Youth Culture in a Digital World

Youth Culture in a Digital World

• The presentation discusses youth culture in a digital world, specifically focusing on media effects.
• Media effects are defined as deliberate or accidental changes to individual or collective thoughts, feelings, views and ultimately behavior, resulting from media use.

Today's Lecture

• The lecture covers media effects, encompassing the history and various theories of those effects.
• Different aspects of media effects are explored, including evergreen theories and contemporary theories.

Media Use

• Media use describes intentionally or unintentionally using media channels, devices, messages, and/or platforms.

Media Effects

• Media effects are the changes in individuals' or groups' thoughts, emotions, attitudes, or behaviors caused by media.
• The effects can be deliberate or not.

Media Effects Timeline

• A timeline shows the evolution of media effects research from a strong belief in media's impact in the 1930s to a more nuanced understanding in the 2010s.
• Earlier perspectives (1930s) viewed media effects as powerful, while later views focused on limited effects of media (1960s-1990s).

Payne Fund Studies

• The Payne Fund studies were early research projects that investigated the potential impacts of media on children.
• These studies examined the content children were exposed to, the emotional effects, and the behavioral effects they might observe.

Cultivation Theory

• Developed by George Gerbner, this theory suggests that consistent exposure to media overtime shapes how individuals perceive reality.
• There are three orders:
  • First order: How often an individual perceives an event in real life to occur
  • Second order: How individuals perceive events in real life based on their perception that has been shaped by media
  • Third order: How exposure to media influences how someone behaves in real life

Mainstreaming

• Mainstreaming is a process in which consistent exposure to media leads viewers from dissimilar groups to develop common opinions and worldview.

Agenda-Setting Theory

• The agenda-setting theory is a theory of media effects on an individual's awareness and perception of issues in the real world, and is related to how media chooses which issues to focus on.
• The focus can relate to events, issues, objects or attributes that can be influenced by media's focus.
• This theory postulates that the media plays a pivotal role in shaping public awareness and concern about different issues.

Spiral of Silence Theory

• Individuals' willingness to express their opinions is affected by their perception of public opinion
• This theory proposes that individuals tend to remain silent or conceal differing opinions if they believe their opinions are in the minority.
• Public opinion, as perceived by the individual, influences whether people feel able to express their own beliefs.

Framing Theory

• Framing theory emphasizes how the presentation of information, through media narratives or framing, can influence perceptions and reactions to specific issues or events.
• Framing theory posits that media outlets choose how to present issues. This selection impacts how audiences comprehend the issue.

Social Comparison Theory

• The social comparison theory states that individuals evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to others.
• People can compare themselves upward (more successful) or downward (less successful).
• These comparisons influence opinions and perceptions of self.

Social Cognitive/Learning Theory

• This theory outlines how learning from media impacts how people behave.
• How people learn from observed behaviors is a key concept in this theory.
• This theory explores deliberate and accidental forms of learning.

Media Effects Today

• Today's media landscape is more complex and fragmented than ever.
• There are substantial individual differences, influencing how people consume, perceive, and react to media content.
• Considerations include active versus passive consumption, the variety of opinions available, how people selectively engage with media, and more.

Differential Susceptibility Model

• This theory proposes that individual differences can influence the degree to which individuals are susceptible to the effects of media.
• Susceptibility varies across individuals.
• The model looks at how different people react to the same information.

Transactional Models

• These models emphasize the back-and-forth interaction between media and individuals.
• These models illustrate how media consumption can affect attitudes which in turn affect future media consumption and behavior.

Explore the fascinating interaction between youth culture and digital media in this quiz. Delve into media effects, their historical context, and various theories surrounding them. Understand how media influences individual and collective behaviors, thoughts, and emotions.