agents of socialization. As we saw in Black Men and Public Space (p. 100), race and ethnicity are important factors in socialization, as is gender. We discuss gender socialization in more detail in Chapter 9, but note here that race, class, and gender act as structural constraints on many members of the population, as they receive different messages about who they are and how they should behave. Therefore, it is important to recognize the interplay of these variables in people’s lives.
Electronic Media
Take a moment to consider the impact of rapidly growing screen time on the socialization process. Television, computers, and other electronic devices are important informal agents of socialization at the meso level. They can be categorized as intermediate-sized social units—larger than a local community but smaller than a nation. However, their impact reaches from the micro to macro levels, from individuals and families to nation-states and global agencies. Electronic media shape global policies at the macro level and affect family interactions at the micro level.
Internet users now number over 4 billion, over half of the world’s population; the fastest growth of users is in Africa (Kemp 2018), and the largest number of users are in China, followed by India not far behind. In all of North America, 70% of the population had at least one social networking account in 2017, including 81% in the United States (Statista 2018b). The rapid change in electronic usage around the world is affecting the socialization process, world interconnectedness, and how people communicate from the micro to macro levels. Figure 4.2 shows the use of social media in the United States in 2018 (Smith and Anderson 2018).
▼ Figure 4.2 Social Media Use in the United States
Source: “Social Media Use in 2018.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. (March 1, 2018), http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018.
Note: Pre-2018 telephone poll data are not available for YouTube, Snapchat, or WhatsApp.
Young adults and millennials spend more time on their mobile phones and catch up on TV shows through that medium. By the time an average child in the United States reaches age 18, he or she will have spent more time watching television than doing any other single activity besides sleeping. Although TV is still the most watched media, other electronic forms are catching up and in some cases surpassing TV (Dunn 2017).
Thinking Sociologically
What impact do you think the introduction of electronics and social media has on families in the Global South developing countries, especially in rural areas?
On average, children 9 years and under in the United States are on their screens more than 2 hours a day; pediatricians agree that this affects their socialization experience, often negatively, depending on the amount and type of screen time. Children are spending much more time on mobile devices than they are reading, being read to, or playing outside. In addition, children from lower-income families (under $30,000 a year) spend more time with screen media than children from homes making more than $75,000 a year, a screen difference of 1 hour and 39 minutes daily (Howard 2017). Couch potato behavior cuts down on active play and brain development.
▲ These children illustrate how electronic devices influence the socialization process. Notice that they are not even all sharing the same device, and this influences the way they relate to each other.
© iStock/gradyreese
Mass media moguls influence what electronic media reaches children. These meso-level social institutions can influence the socialization of children within the most intimate of environments—the micro-level family. However, what influence they have depends on parental decisions about access to media. Parents oversee children’s media experiences, what they are allowed to watch and for how long (Ofcom 2017). Parents who play an active role in helping children understand the content of television and computer games can have a powerful effect on mitigating media’s negative impacts and enhancing the positive aspects of media. The media usage habits of parents can also influence how their children respond to media (National Consumers League 2013).
Online Social Networking
Today, almost all teens in the United States are online. Whereas just 25% of teens see friends in person every day outside of school, 55% text their friends daily (Lenhart 2015). Over half of teens (61% of boys and 52% of girls) have met a friend online through social networking sites (e.g., Instagram or Snapchat) or online gaming sites. Girls who meet a friend online tend to do so through networking sites whereas boys are about equally likely to make a friend through an online game site (Lenhart 2015). One out of five teens has met a friend in person that they got to know online.
Although social networking sites can help people meet new friends, feel connected, and gain support from others, they can also lead to some negative consequences. For teens, in particular, social media sites can be full of friendship, drama, and bullying. As Figure 4.3 shows, 45% of teens say they are online almost constantly—an almost 100% increase in just 3 to 4 years. (Anderson and Jiang 2018; Lenhart 2015). Interaction via electronics is a major part of the socialization process.
▼ Figure 4.3 Frequency of Internet Use by U.S. Teens
Source: Anderson and Jiang (2018), Pew Research Center.
Note: The “less often” category includes teens who say they use the Internet “about once a day,” “several times a week,” and “less often.”
The next Engaging Sociology looks at social network usage across various demographic groups. Examine this issue in more depth by answering the questions following Table 4.2.
Engaging Sociology
Uses and Consequences of Social Networking
▼ Table 4.2
Source: Pew Research Center (2018a, 2018b, 2018c).
Engaging Sociology
1 Among the demographic variables of sex, age, education, and income, which one has a significant impact on who uses social networking sites?
2 How does the impact of historical time period on the socialization process help explain the differences in social media usage described in the table?
3 How has your own use (or nonuse) of social networking sites influenced (a) with whom you interact and (b) how you communicate with people? (Or if you do not use social networking sites, discuss how your nonuse of such sites has impacted your relationships with those who are users.)
4 Overall,
