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YOUTH CONNECTING ONLINE - Coggle Diagram
YOUTH CONNECTING ONLINE
Identity In Teenage Chat Rooms
The adolescence period in life has been described as a period where identity is being developed.
2 positions can be identified which is
The strong concept of identity implies a fundamental and durable sense of selfhood. On the other hand,
The 'weak' concept weighs more on the fluidity, complexity and context-sensitivity of identities which focuses more on constructing the identity through social interaction and shaping certain aspects of identity.
Chat rooms are like public online spaces, where mutiple participants can chat together simultaneously. Participant are also allowed to join mutiple chat rooms.
Online profiles not always represent the owner's offline identity in any aspects.
Chat rooms are experimental rooms for teenagers as they are freer to do what they want. Although analysis shows that boys primary objective of communication is to get a date with a girl, while girls look forward to the conversation itself without the goal of a date.
Gender in Teenage Flirt Chats
Unlike offline interactions, cross-gender teenagers are free in chat room as they cannot be judge by their physical appearance.
Displaying own gender is as important as it is offline, girls tend to use their name and add in "girl" or present a more sexually attractive name.
Although some participants use the first question to confirm their partner true gender
Negotiations of Ethnicity
The difference in ethnicity can make it diffucult for the receiving end to understand what the sender is trying to interpret
Thus leading the conversation to end quickly
Gender and Ethnic Identity in Chat Rooms
It is more important for someone to know whcih gender they're talking with as the goal of adolescents in chatting is to find a potential romantic partner. As "gender bending" would disturb the flow of the conversation.
Although some would immediatelty ask for their gender if they find it hard to identify which gender they are speaking with.
Other Research on Chat Rooms and The Development of Identities
A quatitative analysis of recorded chat shows that gender are mostly popular among adolescents to clarify their gender.
Ethnic identities are exposed through the use of self-identification, in-groups, partner selection or even expressing racial attitude. Which helps them to be identify which ethnic their form.
Relation between Young People’s Online and Offline Networks:
Social Networking Sites
Period of adolescence and emerging adulthood - two basic developmental challenges:
identity achievement
the development of intimacy
DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES
New communication tool of the Web 2.0 is social networking sites, which are especially popular among adolescents and emerging adults.
The differences in young people’s use of chat rooms versus social networking sites
chat rooms is mainly text based, social networking sites allow and support visualization
profile on a social networking site typically has a larger audience than a chat conversation.
teenage chat rooms, users typically have not met their chat partners offline before.
THE DIFFERENCES
‘Cybercultures’ conference one topic of discussion was whether online interactions have to be regarded as ‘real’ experiences with a significant impact on one’s offline live.
These concerns prompted the survey study of emerging adults, Some of the questions examined were:
Usage of Social Networking Sites
Having a profile page on a social networking site was not related to the students’ ethnic group membership or religious affiliation.
Reasons for Using Social Networking Sites
to interact with offline friends in order to stay in touch with friends that they do not see often
to stay in touch with relatives and family
to make plans with friends who they see often
To fill up free time/not be bored
meeting new people was not a common reason for having a social networking site profile.
The Friends’ List
how many ‘friends’ participants had on their friends’ lists, how they decided who to add to their list, and if those offline friends were also online friends.
The social networking sites that college students in our study used not only feature a friends’ list but also a ‘top friends list’.
The results regarding the ‘top’ friends show that the best friends offline are the most likely ones to make it into the top friends’ list; 68% of the students in the sample reported that they chose their best friends offline for their top list.
Social Networking Sites and Identity
Recent research indicates that social networking sites should be seen as a cultural context in which young people engage in processes of identity development.
MySpace as a rich cultural context in which norms of social interaction and opportunities for self-presentation create new possibilities for experimentation and reflection about possible selves
Each participant in a social networking site presents himself/herself through a profile, which can be modified every time the owner of the profile visits the site.
Social networking sites also creates opportunities for identity exploration.
However, because of the online-offline connection, obvious contradictions between the profile and the offline characteristics would be realised by viewers.
on social networking sites youth can present themselves in an experimental way, which contributes to the development of their sense of self.
In both respects, social networking sites seem to provide a new developmental playground for adolescents and emerging adults.
CONCLUSION
Chat rooms have been used especially for meeting potential romantic partners (or at least for pretending that the chat partners may become potential romantic partners). They have provided a perfect space for experimental behavior of how to be attractive to the opposite sex and how to flirt successfully.
Social networking sites on the other hand are used more to keep in touch and for exchanging (textual and visual) information with offline friends. Whereas the interaction in chat rooms was focused on textual communication, social networking sites have made it easy to interact using text, pictures, and videos.
Young people use both chat rooms and social
networking sites for essential developmental issues.