Youth, Idenity and Digital Media, by S. Stern

“The public attention is disproportionately paid to what teens disclose and produce online…yet little consideration is typically given to understanding why young people express themselves in these ways or how their authorial experiences are meaningful to them” (Stern, pg 95). This statement got my attention right away.  Working with teenagers on a daily basis, I am always seeking information and observing what they are writing, blogging or posting.  But to dig into the why factor…. is a whole different area, one I had not explored.

Stern’s main goal in writing was to bring light on the subject of why teens express themselves online. She does this research through conversations with youth who are online authors. Through these conversations she concluded that teens were finding online opportunities to learn about themselves and about self-presentation (pg 95). Teens were looking at their social world for cues about what principles to internalize, they were trying to go from “Who am I?” to “Who will I be?”(pg 97). Teens are also using this area to grow, and it is a very visual growth, with input from peers, self refection, critique and praise.  It is helping them to work out who they want to become. It may look different from what adults grew up with but the concept seems to be the same.

Stern also discusses home pages and blogging as a place for online journals, and that teens see them as personal sites.  Which are not much different from diaries, bedroom walls, notebook posting, they main difference is they are more fluid and ever changing allowing for reflection and input from their peers. And as graduate students we know self reflection a powerful tool, so if teens can develop this skill early on shouldn’t we be encouraging this? Teens also stated that they enjoyed blogging because they have an audience and what they say is important.  It was also a way to respond and reflect, manage and release feelings, searching for new knowledge and find where they fit in.  They are also learning responsibility to maintain and update their sites.

Stern stated, “When adults decide when and where expression is “pure” and how youths should engage in public address, they deny teenagers agency and neglect to consider the empowering possibilities their online expression experiences offer to them. In fact, recognizing youth authors as experts on their own experience is crucial if we hope to full appreciate how online content creation, adolescence, and identity intersect” (pg 99). This statement is enlightening, when as adults we say how things should be we limit the creativity of our youth, we stifle their growth.  So how do we merge the two? 

Most youth are introduced to homepages, social networks sites, blogging through friends and social groups.  Which is the same for most adults, I was introduced to Face book, because a friend told me it was a great way to keep in touch with old friends.

Personally, I enjoy the social connections online, building a homepage and blogging are very inviting to me, it’s the upkeep and time that restrict me.  If teenagers have this time and opportunity instead of stifling it, let us start to help them learn to protect themselves and still be creative, and let us start before they are teenagers who do not wish to listen to adults?  Any thoughts….

Reference: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/dmal/-/6