Media Consumption and the Identity Projects of the Young

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to discern the different roles of media in the identity projects of the young. Building on the idea of social identification, the analysis is focused on defining the different ways and criteria in which their own media consumption is accounted for by the young when making sense of themselves and others. Empirical data for the study included 53 Finnish university students’ essays on their relationships with different media vehicles and contents. The findings indicate that media consumption attaches to the identity projects of the young by relating to their taste preferences, everyday concerns, lifestyles and life themes, thereby addressing the basic states of human existence, namely having, doing and being. The findings demonstrate that media consumption connects with five different identity projects: (a) being a global citizen, (b) being a student, (c) being young, (d) being a devotee and (e) being healthy.