Youth Identity in the Pre-Digital and On-line Worlds
Quick Survey
Hands up…
If you regularly watch TV programmes on TV (when scheduled)?
Hands Up…
If you watch TV on‐line (4OD, iPlayer, TV‐Links, YouTube etc.)?
Hands Up….
If you paid for music in the past two months (download, CD, gig)?
Hands Up…. If you downloaded most of your music for free?
Hands Up….
If you have watched ‘user‐generated content’ videos in past month?
Hands Up….
If you have posted videos you have made on‐line?
Hands Up….
If you have produced a full media text (planned, produced, edited) and posted it on‐line? (and your A level coursework doesn’t count!)
Hands Up….
If you have bought a magazine or newspaper in the past month?
If you have read an on‐line version of an established magazine/newspaper?
Hands Up….
If you have read a fashion/culture blog (non‐professional) in the past month?
Hands Up….
If you have your own fashion/culture/opinion blog?
Exam questions • What is collective identity and how is it mediated? • Assess the claim that the media is becoming more democratic. • Explore the claim the ‘new’ media are more democratic than the ‘old’ media. In order to fully answer these question you will need to comment on democratic media and collective identity in the past as well as the present.
My Conclusions… • The ‘teenager’ was a constructed social group, a target market. • Created by post‐war capitalism and marketing • 1960s/70s ‘counter‐culture’: youth rebelling against consumerism • Created their own youth culture • Forerunners of ‘user‐generated’ youth culture in on‐line age
Constructing the Teenager Creating and targeting a youth audience – and what the youth did next….
‘Youth Culture’ emerges • 19th century ‘Bowery Boys’ or ‘Soaplocks’ • Recognisable youth culture: own slang, dress code, musical taste etc. • First time entertainment and fashion industries targeted a youth group
1900‐1940 • 400% rise in school in high school enrolment in USA • ‘Peer culture’ • Magazines (and fashion, beauty) industries targeting insecurities of adolescent girls • 1940s – WWII = demand for labour = young people with disposable income
1945‐60: Birth of the Teen • Economic potential is obvious – “market of the future” • But also the first negative stereotypes • Youth simultaneously represented “a prosperous and liberated future” and “a culture of moral decline” • First sign of adult culture’s dichotomous image of teenagers • But a LUCRATIVE TARGET MARKET
1950s – Rock’n’Roll Culture • Not just a target market? • Not trying to ‘fit in’ to adult mainstream • Happy to rebel against it – first indication of a ‘Generation Gap’ • Values and lifestyles developing outside of commercial influence
1960s and 70s – subculture to counter‐ culture • Next generation of teens very cynical about commercial exploitation of youth. • Rebellion chimes with social upheaval • Young people support Civil Rights, feminism, anti‐Vietnam… the rebels now have a cause. • Resistant to marketing and consumerism, wanted to make the world better
‘We Media’ in the PreDigital Age
First, some definitions: What is meant by ‘We Media’? •Media that is produced and/or distributed by ‘us’ i.e. the public. •Or: people who don’t have formal training, jobs in the media, professionals. •‘Prosumers’ ‐ People who used to be media consumers/audiences but who are now producing or distributing media texts
‘Mediated’ collective identity • ‘collective identity’ – the self that finds solidarity with others who are similar. • ‘mediated’ – how the media portrays the social group, and the influence it has on their identity • Links to ‘We Media’: marginalised social groups have often used media as a way of forging their own collective identity • Challenges the way their group has been represented in the mainstream media.
Grateful Dead • Originated in ‘Summer of Love’ • ‘Hippies’ • Turned into a travelling community that lasted 50 years • Commune structure – internal economy • Barter system: clothes, drugs, food • Like a travelling circus or carnival
Punk and Hip‐hop • 1970s Britain and US • Mainstream music industry and music press didn’t want anything to do with these new genres/sub‐cultures; public were threatened by music, fashion, values they didn’t understand. • So fans had to create their own ‘scene’ to support the artists and other fans.
Punk • Accessible: no musical skill needed to join a band, anyone can do it.
(democratic)
Punk Music: recorded on cassettes and circulated by fans at gigs (so created their own music industry)
Punk Fashion: ‘bricolage’ style – found materials ‘bits and pieces’ stitched together. DIY fashion
(but this is how Vivienne Westwood started!)
