Introduction and Background in Adolescent Development Theory

      The prevalence of social networking in our culture today is undeniable. According to a Pew study, eighty seven percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 now say they are online. Facebook alone has over 500 million active users and according to a 2010 study, over 35% of the users are between the ages of 13 and 24 (Corbett). The amount of adolescents with online profiles is growing significantly. Since this is the first generation of adolescents to grow up with social networks, the impact on development remains mostly to be seen. However, psychologists are already able to see certain trends in technology that will most likely alter or at least complicate identity development in adolescents. I am personally invested in this issue because I will be teaching at the high school level in the next year or so and though I am learning now about the stages of adolescent identity development, the impact of social networking may change what we know about development within the next few years. C.J. Pascoe, a sociologist at the University of Berkeley, claims, “the internet affords an independence to teenagers that [we haven’t] seen since the invention of the car” (Poscoe 1). We are experiencing a shift in adolescence that, according to Poscoe, has not occurred for over half a century and it is vital that parents and educators become aware of the inevitable impact that this shift will have on modern teens.

         There are three main issues to look at when studying the influence of social networking on adolescent identity development. The first of these issues is the opportunity that online profiles allow one to create an ideal identity, which may confuse identity development by distracting adolescents from finding their actual identity.  The second issue is the increase in availability and influence of friends and social groups in adolescent’s lives. Lastly, cyber-bullying is a real issue and there is already evidence that shows the impact that this new form of bullying has on the self-esteem of adolescents during this crucial and highly vulnerable time.

         Erik Erikson was one of the first psychologists to study closely the stages of development that adolescents experience. “Adolescence is described by Erikson as the period during which the individual must establish a sense of personal identity and avoid the dangers of role diffusion and identity confusion” (Adolescence 3). “Until this fifth stage, development depends on what is done to a person.  At this point, development now depends primarily upon what a person does” (Erikson). Erikson claims that this crucial time in developing occurs during the ages of 12 to 18 or so; a demographic that occupies 35% of Facebook users, not to mention other social networking sites. James Marcia later revised Erikson’s ideas about identity development with his creation of four identity statuses. The main status that is most likely to occur during adolescence is what he calls the moratorium phase. During this stage, "Individuals…are in an acute state of crisis. They are exploring and actively searching for alternatives, and struggling to find their identity; but have not yet made any commitment or have only developed very temporary kinds of commitment" (Adolescence 5). Both Erikson and Marcia recognize adolescence as a crucial time for identity development, which is vulnerable to outside influences.