Panel Prep: Thoughts On Teens, TV & New Media…And Cupcakes!
Posted by anastasia on 06-25-2008
I don't know why I think I can update Ypulse and travel on the same day. I always think I will have time in between waking up, getting to the airport and getting where I'm going, but it's never enough. I figured I would use my plane time today to post some thoughts ahead of tonight's panel at the WGA (produced by the Media Project) — since the organizers sent me some hypothetical questions to be prepared for, I'll use them to provide structure for this post. I'm now at the incredibly cute Farmer's Daughter boutique hotel in L.A. where I was pleasantly surprised with a Sprinkles Cupcake, quite literally the best cupcake I've ever eaten.
Why have a majority young people stopped watching television? Is it the medium or the content?
Hmmm. As much as we bloggers living in our little tech bubble would like to believe that a majority of young people have stopped watching television, the research doesn't bear that out yet. They are still watching — according to recent research from Youth Trends, tweens are watching 12.2 hours per week and teens are watching 11.9 hours a week (and that was up from their report last year!). What we've learned is that they are watching when they want, i.e. tuning into a DVR recording of their favorite show, watching it online, or even on a video iPod. They're also multi-tasking — so the TV may be on, but it is just one of a few forms of media young people may be engaging with at the same time. If we learned anything from the discrepency between Gossip Girl's ranking on iTunes and online streams vs. actual tune in ratings, we learned that much. While there can always be better content (and should be), you can easily get an idea of what young people like to watch on TV by looking at the ratings each week. Tweens love Disney and Nickelodeon as well as lots of reality TV. Teens love animated shows like "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy," as well as soaps like ABC Family's "Greek" or "Grey's Anatomy."
How has the Internet and social networking sites changed teen dating?
As the age young people get married has consistently risen, the notion of traditional dating in high school has evolved. Teens know they're probably not going to marry their high school sweetheart so why get tied down? There's much more hanging out in groups and experimenting sexually with friends or even occasionally "friends with benefits." That said, the internet or any technology tends to put distance between human beings, making it much easier to say more, flirt and generally be a lot braver than you would be face to face. I think teens are definitely using technology to experiment with sex virtually, talk about it more openly and talk to someone more easily who they may have been crushing on from afar. They also use it (like many adults!) to avoid difficult conversations and have been known to break up via text message or in MySpace comments. A small minority of teens use the Net to hook up sexually with other teens (who they may know or not know), but most teens just use these sites as a virtual extension of and supplement to their real world relationships.
How does media consumption differ between boys and girls?
It sounds stereotypical but girls tend to be more social and are spending much more time online creating and sharing content with each other — blog posts, photographs, comments, etc. as well as more time using media for communication — cell phones, texting, IM. Boys tend to be more interest driven and spend more time playing console video games, shooting, uploading and watching video, finding specific forums or sites about something they are interested in whether it's a certain model of car or anime. Girls do play games online, but they tend to be more casual games in virtual hangout environments where they are also socializing. For tweens, the internet is essentially a game — whether it's Pokemon or Runescape or games in Club Penguin or Webkinz.
How does media affect teen fashions and consumerism?
Every successful youth oriented property tends to be multi-platform with lots of brand extensions. Look at "High School Musical." It's not just a TV movie, it's a soundtrack, a live performance, an ice show and all the other branded HSM stuff. Shows like "Gossip Girl" and in its day "The O.C." are fashion trendsetters, with their beautiful young stars featured in every teen and fashion magazine and the show websites literally telling viewers how to dress like the characters, i.e. where to buy the clothes. You see this in reality franchises like "The Hills" as well. Tweens and teens are aspirational — the actors playing them are often in their early twenties; they look older — it makes sense that teens would want to look like these stars.
The internet has both accessible information about sexual health and an abundance of pornography. How has this impacted teen sexual mores?
Wow. This is one of those questions that actually cries out for research. In fact I was trying to get my husband to do his dissertation on this topic (evidently interviewing minors for research is challenging, and interviewing them about sex is probably even more challenging). That said, I think there has been a well documented trend of porn becoming more and more a part of mainstream popular culture has been written about both by social critics (Female Chauvinist Pigs and Pornified) as well as marketing agencies (Porn Normal). As we established above, teens tend to mirror what's in the popular culture (the media as super peer [.pdf]), which is why I think we have seen the trend of scantily clad photos on MySpace (though I bet that's on the decline) and camera phone or other video documentation of teens engaging in sexual activity or just baring all. I would think that early and repeated exposure to online porn as a teen would not be positive though a parental intervention and discussion of what it means just in case a teen stumbles upon it would be welcome. I will wait for someone to produce brilliant research on this one.
Are there role models or heroes for teens in new media?
This is an interesting question. The nature of new media is that it is so disaggregated and niche driven, that I would think it would be hard for a universal hero to emerge. There are certainly micro-celebs or viral video stars that most teens have heard of, but are they heroes? Role models? Maybe iCarly is becoming a hero and role model to tween girls — though she is certainly a TV/online hybrid. Soulja Boy? I'm not even sure what defines an online hit (how many millions of views). I would say the biggest heroes for teens online should be teens themselves — they are the most empowered in terms of creating their own digital media whether it's to save the world or for their friends or a small community of folks who share their interest or passion.
If any Ypulse readers are coming to the event tonight, please say hello!