The media in everyday life defines and shapes social identities through proliferating discourses unobstructed by the truth. In other words to simplify identities in society based on discourses in the media involves elements of exaggeration and generalisation. The article ‘Debating Identity’ by S During explores the problems which arise when trying to define identity. During states, ‘Identities are culturally inflected, and are determined by power relations within a community’. In as much as the media can shape discourse in society surrounding media events, it can also shape discourse which prescribes people to specific identities. ‘The fit between an identity and an individual self, is therefore, structurally loose’ as media industries accelerate identity formation by ‘quickly targeting particular identities as specific, de-limited consumer markets’.

For example, in the article ‘Questioning the Generational Divide’, Susan Herring explores the way in which public discourse has constructed the image of the ‘Internet Generation’ or ‘the first generation to grow up in a world where the internet was always present’; as a member of the ‘Internet Generation’ my identity is efficiently narrowed down to certain traits as prescribed by public discourse. For example, media commentators often represent my generation of media users as vulnerable and in need of societal protection from the dangerous effects of the Internet. Herring explains that this discourse reflects what journalists perceive as the concerns of parents (of course taking liberties on the truth) whose children spend time on the Internet; especially those children who god forbid spend time on destructive and perilous social networking sites. There is a moral panic being represented in the media regarding the dangers of sites such as MySpace where child abductions, moral corruptions and a deterioration of societal values are supposedly inherent. Herring asserts that such discourses are manifestations of less techno savvy adults who view the Internet as an unfamiliar and intimidating landscape. Conversely however, the ‘Internet Generation’ uses the Internet as a normative communication and information tool. To misrepresent us as being vulnerable victims of the Internet ‘shows a great deal about the relations of power that structure youth’.

So, what is true identity then if identity is socially understood? In order to better understand identities it is important for us to understand the forces and influences of the media that create societal discourses surrounding those identities.

During, Simon. “Debating Identity” In Cultural Studies: A critical Introduction, Routledge: London, 2005, 145-152

Herring, Susan. “Questioning te Generational Divide: Technological Exoticism and Adult Constructions of Online Youth Identity”. IN BUckingham, David (Ed.) Youth, Identity and Digital Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008, 71-91