that we become ourselves as we interact with and learn from people, culture, and society (Katie’s lecture, 2017). For example, the concept of a “teenager” is arguably a social construct as it was coined by American marketers around the 1950s.
Impression management, or the theory that describes how we seek to manage others' perceptions of ourselves, is one area of focus in the sociological view of identity. For instance, danah boyd’s (2014) research into teens and their social media use explores the ways that teens engage in impression management on various social media channels. On platforms like Facebook, friends from different social contexts interact in one space. This raises the issue of teens having to manage different identities in an environment that includes family, peer, and school contexts.
Another issue related to impression management is the pressure associated with comparing one’s self to others. For example, social research has found that “selfies” may boost some teens’ confidence, but viewing what others share on social networking sites may lead them to make negative comparisons (Kross et al., 2013; Wagner, Aguirre, & Sumner, 2016). Selfies may be a relatively new phenomenon, but the need to experiment with new looks and change one’s appearance is similar to the motivations of pre-digital teens. As such, boyd (2014) writes in her book, It’s Complicated: The social lives of networked teens, that teens’ online activities may seem unusual to adults, but their motivations are often rooted in developmental behavior.
Online self expression and “the packaged self”
In an effort to individualize and explore other identities, teens use different social media platforms in various ways. For instance, researchers have explored the ways certain teens use online platforms like Instagram to curate and craft identities through the online content they share (Davis & Weinstein, 2017). Howard Gardner and Katie Davis (2013), authors of The App Generation, describe the performative nature of online self expression as “the packaged self”. They emphasize concerns about the pressures teens face in presenting a crafted, packaged self (Davis & Weinstein, 2017). For example, on such social channels as Instagram many teens are focused on the external—their physical appearance and material possessions—to convey a desirable image.
Through selfies, likes, and status updates, the features of many online and mobile applications may encourage “personal branding” activities that foster a romanticized depiction of teens’ lives. Some teens are attempting to carve out online spaces that place less emphasis on an idealized persona. By allowing teens’ to remain anonymous and explore their interests, online spaces like fanfiction or fandom communities, may offer teens greater freedom to express themselves(Katie’s lecture, 2017).
A fusion of corporate and personal branding
The importance of branding and the influence of companies may also shape teens’ identity formation. Take, for example, the fusion of corporate and personal branding present on such online platforms as YouTube. Many popular YouTube stars, like Tyler Oakley, use product placement in their videos. This practice raises the following questions: Is this a new trend? Is this fusion of corporate and personal simply an extension of marketing to teens that began in the ‘50s?
A few features of the digital media landscape may illustrate the distinct differences of marketing in the digital age, including:
Greater scale. Social media allows brands to reach huge followings online. Teens themselves can reach huge audiences.
Greater opacity. Social media stars, who are often teens, can gain the trust of other teens and easily “hide” marketing messages.
Illusion of user-driven. Under the guise of authenticity, companies and marketers play a large role in curating social media content on popular social media profiles.
As companies and marketers use digital media to reach teens, it may be harder for today’s teens to easily evaluate the credibility of online information and content. Designers of new technologies can also influence identity formation. For example, it took Facebook ten years to offer its users with different options for gender identities. The fusion of personal and corporate, tech designers’ values, and the features of online applications and communities can all influence adolescents developing sense of identity, impacting the way they view themselves and the world.
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