Youth Culture

Popular culture includes aspects of daily life that are not considered academic or fine arts. It may be bold and colorful, or raunchy, or comforting and familiar like Mickey Mouse. Popular culture often overlaps with youth culture; one of the best examples is the Harry Potter series, which is read by adults, teens, and children. Typical features of youth culture include being edgy, having profane content (such as the humor of the children in South Park), and being offbeat and “weird.”

One way to understand youth culture is through media. Buckingham (2002) refers to the “electronic generation” when discussing the use of the Internet by children and teens, but that term seems to be equally applicable to both traditional and new media use because of the vast amounts of media consumed daily by modern youth. Media are used more than 6.5 hours a day, and exposure is even higher because children and teens tend to use more than one medium at the same time (i.e., they may listen to CDs while playing video games). A 2003–2004 study of children's and teens' media habits conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation found that more than 95% have televisions, VCRs, and CD players, 80% have cable television and video games, and more than 70% have access to the Internet at home. That media world is expanding with the introduction of devices such as personal video recorders (TiVo) and portable DVD players, Internet access through video game consoles, downloadable ring tones for cell phones, and video content on cell phones and iPODs.

Network television, especially the WB, UPN, and Fox, target their programming to reach adolescents. Networks promote young teenage stars such as Lindsay Lohan, to appeal to teenagers. In 2004, the most popular show among both boys and girls was American Idol on Fox, and girls liked The OC. On UPN, girls liked America's Next Top Model, while boys liked the afternoon anime programs Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh on the WB. Some programs, including The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle, were enjoyed by all teenagers, regardless of race or gender. However, different racial groups identified different favorite programs. Black teens preferred programs with African Americans in major roles, such as The Parkers, The Hughleys, and Moesha. White teens liked 7th Heaven and Survivor.

The Internet is a big part of youth culture. Teens, tweens, and children have grown up with the Internet and are accustomed to using it for information and entertainment as well as communicating with friends. They create content on the Internet as well as consume content created by others. Personal homepages can reflect the owner's personality and interests, with images of movie stars and favorite bands, along with stories and poems and diary entries written by the owners. The webpage can be changed as often as owners like to reflect changing interests or as they want to change the aspects of their identity that they share with others. Sites like http://MySpace.com, recently purchased by News Corp., cultivate community and sense of belonging with photos, homepages, and friends lists. A long list of friends has become a status symbol among the 26 million registered MySpace users. http://Facebook.com has similar communication features [Page 882]specifically for high school and college students. Users create the content on these sites and so control the culture, rather than being limited by cultural options offered by large media companies.

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