Social Networking Sites and their role in youth development.

In 1956 Erik Erikson, a psychiatrist, published his Eight Stages of Development. These stages express the various developmental tasks involved in the social and emotional development of children and teenagers into adulthood(Child Development Institution 1998-2007). In particular there are two of these stages which I would like to discuss in terms of the youth of today, known as the, “N-Gen or Net Generation” (Long & Chen 2007). These two stages are referred to as Industry versus Inferiority (competence) and Identity versus Role-confusion (fidelity). These stages are numbered 4 and 5 respectively amongst the entire 8. The first of these two stages (number 4 of the 8) has to do with figuring out the world whilst stage five concerns itself with figuring out yourself (the youth in question). The reason for using these particular stages is because Erikson’s stages start at infancy and work through youth into adulthood and onto old age, thus these are the two stages relevant to the topic of the youth that use Social Networking Sites. Through this essay I will show that the youth of today use the internet, in particular Social Networking Sites, in order to appropriately work through these two stages of their youth development.

Firstly I would like to clearly point out what I mean when I say “Social Networking Site.” I use this term to describe such websites as Myspace.com, Facebook.com, and Friendster.com. I basically mean any website where a user can sign up to create an account with an individual profile that they can personalize to reflect their view of themselves. These sites must have interaction between users.

The youth of today readily use the technology available to them and have often grown up using such things as the internet; they often know how to use new communication technologies better than their parents. This can often lead to fear in the parent’s eyes as they do not understand a lot of what their children are doing. They do not understand how their children can be so open about themselves on social networking sites and blogs when anyone can see what they have written. This fear leads to prohibitions and rules, these restrictions are ultimately bad for the youth as the internet is often their main source of communication between friends as well as an outlet for their stress. danah boyd reasons that by, “giving youth access to a public of their peers, [Social Networking Sites] provides a fertile ground for identity development and cultural integration. Youth view [Social Networking Sites] as a place where they can be who they are” (2006). This interaction with their peers is integral in the development of the 5th stage and the formation of identity.

Identity formation, or the 5th stage, is when youth attempt to develop a self-identity and form ideas about their own strengths, weaknesses, goals, occupations, and sexual/gender roles. The youth tries out many different identities searching for one that fits, this is known as an Identity Crisis (Niolan). They use the critique and comments of their peers as a social mirror to reflect on the decisions they have made about their identity (Erikson). Identity, Erikson writes, is as unfathomable as it is all-pervasive. It deals with a process that is located both in the core of the individual and in the core of the communal culture. As the culture changes, new kinds of identity questions arise (1994). This is why Social Networking Sites now play a large role in the development of this stage. The culture has changed and new forms of identity questions have come about. The internet provides another medium for which the youth to express their current identity choices and gives ample opportunity for their peers to literally “comment” on them. Social networking Sites are a way for the youth to “hang out” with their friends whilst not breaking their curfew. The increased use of the internet is not making the youth anti-social it is keeping their social lives thriving despite their parent’s physical demands on their whereabouts (boyd, 2006).

The 4th stage, industry versus inferiority, is when the youth learns to master some of the more formal skills of life. They must relate to their peers according to various rules, progress from free play to play that may be elaborately structured by rules and may demand formal teamwork and they must also master social studies, reading and arithmetic. Their need for self-discipline increases dramatically. Social Networking Sites play their role in the development of this stage as well. Youth intentionally become a part of a team, a Social Networking Site, and have to stick to the rules of that site to continue interacting with their friends.

In conclusion Social Networking sites play their part in the development of the youth of today. Stages 4 and 5 in Erikson’s 8 stage theory are particularly helped by the identities formed by youth online (stage 5) and by their interactions with their peers (stage 4). It is obvious that as technology and communication has progressed so have the youth to accommodate these things into their lives, and to use these new communication technologies to the most advantage of the psychological development into conscious adults.

Reference list:

Erikson, E. 1994. Identity: Youth and Crisis, W. W. Norton & Co.

Erikson, E. 1974. Dimensions of a New Identity, W. W. Norton & Co.

Turkle, S 1997. Life on the Screen: Identity in the age of the Internet, Touchstone

Turkle, S 1984. The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit, Simon and Schuster

boyd, d. 2007 Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life

boyd, d. 2006 Identity Poduction in a networked Culture: Why Youth Heart Myspace

Child Development Institute, 1998-2007 Stages of social-emotional development in children and teenagers available from www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/erikson.shtml

Niolan, R. Erikson’s Psychosocial stages of development available from; www.psychpage.com/learning/library/person/erikson.html

Long, J. and Chen, G. The impact of internet usage on adolescent self-identity development available from; www.chinamediaresearch.net

Rosen, L. 2006 Adolescents in Myspace: Identity formation, friendship and sexual predators

draft/ outline for essay blahhhh

In my essay I will attempt to explore some of the psychological effects of social networking sites on developing youths. To do this I will first address the definition of a social networking site and the general point of their existence, I will then introduce some psychological aspects that are expected of developing teens, lastly I will discuss the immediate and lasting psychological effects of these sites on youth.

Some of the resources I will be utilizing for this essay are:

* Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life by danah boyd
* Stages of social-emotional development in children and teenagers
* Erikson’s Psychosocial stages of development
* The impact of internet usage on adolescent self-identity development by Janet. H. Long and Guo-Ming Chen,
* Adolescents in Myspace: Identity formation, friendship and sexual predators by Larry D. Rosen.
* I will also be conducting my own research in the form of questionnaires and interviews

The aspects of this topic that I will be discussing include;

* Identity versus identity diffusion
* Intimacy versus isolation
* Is it making youth anti-social?
* Accessibility: restrictions and usage
* Beneficial or detrimental
* Internet bullying

In this essay I hope to clearly show;

* why the youth use social networking sites
* Why this interaction is overall a beneficial experience, psychologically, for developing youths