Young people are using mobile devices to create personal brands. Often, revealing images are posted and followers collected in the tens of thousands.
Photo Credit: CBC

Youth eschew privacy, seek fame online

There is “an overwhelming tsunami of youth taking selfies” driven by a thirst for fame, acceptance and self-esteem, according to a year-long research project.

Many young people are ignoring warnings about preserving online privacy and some post revealing pictures of themselves which end up widely circulated over social media. And it seems parents don’t know or have little control over what their children do.

Youth creating online personal brands

“We were interested in how young people are using social media tools to really create an online presence,” says Debbie Gordon, director of the Kids Media Centre at Centennial College in Toronto and leader of this project. “What we learned very quickly is, more than just an online presence, a lot of young people are creating their own personal brand.”

ListenFocussing on mobile tools, the research found young people posting 50 selfies a day, gathering likes, followers, retweets and other affirmations in the thousands and, in some cases, up to a million. “That’s a really powerful and heady experience for young people, and they now have fans and they now have followers,” says Gordon.

null
“We really don’t want the number of likes that you get on a photograph to be a measure of self-esteem,” says project leader Debbie Gordon. © kidsmediacentre, Centennial College – Story Arts Centre

Seeking celebrity and affirmation

Once they get 5-6,000 followers, people can monetize their presence, for example, by getting advertisements from Google or selling offers to mention others on their YouTube presence.

There are huge communities of people seeking and boosting celebrity. But there are also young people who call for help, or simply cry in front of their cameras and post that online. Sometimes they get negative feedback and sometimes they get offers of help.

“Some of them may just completely disregard the sub-tweeting or the negative trolling that’s coming back at them and those are the kids that are probably in a healthy place,” says Gordon. “But there’s a lot of self-esteem, a lot of validation out there—kids who are looking for those re-likes…they’re just shopping for friends….We really don’t want the number of likes that you get on a photograph to be a measure of self-esteem.”

Girls and boys posting sexualized images

The sexualized nature of so many of the images and photographs is also of concern to Gordon. She notes that it’s not just girls posting such material but, increasingly, boys are too.

“Kids are very deliberately not using privacy settings, turning their back on privacy to find that kind of following,” says Gordon.

Youth need some guidance

Gordon says there is a lot of positive material on social media as well, but young people could use some guidance. Schools are woefully behind in this area, she thinks. And parents could do more.

“As we hand over these pocket computers to our kids, I guess I would hope that parents wrap some expectations and their own values in terms of what they would hope their kids are doing in these social spaces.”

Categories: Society
Tags:

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.