Response

to Buckinghams Introduction to: Youth, Identity And Digital Media (McArthur Foundation Series, edited by David Buckingham) Buckinghams introduction to this series of articles maps out many of the emerging theoretical themes in relation to digital media with a special emphasis on aspects of identity and young people. He explores the tension that exists between the two facets of identity between what we might regard as consistent, our unique self (though this fluctuates depending on contexts/situations) and what we see as similar to others, eg. our national, regional, cultural, gender identity. Its not just a question of identity through introspection or personal growth; the conditions of late modernity (Giddens) have spawned much global conflict around identity and self- determination. It is agreed that theres nothing new in identifying this dual meaning in identity although Buckingham notes that questions of identity ha(ve) undoubtedly taken on a new urgency in the contemporary world. The key point being that it is only when identity is threatened that it becomes an issue: de- stabilising socio-economic conditions surrounding identity tensions further fuel a sense of fragmentation and uncertainty. Keeping social and individual restlessness in mind, identity is offered as a useful lens through which to study young peoples negotiations with digital media focussing on continuities and challenges in relation to the formation of social relationships and personal development. Psychologists will have us view adolescence as a defined period of transition with a start and a finish, a process punctuated with various recognised stages of personal development. Hence Susannah Stern looks at how the process of blogging can facilitate youth experimentation with multiple, fluid, digital identities; while d. boyd highlights the importance of social media as a place where youth can socialise in a relatively safe environment and negotiate their identities and social status given that outside space, she claims, is increasingly denied them. Similarly sociological accounts characterise adolescence as a form of becoming rather than being, a process of socialisation into the adult world, at which point identity is deemed as attained. Youth appropriation of new technologies often polarises adult perspectives, on the one hand celebrated like some magical, creative panacea or on the other vilified along with their unstoppable, natural urge to take control and subvert authoritative influence. Many of the articles however, remind us of simpler, more anodyne motivations and continuities rather than dramatic trajectories in youthful endeavours. These reminders defuse the moral panics so often associated with new media risk factors while reassigning energies to the less visible, colossal commercial forces that provide the infrastructure and preside over the parameters for online interactions. Buckingham talks about changing identities and how identity formation is a socially constructed, ongoing practice. The use of social media is particularly salient here as although it makes this process highly visible in one respect, we cant rely on traditional visual cues to make a claim on a particular identity. We must therefore write ourselves into being (d.boyd) in online interactions. It is not surprising that Goffmans 1950s work on front-stage and back-stage performance has resurfaced in this connection: we are front-stage in social gatherings and back-stage otherwise.

The problem here being that this model implies that back-stage is more authentic and un-performed which is questionable., dont we all buy into a certain view of ourselves that serves our needs and desires in any one moment and makes us feel stable? This could be viewed as a series of temporary, non-essentialised, dramaturgical monologues. Stald and boyd draw attention to new and intense forms of social connectedness that mobile technologies offer and that although this is not particularly new in the teen realm, it is the cause of particular anxieties for parents, who review their own teen experiences and see them as entirely other, rather than just the context and tools being different. There is therefore a perceived greater than normal rift in generational relations and a search for blame; often the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the technology that didnt use to be rather than the focus being on those social agents responsible for mediating moral panics. Identity politics refers to the struggle for representation and the upholding of identity within certain social groups who feel stigmatised in the existing social order. The internet can be seen as a useful medium for previously marginalised, genuine self-expression in discourses of race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability but also an arena for the public subversion of these identities. In this connection Willett, for example, looks at the identity politics inherent in websites aimed at young girls and dressing up dolls. She examines the commodification of the online environment and debates around consumer culture that pervade childrens experiences online. Research suggests that many children are aware of negative body image issues, but to what extent is this a measure of their own free judgement as opposed to an attitude which is socially constructed and therefore constrained? Some articles look at identity and social power with an examination of Giddens more celebratory view of the late-modern self-reflexive society and its empowering democratising opportunities versus Foucaults more sinister assessment, where its a question of individuals being coerced into self-monitoring and speaking the truth about themselves. In the same vein, Willett, for example, challenges the compulsory individuality that envelopes our western consumer culture with its illusory sense of freedom and choice. In terms of learning, Drotner recognises that there is a new set of social competences at play out of the school context and that media educators should be addressing how to build on that and how best to encourage critical engagement therein. Herring makes the point that wed do well to study not only a more representative cross-section of young peoples online interactions (i.e. beyond the privileged early adopters and into those among the margins) but to do it now, while digital, mediated identities are relatively new and not so pervasively second nature. On a broader level this concept makes me think of how easy it is, for the more privileged in the developed world, to assimilate new communication technologies and incorporate them into everyday living. Considering the speed and consistency with which they emerge and our intense focus on the immediate satisfaction of what we construe as our (media & consumer) needs, is it too apocalyptic to debate

whether the history of social relations and experience will become increasingly irrelevant in this our post-traditional society, our runaway world (Giddens)?