Essentials of Sociology. George Ritzer

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      What do you think the impact will be of the increasing amount of time young children are spending looking at devices’ screens?

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      Mass Media and New Media

      Until recently, much of the emphasis on the role of the mass media in socialization has been on the effects of television and the enormous number of hours per week children spend in front of their TVs (Comstock and Scharrer 2007). TV remains an important socialization agent, especially for young children. However, it is clear that as children mature, especially in the middle and upper classes, more of their socialization is taking place via the computer, smartphones, tablets, video games, and other recent and emerging technologies (Rideout, Foehr, and Roberts 2010). As the range of media devices has expanded, so has the portion of time spent using them. In 2011, infants and children up to the age of 8 spent an average of 5 minutes on mobile devices, while in 2017 they spent an average of 48 minutes on such devices (Common Sense Media 2017a, b). The percentage of young people who own their own media devices is high and, for the most part, increasing.

      Of course, a world of wonderful information is available to children on the computer via Google and other forms of new media. However, there are also lots of worrying things online that children can easily find or stumble upon. In addition, access to computers has changed the viewing experience considerably. Watching TV programs or movies is a passive activity. Even when “adult themes” are presented, the child is an observer, not a participant. However, on computers and other new digital media, the child can play video games such as Minecraft, Slime Rancher, Fortnite, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Some of these games engage children in simulations of antisocial activities, such as stealing cars, evading police chases, and engaging in shootouts. Clearly, the nature of the socialization implicit in such games is at odds with the lessons parents and teachers wish to impart.

      Smartphones and social networking sites play a role in socialization as well, mostly through the influence of peers (Ibáñez-Cubillas, Díaz-Martín, and Díaz-Martín 2017). A great deal of peer socialization also takes place via sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat (boyd 2014; Skoog, Sobring, and Bohlin 2015). On average, 1.5 billion people log onto Facebook daily, and among 18- to 24-year-olds 94 percent watch videos shared on YouTube and 78 percent use Snapchat, often more than once a day (Smith and Anderson 2018). All of this is so new, and new forms of media are emerging so rapidly, that it is hard to know exactly what role the new media will play in socialization in the future, but its role is likely to be increasingly powerful and pervasive.

      Digital Living: Cyberbullying

      Cyberbullying is the “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” (cited in Simmons 2011, 104). While cyberbullying involves both genders, teenage girls are more likely to be the targets, and to a lesser degree the perpetrators, of cyberbullying. This is true, in part, because girls are more likely to be online, especially to use social media such as Instagram and Twitter. The cyberworld, especially social media, is very much about relationships, and girls are particularly likely to engage in them on the internet. They are also more likely to wreck online relationships by being cyberbullies or have them wrecked by comments or images created by other cyberbullies. On Instagram, for example, they can easily find out who has the most followers or “likes” and use that information to humiliate the victim. Most instances of cyberbullying involve those known to the victim (e.g., a friend, a former boyfriend); few involve total strangers.

      There are many attractions to cyberbullying in comparison to face-to-face bullying. Cyberbullying is faster and simpler and involves fewer complications than a physical assault. A click by a cyberbully will do the job and excludes eye contact, raised voices, and immediate material consequences. In addition, it leaves a near-permanent trail that others can follow later. The internet also offers a wide range of weapons to the cyberbully, such as attacking physical appearance, undermining romantic or social relationships, tagging humiliating or embarrassing photos, leaving vicious comments, and even suggesting that the target might want to kill herself or himself. Inhibitions are reduced or eliminated on the internet, and there are few deterrents to cyberbullying. More people can gang up on the target than is possible in face-to-face situations. Victims of cyberbullying “are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, school violence, academic trouble, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts” (Simmons 2011, 109). While bullying occurs online, it usually has roots in, and repercussions for, the social world and lives of those involved.

      Consumer Culture

      Consistent with the emphasis on consumption in this book, and in the contemporary world, it is important to understand that children need to be socialized in order to consume, especially to devote a significant portion of their lives to consumption (Atkinson, Nelson, and Rademacher 2015). Like many other types of socialization, much of this takes place early on in the family (Meuleman and Lubbers 2016), in schools, and in peer groups. Of course, we must not ignore the role of marketing, especially to children, in how people learn to consume (Schor 2005).

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