Step 1: Research about deindividuation among teenagers on online platforms, digital environments and social gatherings
A reminder from my first two blog posts that deindividuation is where individuals lose self control, awareness and personal accountability in a group setting. These are environments, where people are susceptible to mob mentality as your personal actions can be justified if everybody else is doing it. Individuals then participe in actions and trends, showing impulsive behaviours that they would typically avoid if alone. The larger the group, the greater sense of deindividuation, and loss of one’s self.
In this specific blog post, I will be exploring more how this concept is used among teenagers, specifically on online platforms which create cyberbullying and in social gatherings, where people feel pressured to party like other people.
Cyberbullying and trolling among teenagers is a very common form of deindividuation, described as actions that are “anonymous, intentional, provocative, and hostile interactions on social media platforms in the form of insulting and manipulative posts, aggressive messages, incendiary or irrelevant comments to provoke or offend users”. (1) On online platforms, people feel more inclined to say things that they normally would not say, because they have anonymity. They can hide behind a screen and they are not responsable for their actions. As they are camouflaged with a group full of people contributing to hate, a group can amplify a common discriminating or hateful comment. These comments can continue as cyberbullies cannot be identified or linked back to their online image. People are able to avoid repercussions from their actions as within a group, it is harder to find one bully, specifically online where people stay hidden or anonymous. (1)
Social media unfortunately creates this platform where people can act inappropriately without wearing the identity or taking accountability for their actions. Specifically among teenagers, who already face problems fitting in, it is such a current platform to express judgement and hate. (2) Statistics prove that 31% of Canadian youth have reported to being cyber-bullied showing that it is a theme amongst teenagers. (3) On social media, this phenomenon is even more present, because of “online disinhibition effect” where people do things online that they wouldn’t say to somebody when talking to them one-one-one. (4) This idea of deindividuation can be a big reason why teenagers feel the need to participate in wrong acts, and it is one way that they lose themselves in a crowd with anonymity due to deindividuation.
The other form of deindividuation among teenagers is in social settings, specifically involving drugs or alcohol. Specifically in a party setting, deindividuation is very present, more than individuals realize. When around other teenagers, similar age, people can adopt a mob mentality or succumb to peer pressure. Individuals are more likely to make impulsive actions in a group setting and feel comfortable participating in things that they would not do alone, because they are able to adopt a collective mentality. It is justified saying that everybody else is doing it or I am just fitting in with the crowd.
Peer pressure and group behaviour is something that impacts teenagers daily. As humans, we have a deep need to feel a part of something, to belong. Research shows that dopamine levels are higher in teenagers with their friends when they are participating in something risk-taking. This is because when we feel like we are doing something as a group, we do not need to take accountability. Group mentality can lead to negative behaviours and out-of-character actions. It has been shown that groups often react and behave emotionally without thinking, and are not aware when they have made a hurtful comment to another person. This is a key part of human nature, this unawareness and lack of personal responsibility for our actions in a group. (5)
The point of this blog post was to prove that as teenagers, we are more likely to be affected by deindividuation from our natural desire to fit in with the world around us. These actions we take that seem like counter our character are often unconscious actions when participating in a group. As teenagers, we are still discovering our identity, which makes it even easier to lose who we are within a crowd. In addition, we can see that mob mentality, anonymity and peer pressure are key amplifiers, causing humans to lose themselves due to deindividuation.
Sources:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378720625001144
- https://sites.psu.edu/aspsy/2022/03/01/social-media-and-deindividuation/
- https://rcmp.ca/en/gazette/just-facts-cyberbullying
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect
- https://nicolamorgan.com/blog/2017/12/15/peer-pressure-group-behaviour-teenagers/
