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Journalism and Media
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Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media
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Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media

A special issue of Journalism and Media (ISSN 2673-5172).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (2 July 2023) | Viewed by 27276

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lídia Marôpo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Setúbal, Portugal
2. Interdisciplinary Centre of Social Sciences (CICS.NOVA), NOVA University, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: children, youth and media; youth digital cultures; children’s rights and media; identity and digital media; journalism studies
Prof. Dr. Patrícia Dias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CECC/Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: children and digital media; digital practices; parental mediation; youth and social media

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a wide consensus in the academic debate that youth individual and social identities have been shaped by the use of digital media. As smartphone ownership has become nearly omnipresent in young people’s lives, they engage with the online sphere mainly to be entertained, to self-express, to socialize, to find information and learn new things, and to build online communities around common interests. All those activities could be seen as performative elements of identity in which the self is constructed by mediatized interactions with others. In the last decade, the complex interplay between media use and identity became increasingly marked by the marketplace logic of huge platforms such as Google, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok. These very large corporations do not produce or own most of the content they circulate, but they co-opt regular users to become producers that nurture a datafied, privacy invasive, and commodified environment with their contents and data. The predominance of this digital influencer model and its business practices profoundly affected the youth online culture, including the youngsters’ self-presentation on social media. In this sense, young people’s digital performances frequently emulate the aesthetic and values of celebrity culture to gain popularity and consequently achieve a higher social status. These practices often entail a “dark side”, as young people experience frustration, anxiety, or addiction, in their constant search for acknowledgment, recognition, and value from their peers on these platforms. It is in this context of hyperconnection, platformization, commodification, and celebritization that young people learn, interact, and perceive themselves and one another.

The Journalism and Media journal invites submissions to a Special Issue addressing emergent problems of youth identity construction taking into consideration their consumption of digital media contents and also their online self-presentation and interaction in an environment profoundly affected by the political economy of digital technologies. The articles provided to the issue may cover the following themes:

  • Youth narrative identity development on social media;
  • Consumption, brands, and the youths’ construction of identity on digital media;
  • Fan identities and media;
  • Gaming, avatars, and identity;
  • Gender and sexual identity performance online;
  • Youth migrant digital identity;
  • Young people digital activism;
  • Celebrity culture and youth identity;
  • Sharenting and the construction of youth’s digital identity by parents and relatives;
  • Digital performances, socialization, and peer culture;
  • Images and identity construction: memes, emojis, gifs, digital manipulation of photos;
  • Digital disconnection and resistant identities;
  • Young people’s representation on news, advertisement, and fiction.

Prof. Dr. Lídia Marôpo
Prof. Dr. Patrícia Dias
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journalism and Media is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access Special Issue will be waived. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • youth
  • digital culture
  • identity
  • social media
  • self-presentation

