Chapter 12: Media
Sources
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Recorded music
Television
Movies
Magazines
Internet material
Videos
Books
Newspapers
Theories of Media Influence
 Cultivation

Theory
Mean World Syndrome
 Social
 Uses
Learning Theory
and Gratifications Approach
Uses and Gratifications
Approach
 Individual
differences lead to people’s
different media consumption choices
 Individual
differences lead to peoples
different responses to particular media
they have chosen to view
Media Practice Model
Application
Identity
Interaction
Selection
Adolescents’ Five Uses of
Media
 Entertainment
 Identity
Formation
 High Sensation
 Coping
 Youth Culture Identification
Media and Adolescent
Socialization
 What
makes media different than other
sources of socialization (e.g., parents,
schools, mentors, peers, etc.)?
Media and Adolescent
Socialization
 Because
media is marketing-based,
adolescents inform content by exerting a
preference
 This socialization is sometimes lost on
those other socializing forces (e.g., text
speak)
 Problems with enforcing restrictions on
media consumption as adolescents age
New Media: Social Networking
Sites
 Studies
estimate that 73% of adolescents
12-17 years use SNS (2009), up from the
percentage (58%) from 2007
 Potential problems and research topics on
this issue involve peer influence, risk
behaviors, cyberbullying, sexual
victimization, and displaying personal
information in a public domain, among
others
Social Networking Sites
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Moreno et al. (2009) conducted focus groups
where 11- to 18-year-olds interpreted alcohol
references on other adolescents’ MySpace
profiles
 Three themes emerged in participants’
comments:
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Alcohol references represent real alcohol use
Alcohol references represent efforts to appear cool
Alcohol references have risks associated
Moreno et al. (2009)
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Younger adolescents tended to believe the
references represented real alcohol use, where
photographic “evidence” seemed particularly
convincing
 References were also interpreted as
adolescents’ attempts to garner social
acceptance or to associate oneself with a group
that “parties”
 Participants acknowledged awareness of
personal and later professional risks of such
displays
Social Networking Sites
 In
a study on sexual predation of minors
using SNS, Mitchell et al. (2010) found
that “when considered in the context of the
entire spectrum of places online where
police are arresting people for illegal
sexual intentions, SNS’s do not appear to
present risk in and of themselves or a
greater risk than other online sites where
people can meet and interact” (p. 186)
Social Networking Sites
 Moreover,
research has shown that SNS
users are using privacy settings more now
than in previous years
 This increase in awareness has been
facilitated by formal (governmental, nonprofit) organizations as well as smallerlevel interventions (parents, school)
SNS: Cyberbullying
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In a sample of 1665 middle school students,
14% reported cyber victimization in the 30
days prior to the study (Dempsey et al., 2010)
Peer victimization has shown to be associated
with depressive and social anxiety symptoms
Dempsey et al. (2010) found cyber
victimization to be associated only with social
anxiety symptoms, not necessarily depressive
SNS: Cyberbullying
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"Some girl in my class emailed me calling me a
freak and a loser. It made me feel really
depressed because I had other things going on
too at that time. I told my dad and he called her
up and spoke to her. He told her that I didn't
read it yet, that it would crush me and that she
should think before she does anything like that
again. Well, she never did it again so i guess it
worked." (15 year-old girl from New York)
http://www.cyberbullying.us/resear
ch.php
SNS: Cyberbullying
 "I
signed her up for a bunch of dating
services and used my cell phone to take a
picture of her in class and posted it on the
web." (16 year-old girl from NY)
 "I was brought out for being a bisexual and
made fun of, being told that I'm against
God's will and am going to hell." (17 yearold boy from Canada)
http://www.cyberbullying.us/resear
ch.php
SNS: Cyberbullying
 http://www.cyberbullying.us/research.php