Understanding Teens’ Everyday Visual Communication Practices

The next speaker in this Social Media & Society 2018 session is Michelle Gorea, whose focus is on the role of visuality in everyday communication among young users. Many more recent social media applications are designed to be accessed via smartphones, and representations of the visual self have therefore become a far more routine activity. Much of the research into these activities are only talking about teens, however, rather than with them. Instead, it is important to understand from these users themselves how they integrate images into their daily communicative practices.

This can be understood from the perspective of ‘deep mediatisation’: all aspects of daily life are taking on the characteristics of media, are composed of elements that are already mediated. This also results in a visualisation of the construction of the personal self: visual elements are becoming increasingly important in this process. Networked youth today are the first generation for whom digital technologies can truly be understood as extensions of their bodies.

This development can be best approached by mixed-methods research that incorporates digital and non-digital methods: observation and analysis of teens’ online activities as well as in-depth interviews with them. Through these methods, Michelle’s study explores their technological practices, everyday visuality, and sense of self.

What emerges from this is that images are used as a primary vehicle for identity expression and social judgment. Users display who they are and what interests they have, and use this information to understand others’ interests and identities as well. This also provides an ostensible display of personal status, such as the size and nature of one’s circle of friends – and for some this may result in feelings of being left out or not measuring up to one’s peers.

Additionally, there is a sense of managing the self over time, and indeed of looking back over personal and social development over time. Teens frequently looked back at their past images, and moderated their past visual record to edit out episodes that no longer represent their current identity (e.g. removing images of former boyfriends and girlfriends). Some even ‘stalked themselves’ by viewing their social media accounts from the perspective of another user to ensure they presented an appropriate persona.

A further theme is the negotiation of risk, which also involves parents’ control over device access. Such control is not always strictly or consistently informed, however, as parents find it difficult to keep up to date with relevant social media platforms. Some parents monitor their children’s social media accounts to ensure they included no inappropriate behaviour (such as swearing or nudity).

Finally, one key role of social media is also to demonstrate that the teens ‘have a life’: their posts show them being socially active, maintaining friendships with others, being lively, etc. But shifts in context (new schools, locations, devices, platforms) complicate this and can affect processes of visual communication: they might require major edits of past posts or moves to new platforms, for example. Additionally, practices are also affected by age, socioeconomic status, peer groups, and parent interference. All of this adds considerable additional work to teens’ efforts to make and remake themselves in a highly digitally mediated environment.