The media use of American youngsters in the age of narcissism: Surviving in a 24/7 media shock and awe – distracted by everything

Abstract

Digital life in the age of nonstop connection is not easy, especially not for the so-called Millennials, youngsters born after 1980. Research findings, such as the recently released comprehensive reports by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Pew Foundation, highlight that media are among the most powerful forces in young people’s lives today. Eight- to twenty-somethings in the US spend more than 50 h in front of a screen each week. That is more than a regular working week. The TV shows they watch, video games they play, songs they listen to, books they read, text messages they send and websites they visit are an enormous part of their lives, offering a constant stream of messages about families, peers, relationships, gender roles, sex, violence, food, values, clothes, and so on. Earlier claims that they associate with and through media in different ways as the older generations, and therefore are better at multi-tasking, seem not to be supported by new findings. Among American youth, there is evidence that increasing globalization within media systems has shaped a high degree of individualism in society. High individualism can lead to narcissism, which leads to a very positive and inflated view of self. This value is growing rapidly in the American culture fueled by the mass media, including the new media and social networks, and contributes to new attitudes toward sex, sexuality, and individual identity.