Adolescents and the Internet: How Can I Be Myself?

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Adolescence is a delicate, vivid period of life. Although adolescence is mainly thought to take place in the teenage years, it is different for everyone and may range anywhere from nine years old all the way into the early twenties, though still with individual deviations from the norm. Adolescence is a critical period in which many firsts are had: first boyfriend, first girlfriend, first job, first car and perhaps most prominently (for many) is the first self- identity crisis. Developing a self has always been one of the major goals of adolescence, and the internet creates opportunities for adolescents to create selves online. David Weinberger questions the validity and development of the online self in “Selection from Small Pieces Loosely Joined.” Weinberger explains the new world of the internet and how it is being pioneered. He maintains that the internet creates a new online world in which one may develop a fresh, new self. Allie Brosh certainly utilizes the internet in her self-development. Brosh is the 24-year-old creator of the popular blog Hyperbole and a Half who Terry Gross interviewed on the radio program Fresh Air. In the interview, entitled “Even When it Hurts ‘A LOT’, Brosh Faces Life with Plenty of Hyperbole”, Brosh describes how she originally began consistently blogging because of a strange turn of events in her life involving a self-identity crisis after college. Currently, she uses her blog to project her self to others and write humorous posts that others can relate to. This is a way of forming a self online. Forming a self online is one of the main topics of “Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships” an essay from the book The Future of Children. Written by Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia Greenfield...

... middle of paper ...

...rt Two.” hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com. 9 May 2013.
Greenfield, Patricia. Subrahmanyam, Kaveri. “Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships." The Future of Children. Children and Electronic Media, Spring 2008. Spring 2008. 133-138. Print.
Lewis, Michael. “Pyramids and Pancakes.” Elementary Composition Anthology of Readings. 1st Edition. IUSB English Department. New York: McGraw Hill Company, 2012. 103. Print.
National Public Radio Books. Gross, Terry. “Even When It Hurts 'ALOT,' Brosh Faces Life With Plenty Of 'Hyperbole'.” npr.com. 12 Nov. 4. 2013.
Weinberger, David. “Selection from Small Pieces Loosely Joined.” Elementary Composition Anthology of Readings. IUSB English Dept., 2013. 2002. 108. Print.
Zhao, Shanyang. “The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others.” Symbolic interaction. Temple University, 2005. 22 Dec. 2005. 392. Print.

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