New World of YouTube Fan Fiction - Questions and Choices for Teenagers and Parents

New World of YouTube Fan Fiction - Questions and Choices 

for Teenagers and Parents

"The culture of fandoms is relatively new. Not being a fan of someone per se, but today it's easier to feel connected to a celebrity or creator. Back then they were just celebrities so they may not understand how we feel as though we know them." Helena…teen creative writer on Wattpad…connected at 12 years

 

Have you heard of Wattpad on YouTube, a special community where 13 year old teens can set up an account, write and read stories by some of their favorite stars? Does it matter if internet safety experts have concerns about X-rated, dark, violent, sexual or offensive content with recommendations “you’ll also like this.” 

Psychologists explain teens can be fixated with popular celebrities and favorite online stars; made to feel special by belonging and consuming anything and everything. This new special YouTuber hero (heroine) talks directly to the camera, up close and personal, with effective eye-contact to give the feeling of authentic friendship.

Have you heard of this new term called  a parasocial relationship between fans and YouTubers, where they feel a particularly strong sense of allegiance through their vlogs?

"In a parasocial relationship, the audience comes to feel that the personality is a friend and they experience the person as if they were in a reciprocal relationship, rather than a one-sided one … this experience is amplified in social media where influencers respond to comments and fans, increasing the illusion of friendship."  Pamela Rutledge (media psychologist)

So what happens if Fan Fiction can have adult themes or turn dark or inappropriate with nude references to  the “biggest horny boy ever met,”  or violence, homophobia and even suicide?  

Is the adolescent brain assaulted again by content it is not emotionally mature enough to understand?  Or worse yet, grow neuronal pathways that this is normal behavior or culturally appropriate.

Smut warnings exist; screenshots are shared to Instagram for more viewers. There are no age restrictions on the majority of fan fiction sites. Even Wattpad notes that “problems can also arise if the fantastic online world starts to get in the way of their real offline life.”

One teen writer thinks fan fiction is something older people just don't understand like teenagers do or value “fandom.” She admits there is certainly mature adult themes that can get pretty dark sometimes; but she reads the descriptions first and knows what she is getting into. She is glad to be part of it.  Good for her … easier said than done.

My teacher's heart breaks. I loved to teach creative writing to my students. There were formal rules to write many different kinds of paragraphs from descriptive to expository with many outlines to structure from least to most important with a comprehensive conclusion. Novel studies further outlined the importance of settings and plot for a suspenseful mood to paint the main character and add conflict to the antagonist. 

But, today, by reading this one article, I had to add some new dictionary vocabulary to this social media revolution:

Wattpad, internet safety expert, media psychologist, parasocial relationship, online Fan Fiction, fandom, YouTubers, adultification. (I knew what a vlog is.)

Once again, what I call the Social Media Medusa Manipulator extends her domain into creative writing for teens with or without positive intentions … right or wrong answers ... leaving the choice to a teenager to make a logical choice during an emotional transition of time.

Once again, do parents have to worry … or not? Where do children go if something upsets them beyond their years? Definitely, the responsibility lies  with the parents to control these safety settings, sometimes harder to do with moving targets and fly-by-night influencers.

"There's nothing more important than having an open dialogue with your child about what and who they are engaging with online. Having regular, honest, and open conversations with your child is the best way to stay in tune."

Carolyn Bunting, the CEO of Internet Matters, an organization dedicated to keeping children safe online.

This is the reality of our Internet Revolution where the average child owns their first smartphone at 10.3 years and can open  accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Kik and Snapchat.

Are parents somewhat complicit in allowing their kids exposure to content that generation ago would be off limits?  

Is the stage set for early adultification making the right time for marketers to take advantage of adolescent social rites of passage? 

So many questions. What do you think? What are the problems? What are the solutions? I believe more than tactics are required to stop this social media  infiltration with a different mindset for teenagers.

Sincerely,

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661 (please leave a message for the best time to talk)

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

PS: I welcome podcast interviews. See previous blogs.

Excerpt: Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand - a timely tale of social media struggles, regrets and survival with superpower tool.

"Imagine, you are just 14 years old, yet your brain is wired for positive feedback which gets a dopamine spike with every click, every buzz, to keep the story fresh and wanting more.  How could it be any other way? Your habit of posing and posting becomes like an itch, somebody else's itch, but you got to keep scratching it, painful as it may be at times, because sometimes you get the word LIKE.

