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Abstract:
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This project's goal is to examine the modern adolescent experience as it relates to the mass media. The scope of this project is primarily cultural and calls upon the related disciplines of sociology, cultural studies, history, media studies, and psychology for its context and grounding. It incorporates evidence from both print and online spaces to demonstrate these suppositions. Throughout the project, the arguments presented here demonstrate that the media in both print and online forms is playing an ever-increasing role in the lives of American teenagers, having larger impact on peer and family interactions, romantic liaisons, and the psychological well-being of adolescents. I also argue that the heightened presence and power of the media in teenage life and culture is bringing about changes in larger American society. A primary example of this comes in the examination of changes in American death and funerary customs as they relate to online space. In particular, the changing nature of many of the critical aspects of the grieving and memorial construction processes, further highlighting the prevalence and popularity of online interaction and communication among teenagers. Through analysis of many publicly-available MySpace profiles of recently deceased adolescents, an interesting phenomenon emerged. The posting walls of many of the profiles on this popular social networking website had many of the trappings of a virtual tombstone, the walls serving as immediate and constant public memorials to these individuals. This project's aim is to show the immense power of the mass media in the everyday life of teenagers, and examines surrounding factors in larger society that help to further comprehend the daily experience of youth in modern America. |