To what extent do audiences use media to construct their own sense of collective identity?

Over several years, there has been a dramatic change within the media and the ways in which it helps construct certain identities. Identity is forever mediated and can be suggested that it isn’t always certain. Our views and opinions can change so quickly depending on the way in which media choose to represent and construct certain stories back to us via various media texts.

For example if we consider the London Riots, we can agree that a strong stereotype was created by the media that youth were the main cause and problem of this matter. Henri Tajfels theory can strongly relate as the youth were portrayed in a negative light. This made them the ‘out-group’ leaving the elder and ‘mature’ class and viewers of the news to be the ‘in-group’. Already collective identities have been recognized however, some young people may decide to dress differently to hoodies and tracksuits so they don’t fall under the stereotypical category of those who judge. This then creates even more identities as the media have constructed an image of youth within society to form. His theory suggests that there is a strong distinction made by the media about the ‘youth’ that damaged the streets of London.

With the use of Web 2.0, the London Riots was spread all over the internet and on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This enabled people to communicate and share information which helps to develop a collective identity by having an opinion and sharing the same thoughts. Merlau Pontys theory can be applied here as we have an embodied experience and can present ourselves in many ways. By joining social network sites and integrating with other people who share the same ideas and personalities, gives us a sense of belonging; a collective identity. In addition, Blackberry Messenger was also used to spread the message of the riots. By having many open options makes it harder for regulators to keep things under control and many views and opinions are able to be spread. To cease this, Blackberry decided to turn off the use of Messenger in order to get some sort of control with the situation. However, this created more confusion as networks were down and complaints were made, creating even more frustration and anarchy within society.
From my perspective, I believe that the use of Web 2.0 helped me to create my sense of identity. Interacting with other people and getting used to the functions of Facebook and Twitter made me dependant on it so much that it has become an addiction, something which I have to check and update every day. The freedom to share my thoughts with others helps me to interact with them in order to gain something in common, suggesting that media plays a great part in creating my identity, thus helping to construct a collective one.

As an audience, we read newspapers to update us about everyday life. The media are able to construct their views about youth, portraying them in a negative light - as we know this is what sells. Michael Foucault’s theory can relate to this as he says that everyone is born with a basic identity, which is then mediated through the people we meet and soon becomes limited. His theory is clearly applicable here as it causes all audiences to refer to youth as ‘yobs’ because of the headlines and therefore construct us to be destructive and rebellious creating a limited view of our identity, which is falsely interpreted due to the mass media. A sense of moral panic is thus caused, creating a threat within society.
Furthermore, online press play a huge part in moulding our views as it has become a dominant aspect in which it can influence our minds and become our 'everyday reality'. Videos of the London Riots were shown of the destruction that was caused giving people a reason to dislike the youth of today. However, by having videos shown(on Youtube and Sky News) of youth justifying themselves, supports the media in creating these identities for us within society.

In conclusion, it can be seen that the audience rely heavily on media to construct their own sense of identity. The world and its news can only be fed by the media in many forms therefore, depending on how an article, story or text is written, we will interpret it in the way the media want to and make our minds up from that. With the continuous development in technology and new inventions, it will help to promote and present media in different formats and in effect, dominate our lives and way of thinking. It can be said that collective identity will still be formed in many different ways of interaction with the help of the media and the ways in which they decide to sell their products.