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 490 KiB  
Article
How University Students Evaluate the Role of Social Media in Political Polarization: Perspectives of a Sample of Turkish Undergraduate and Graduate Students
by Ahmad Wazzan and Yasmin Aldamen
Journal. Media 2023, 4(4), 1001-1020; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia4040064 - 27 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1322
Abstract
This study aimed to find out if there is a relationship between social media and political polarization in Türkiye from the perspective of Turkish students. To reach this aim, the needed data were collected through qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 303 [...] Read more.
This study aimed to find out if there is a relationship between social media and political polarization in Türkiye from the perspective of Turkish students. To reach this aim, the needed data were collected through qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 303 valid questionnaires were analyzed. The sample consisted of university Turkish students across undergraduate, masters, and PhD levels in Türkiye aged between 18 and 50+. As well, an online focus group discussion with six Turkish students from different universities and education levels was conducted to gain a more in-depth understanding of the study’s problem. The results of the study showed that the perspectives of the Turkish students were that social media had a weak-to-moderate effect on political polarization in Türkiye. Furthermore, the results indicated that the studied sample of the Turkish students does not rely on social media platforms to obtain political news, and most of them do not follow political leaders on social media. Moreover, communication platforms did not encourage many Turkish students to express themselves, which is an indication that social media algorithms have contributed to a medium degree in creating filter bubbles through the content they suggest to users. Results have also shown that Turkish students are afraid that their posts and comments are being censored. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
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19 pages, 2980 KiB  
Article
The Impact of the Density of Individual Social Networks on WeChat Usage in Intimate Relationships among Chinese Youngsters
by Zhou Nie, Mingzhu Li, Moniza Waheed, Diyana Kasimon and Wan Anita Binti Wan Abas
Journal. Media 2023, 4(1), 377-395; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia4010025 - 16 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1558
Abstract
WeChat has become the most popular type of social media among youngsters in China. They use it for various reasons including communicating in intimate relationships. This study aims to investigate the impact of the density of individuals’ social networks on WeChat Usage in [...] Read more.
WeChat has become the most popular type of social media among youngsters in China. They use it for various reasons including communicating in intimate relationships. This study aims to investigate the impact of the density of individuals’ social networks on WeChat Usage in Intimate Relationships among Chinese youngsters, guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). An online questionnaire was constructed and disseminated to respondents online. In total, 923 undergraduate students from Chinese universities completed the questionnaires. Utilizing Structural Equation Modelling, findings show that the density of individuals’ social networks has a limited impact on WeChat usage. On the other hand, TPB factors such as subjective norms and perceived control bring a substantial impact on WeChat usage, while attitude has a less significant impact. These results indicate that Chinese youngsters exhibit strong attributes of the collective culture. This study also suggests that future social media research should place more emphasis on cultural and social factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
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18 pages, 1124 KiB  
Article
Cultural Identity Performances on Social Media: A Study of Bolivian Students
by Paola Condemayta Soto, Joke Bauwens and Kevin Smets
Journal. Media 2023, 4(1), 304-321; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia4010021 - 24 Feb 2023
Viewed by 5458
Abstract
In this study, both performance and polymedia serve as important conceptual lenses to examine how university students in the Global South handle the social media landscape in enacting cultural identity. Based on 17 focus groups with 105 students from Bolivian universities, we argue [...] Read more.
In this study, both performance and polymedia serve as important conceptual lenses to examine how university students in the Global South handle the social media landscape in enacting cultural identity. Based on 17 focus groups with 105 students from Bolivian universities, we argue that in performing their multiplex identities, this group of Bolivian young people navigate social media as polymedia environments, taking advantage of its possibilities and testing its constraints. The research generated three key findings: (1) students mainly reported examples of cosmopolitan and national identity performances; (2) performances of national belonging showed an ambiguous mixture of self-glorification and self-reflexivity; (3) indigenous identities were rarely performed on the platforms used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
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18 pages, 385 KiB  
Article
Main Challenges for Child Digital Citizenship in a Consumer Culture in Brazil
by Renata Tomaz, Brenda Guedes and Ingrid Martins
Journal. Media 2023, 4(1), 42-59; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia4010004 - 30 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1782
Abstract
In this article, we reflect on how practices of children’s consumer culture interfere with the exercise of rights by children who are consumers and producers of content on digital platforms. It is our aim to offer a communicational perspective to a broader discussion [...] Read more.
In this article, we reflect on how practices of children’s consumer culture interfere with the exercise of rights by children who are consumers and producers of content on digital platforms. It is our aim to offer a communicational perspective to a broader discussion on the processes of child socialization within the scope of digital culture. So, this article intends to highlight some of the challenges for the exercise of children’s digital citizenship based on the Brazilian experience. It also aims to insert Brazilian research in the international debate on children’s rights on the internet. To carry out this discussion, we mobilize theoretical and empirical studies produced in Brazil and map national legal framework that supports the notion of digital citizenship for children. The theoretical effort of this work has pointed out at least two dynamics that explain the way in which the logics of consumption permeate the exercise of the rights of active children on social network platforms: the appropriation of the right to freedom of speech in order to enable child labor, and the conversion of the right to information into processes of publicizing brands in children’s daily lives. We conclude that although Brazil offers a set of legal systems that guarantee the right of children to communication, the exercise of digital citizenship faces a series of challenges. In this sense, public policies which target children in the online ecosystem are needed so that they can participate in this environment without losing their protection guarantees. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
