Ever since the concept of “the teenager” came into existence, it seems to have become the bane of society. Teenagers are quick to adapt new trends and technologies faster than older generations, and unfortunately the moral panic associated with the unknown of these new tools is transferred to these kids. This generation’s “Digital Natives” are no different. Harsh criticisms fly at them left and right about their use of the internet and its “negative effect” on their characters. Some complaints are that they have become too self-centered, increasing their ignorance, poor social skills, lack of citizenship, etc. I was guilty of this too (though not as extreme since I am technically an older Digital Native myself) when I began my ethnography about teenage girls on Instagram. I expected to see a lot of self-centeredness, negative comments, group photos that made others feel left out, and other typical things you hear about networked teen girls in the media. I was surprised to find quite the contrary as I immersed myself into a community of friends on the app. These girls surprised me with their positivity and support they showed one another on Instagram. Even though there was the occasional selfie, a good majority of posts were made to express their appreciation of a friend. And on those infamous selfie posts, the feedback the girls gave each other was also very encouraging and uplifting.
One of the trends that went through this community of girls during my study was the #20beautifulwomen campaign, modeled after Saba Tekle’s book 20 Beautiful Women, which shares the inspiring stories of twenty women on their road to self acceptance, transformation, and the common bond of sisterhood. When a girl is nominated through a tag in another girl’s post, she must post a picture of herself in which she feels beautiful in, then tag twenty new girls in her own post and challenge them to do the same. The ultimate goal is to raise confidence and self-esteem among these women by getting them to see that they are beautiful. The media was quick to jump on this campaign, arguing that it could do more damage than good. “It just promotes self centeredness,” “what if a girl doesn’t get tagged by a supposed friend?,” “this is just an excuse to post a selfie and receive more likes,” “this will be a cyber-bully’s favorite trend of the year.” But the girls I followed proved these grievances wrong with flying colors: they wrote inspiring messages of support to boost confidence in the description and the comments and they would extend this challenge to all their followers no matter if they were tagged or not (some didn’t even tag). I don’t think the media understands a typical teenage girl’s struggles with self-esteem, it only understands promoting the idea of teens as self-centered. This campaign addresses this drop in confidence that occurs in teenage girls; it allows them to know that their struggles are heard and that their peers are there to support them through it, not tear them down.
I think what a lot of people fail to realize is that teenagers are individuals!! They have their own interests, politics, opinions and lives. I think we tend to group teenagers together and talk about them in a more negative way than we do with any other age group. Why are we calling them self-centered instead of confident? Why are we pointing out all the negatives without crediting them with the good stuff? Now, I am for sure guilty of this! But there are some really awesome teenagers (like you mentioned) that are supportive and kind. But there are also some not-so-nice teenagers who really are self-obsessed and like to tear others apart. It is just people being people.
I find the research you compiled fascinating! The concept of the Digital Native generation proposes many stereotypes and assumed roles of young adults in our generation, which may not actually represent what’s really going on, as proven by your conclusions. The role of parents in this era is a complicated subject, as they have more pressure than ever before to keep their kids healthy, sane, and protected from all the “bad content” out there. This pressure forces parents to target an object or subject to blame, in this case, technology. Although many guardians see technology as a limiting and negative device in young adult’s lives, they fail to see the positives that online social interactions curate. I think the research danah boyd conducts will help parents debunk the myths that are assumed with technology and social media and ultimately help to create a more positive connotation associate with online life.
I think the media is always quick to judge any sort of trend that accompanies the internet especially youth. It is an easy target because we are generally younger and don’t have much authority in this sense. However, when you seen a trend like #20beautifulwomen take off it proves that regardless of media attention the intent can stick with the cause. Although technology is seen by adults to often hinder youth this is a great example of how teen girls can cope and become more self confident women.