Punk Fanzines: •mainstream press wouldn’t review bands, interview artists or publicise gigs •punks used the recently‐created photocopiers to create their own ‘fanzines’ •again sold at gigs and later specialist record/clothes shops.
Hip‐hop No formal musical training needed: just mixing records and making rhymes – so accessible to poor, uneducated but creative public.
Hip‐hop ‘Block parties’ – based around a sound system in community centres or private homes, not nightclubs or traditional venues.
Hip‐hop Not just music: fashion, dancing, magazines – all DIY, accessible culture.
Hip‐hop Mainstream didn’t catch on until 1979 when the Sugarhill Gang released the first hip hop record ‘Rapper’s Delight’
Skateboard Culture • Again, ignored by the mainstream as a fad. • Sub‐culture formed around skate parks and skate shops • Amateur videos of skaters doing tricks – distributed through skate shops. • Punk/metal/hip‐hop crossover bands would soundtrack these videos. • Again, fanzines reflected and encouraged the sub‐culture
Ravers 1989 ‐ ‘Second Summer of Love’: Massive illegal techno/house parties in fields or warehouses.
Ravers 1989 ‐ ‘Second Summer of Love’:
Attendees had to meet at secret locations, call secret phone numbers for directions. Participants need to be ‘in the know’.
Ravers Organised by ravers for ravers – fashion, CDs, drugs sold at events. Created its own ‘micro‐economy’
What do all these subcultures have in common? Individuals have tastes that are marginalised or disapproved of by the mainstream – so good expression of youthful rebellion.
What do all these subcultures have in common?
Marginalised groups form a social network to create solidarity. ‘Collective identity’ forged.
What do all these subcultures have in common?
Social networks create their own media to (music, fashion, books, films) and distribution networks to encourage their ‘culture’.
Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ)
Phrase created by theorist Hakim Bey to describe ‘free spaces’ where normal mainstream rules don’t apply
Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ)
Fans can be united by their love of a specific type of media (music, film, TV show) ignored/disapproved of by the mainstream
Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ)
They then form their TAZ to gather, socialise, exchange their own DIY media.
Mainstream vs Underground • Media/fashion industries spot latest ‘underground’ trends • Buy talent • ‘Underground’ style becomes mainstream (“selling out”) • Underground shifts to rebel against it
Digital Natives, Digital Selves How new technology has affected collective identity
• 9‐14 year olds spend $300 billion per year in US • Companies very keen to target youth: indication of what tastes of the future will be. • Morgan Stanley: youth are the “vanguard of the digital revolution” • Matthew Robson, 16 yr old intern… opinions made cover of Financial Times!
How do youth trends spread? Traditional Model • Global youth was ‘atomised’ • Trend begins, usually led by a celebrity, in one country (usually USA or UK). • Media would then spread this trend
Traditional Model • Other nations’ youth would spot the trend, adopt it as an easy route to solidarity with other teens. • Popularity (and media coverage) would increase in intensity and get a wider spread of distribution. • Culture industries profit.
How has digital technology changed this? • Young people have grown up taking internet, mobiles, mp3s for granted. ‘Digital Natives’ • Interactivity – opportunity to manipulate the media experience. • Instantaneity – ability to access (and experience) media texts ‘on‐demand’. • ‘Cloud Culture’ – information (including media texts and experiences) ‘float’ above us, we can ‘reach up’ and ‘grab’ it whenever we want.
How do youth trends spread? 21st Century Model • Youths create their own style, their own media;
• They tell others about it using social networking sites, blogs etc; quality content downloaded and spread by viral.
• Global reach of the internet means newly invented trends are ‘instantaneously’ spread across the world where they develop or decline according to how many people decide to follow them.
• Then mainstream media may become involved.
How accurate is this? • Opinion leaders – “the coolest kid you know” • ‘Creatives’ – always produced their own media • Spotted by mainstream media institutions • Become part of ‘establishment’ media
‘Prosumer’ – Susie Bubble
Susie Bubble • Non‐professional fashion blogger • Blog became famous (UGC) • Hired by DazedDigital (Underground culture) • The Observer magazine (mainstream culture)
Final Conclusions Technology doesn’t make young people more creative. Just makes it easier for creative people to produce quality media. Quality attracts a wider audience – youth created ‘we‐media’ becomes more prevalent.
Final Conclusions Youth culture still controlled by mainstream media.. …but ‘we‐media’ that young people create takes control of their representation. Similar to pre‐digital subcultures. More visible and prevalent.
Who controls the future of youth culture?