16 pages, 1413 KiB  
Article
Clutching on to Gendered Tropes? Framing of Gender Roles and Power Dynamics by Young Indian Writers of BTS Fanfiction
by Jasdeep Kaur Chandi and Kulveen Trehan
Journal. Media 2022, 3(4), 715-730; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia3040047 - 15 Nov 2022
Viewed by 5207
Abstract
As more young girls write stories online thanks to the increased amount of publishing platforms, their fiction becomes a means to explore if they are offsetting prescribed practices of patriarchy in their gender constructions. Often, young women interrogate gender and recontextualize their experiences [...] Read more.
As more young girls write stories online thanks to the increased amount of publishing platforms, their fiction becomes a means to explore if they are offsetting prescribed practices of patriarchy in their gender constructions. Often, young women interrogate gender and recontextualize their experiences by writing fanfictions. In the age of transmedia storytelling, various online fan communities are rich data sources, as transnational female fans prolifically write fiction featuring icons from music and movies belonging to another country. We examined how young Indian girls frame gender roles and power dynamics in their fanfictions of BTS, the South Korean boyband, on Wattpad. To know if conventional gender frames are upheld or challenged in fanfiction stories revolving around non-Indian celebrities, we performed a textual analysis on forty-four BTS fanfictions. We found that in these fanfictions, existing gendered tropes used to depict masculinity and femininity are mostly normalized, with minor alterations reflecting a power imbalance typical in Indian patriarchal households. A subversion of tropes was found in framing men as emotionally expressive, arguably drawing from the soft masculinity projected in the home country of BTS–South Korea. Grounding these findings in self-categorization theory implores us to situate the construction of gendered identities within the socio-cultural conventions of fanfiction writers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
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18 pages, 3953 KiB  
Article
TikTok Practices among Teenagers in Portugal: A Uses & Gratifications Approach
by Patrícia Dias and Alexandre Duarte
Journal. Media 2022, 3(4), 615-632; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia3040041 - 28 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6296
Abstract
TikTok is consolidating its place in the social media landscape. During the first three months of the COVID-19, it was the most downloaded app worldwide, and it gained 500,000 new users in Portugal. Our study sets out to map the practices of Portuguese [...] Read more.
TikTok is consolidating its place in the social media landscape. During the first three months of the COVID-19, it was the most downloaded app worldwide, and it gained 500,000 new users in Portugal. Our study sets out to map the practices of Portuguese teenagers (10–16) on TikTok. Using a Uses and Gratifications approach (U&G), we conducted an online survey with a non-probabilistic sample of 347 TikTok users. Our findings show relevant differences between younger (10–12) and older (13–16) teenagers. The youngest are more careful about privacy and enjoy more experimentation as content creators, while the oldest are more focused on building an audience. Entertainment and self-expression are the main motivations for using the platform. About 50% of our sample admits at least one behavior that is indicative of addiction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
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17 pages, 9733 KiB  
Article
Sharenting of Portuguese Male and Female Celebrities on Instagram
by Francisca Porfírio and Ana Jorge
Journal. Media 2022, 3(3), 521-537; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia3030036 - 01 Sep 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3581
Abstract
In a contemporary era, strongly characterized by digital omnipresence, celebrities share, via their social media accounts, experiences related to parenthood or, in other words, adopt sharenting practices. This article focuses on the visual and textual representation of the children of six Portuguese female [...] Read more.
In a contemporary era, strongly characterized by digital omnipresence, celebrities share, via their social media accounts, experiences related to parenthood or, in other words, adopt sharenting practices. This article focuses on the visual and textual representation of the children of six Portuguese female and male celebrities active on Instagram in 2020. The study aimed to explore whether the narratives and content strategies conveyed by celebrities about their children are integrated into authentic and advertising content, and how these vary according to the celebrity’s gender. A quantitative and qualitative content analysis was carried out, on a corpus of 1116 pieces of content related to children, in the four Instagram formats—Post, Instastory, IGTV, and Reels. The results showed that children are mostly depicted in spontaneous moments of everyday life that are often perceived as intimate and exclusive moments. While content explicitly identifying advertising or partnerships is infrequent, in many of these contents there was some sort of commercial presence, e.g., through brands identified in children’s content. There were also substantial differences in the themes of the content posted by mothers, in contrast to fathers. These differences were especially evident, on the one hand, regarding the categories of the identified brands—male celebrities are associated with outdoor activities and tend to fall into the categories “Leisure” and “Food and Drinks”, while the brand categories most often identified by female celebrities are associated with “Clothing and Footwear” and “Childcare and Health”, categories that are related to the daily care of children. On the other hand, as for the speech, we found that not only the gender but also the celebrity’s persona is relevant when considering the sharenting they do. Generally, the study found that celebrity sharenting is associated with demonstrations of affection towards children, regardless of gender, a fact that highlights the importance of family ties and parental values in a pandemic context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends on Youth Identity Construction in Digital Media)
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