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Youtubers and the Construction of Adolescent Identity

Posted by FMR

The professors of the Department of Psychology, Vanesa Pérez-Torres and Yolanda Pastor, awarded by Comunicar Magazine (JCR-Q1)

 

 

 

 

Teachers Vanesa Pérez-Torres and Yolanda Pastor have been awarded one of the Diplomas of recognition of Scientific Excellence from the Comunicar magazine (JCR-Q1), for the impact of his article “The Youtuber and the Construction of the Adolescent Identity“ published in 2018. 

The investigation consisted of qualitatively analyze videos of different youtubers for explore its relationship with different aspects of identity construction in adolescence.

Youtubers are a social reference for today's adolescents and this study shows how they use videos to expose issues related to the construction of identity.  Thus, youtubers not only entertain, but also exercise, in some cases, a counselor role on key issues in identity formation:

  • physical changes of adolescence
  • Self-esteem and self-concept
  • Gender and vocational identity
  • Social relationships

The approach to these issues favors the identification of YouTubers with their followers. In this sense, the youtubers are perceived by young people as their equals, close people who share similar traits to yours, making it easy to quickly identify with them. The adolescent followers include messages of support for the youtuber, express their identification with the messages and use the comment spaces to present their personal experiences, expressing the same concerns in the configuration of their identity.

You can consult the awarding of the prizes here

Last modified on Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 18:52