Media Use in Identity Construction Essay

In society today the construction of a personal identity element can be seen to be somewhat problematic and difficult. Young people are surrounded by influential imagery, especially that of popular media. It is no longer possible for an identity to be constructed merely in a small community and only be influenced by family. Nowadays, arguably everything concerning out lives is seen to be media-saturated.Therefore, it is taken for granted(predicate) that in constructing an identity young people would make use of imagery derived from the popular media. For example, it is becoming progressively common for young children to have their own television and music systems in their bedrooms whilst similarly having easy and customary access to magazines especially aimed at the developing child and/or teenager. Such young people would also have a way of accessing the Internet be it at school or sometimes at home.However, it is beautiful to say that in some instances the freedom of explorin g the web could be limited depending on the survival of the fittest of the parents or teachers. So, if young people have such frequent access and an interest in the media, it is fair to say that their behaviour and their sense of self will be influenced to some degree by what they see, read, visit or discover for themselves. Such an influence may include a particular way of behaving or dressing to the kind of music a person chooses to listen to.These are all aspects which go towards constructing a persons own personal identity. By close investigation into the popular media, and by exploitation two specific examples of a popular teen magazine and a recent teenage constitute single that got to number 2 in the British charts, I intend to illustrate the various slipway in which young people make use of imagery derived from popular media in the construction of their identities.