Teens and digital media: How do we move toward productive public discourse?

ABSTRACT

In recent years, increased attention has been paid to possible linkages between youth digital media use and well-being. Greater scrutiny is certainly warranted, given how much time teens spend with technology and the escalating number of teens who struggle with their mental health. However, a negative frame has shaped much of the public discourse about the relationship teens share with technology. News media in particular have tended to vilify digital media as the central contributor to youth problems, amplifying adult fears and disregarding youth agency in the process. In this commentary, we argue that alternate media narratives are possible and more likely to be productive. Showcasing examples from popular fictional streaming programs Euphoria and Ginny & Georgia, we highlight how complicated, nuanced representations of teens’ digital media interactions can more realistically and poignantly address the contemporary moment. We conclude by challenging scholars to consider how they can engage with media storytellers, particularly journalists, in an effort to shape a public discourse about youth and digital media that is more accurate, meaningful, and productive.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital media
• technology
• mobile phones
• youth
• well-being
• news
• journalism
• television
• teens
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susannah Stern

Susannah Stern is a professor of Communication and director of the honors program at the University of San Diego. Her research examines media representations of youth and gender, as well as how young people interact with, make sense of and are affected by media. Her scholarship and the classes she instructs are centrally concerned with self-expression, agency, and identity in the contexts of media and digital technology.

Kristin Moran

Kristin Moran is a professor of Communication at the University of San Diego and currently serves as the Associate Dean for Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches courses in media studies and her current research investigates the shifting strategies of digital delivery and its impact on the creative process with attention to the representation of Latinx characters and narrative strategies.