Towards the end of 8th grade I for some reason felt the need to want a Myspace account; unfortunately at that time my mom was very strict on social media and using the Internet too much. So, being a teenager and not listening to parents, I went behind my moms back and made a Myspace account. Doing this felt kind of good and rebellious considering my mom still had a child protection on my AIM account and a child lock on MTV. I remember not having a Myspace and how left out I felt because so many of my friends had one and my sister who is eight years older than me had one too. As a teenager you thrive to be accepted into some group of friends and possibly do anything to be a part of it. Myspace and Facebook were becoming more popular for my age group around this time and this need for social media was pushing through middle and high schools.
My Super Sweet 16 is a show that was on MTV that featured very wealthy families giving their children overly extravagant, expensive and unattainable sweet 16 birthday parties. The parties had celebrity guests, expensive cars, the best venues and hundreds of "friends" that would have died to go to the party. As a teenager who is greatly influenced by media, I compared my life to the unattainable lives of those in the show. It showed me that if I had a lot of money and a lot of material "things" then a lot of friends would follow.
Teen magazines that featured some of the top celebrities when I was a young teenager were one of my favorite things. These types of magazines would have quizzes about love and compatibility, the hottest trends and make-up tips and all information on teen celebs. As teens we were smothered by these magazines and TV shows that showed us how to be teenagers. They influenced us in a way that having crushes, drama and gossiping was the way to be a teen. Love quizzes showed us that romantic relationships were only between boys and girls and we didn't really know otherwise. These magazines also came with large posters that I would hang up all over my walls and so did most of my friends. We surrounded ourselves with celebrity media and used that as a way to show that we were teens.
Hi Lexi!
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. I had a Myspace account as well and I felt like a rebel because my mother had no idea what my password was, allowing me to have complete control over my "page". I also remember watching the show My Super Sweet 16. As the show aired, the amounts in dollars spent on certain items are glamorized in the show. I remember how special turning "16" was for me, I wanted it to be extravagant. My mother had a hotel sleepover for me to invite my friends. That night we managed to sneak around the hotel, and knock on random hotel doors joking around.
Great post!
-Leena