And here's the true tragedy. Many young people who inhabit their smart phones will refuse to face any other truth beyond their existence on their smart phones because it becomes the core of their experience. Think about that. Mass media will never apologize for what it is doing because it makes money. Cosmetics and fashion are expensive. Sex sells whether you are 14 or 40. Did you know plastic surgeries have increased by nearly 100% in the last few years?"

Read the full article: YouTuber Fan Fiction Teens Exposure to Violent Sexual Content 

My Opinion About Dr. Phil On Meeting Today's Cinderella as a Social Media Influencer

My Opinion about Dr. Phil On Meeting Today’s Cinderella as a Social Media Influencer

                 The race for cheap, unearned attention is a race that can’t be won. As soon as someone gains the lead, someone else will lower their standards and take a shortcut to get even more. The players have already surrendered their self-esteem, so it’s simply an escalating hijack of trust. And so we have dark patterns, once-respected media outlets with shameless headlines and an entire industry based on click bait, come-ons and trickery. 

Seth Godin

Well, Dr. Phil, as a psychologist and an arbiter of our society, seems to be taking another look at social media impacts. Recently, Sept. 12, he had a show called Desperate for Insta-Fame. He introduced a 21-year-old woman called Jessy who spent over 11 hours a day researching, planning and taping outrageous content for likes and follows.

There she sat with long black hair, heavy eye makeup, lacquered lips, expensive cut-out pumps with Cinderella glass heels, and long fingernails curling into glossy arcs with sequined flower details…very exclusive, waving them in front of Dr. Phil.

She was proud to have 100,000 Instagram followers who looked forward to her posts, the more offensive the better. She bragged the more stupid you act, the more views you get. Her motto is "Do What Others Won’t Do" like stealing a sandwich off a customer’s plate and running away on video tape. It’s the shock value where people “hate to love you,” she explained. My head spins, is this the be-nasty fuel, the ignition on social media? 

She bragged about her celebrity status standing out in parties and hooking up with guys but only if they had more followers than her. Then her Tweeter and  Instagram were temporarily shut down because of racist tweets which were reactive to other posts not personal at all she said. But her despair had hit the worst possible tragedy from making 500K dollars, as claimed, to living off food stamps with beautiful fingernails and shoes. She was “nothing without her followers.” But exactly, who are these faithful subjects with nothing better to do than watch fools making fun of themselves?

When faced by a life counselor who outlined the values of being yourself but only better (title of his book), she dapped away a few tears saying she didn’t have much parental guidance or friends. 

Dr. Phil asked her to do one thing every day over 5 days to turn her life around. The advice was to go to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter and serve lunch to people who truly had nothing and no excuses.

I don’t know, Dr. Phil, if serving people as a scullery maid will enlighten her potential in the real or virtual world. Can her brain ingrained with so much self-flattery and disrespecting rights of others over years on social media be changed with a few hours of volunteer work?

We are all familiar with Cinderella, a poor mistreated girl who finds her dream through magic fairies turning pumpkins into royal coaches and a glass slipper who wins the hand of a prince to live happily ever after. But what about the magical domains in today’s changing world especially for young teenage girls?

Certainly, social media dominates the landscape and celebrities rule. We are socially engaged to a  new princess or prince called the influencers who oversee some of the largest gatherings found on YouTube and Instagram. We admire and trust them to buy their choices of fashion, food, entertainment, sports, colleges or favorite restaurants. 

For example, a top You Tuber with 100,000 loyal followers or more can expect to generate thousands from advertisements by plugging their favorite products or stores.  An Instagram user with 100,000 followers can command $5,000 for a post made in partnership with a company or brand.

There are three points here. One, as consumers, we have always followed trends or word of mouth recommendations. Two, what kind of consumerism is based on the flagrant and outrageous behavior of a selfie brand that says I am so crazy but respect me,  like me and follow me? How does stupidity become a trend? Third, there is no doubt that social engagement and personal information are  today’s currency, easy to collect and manipulate.  

However, the big question is how fair is this to vulnerable teenagers as to what to like, where to go and who your friends are; not withstanding these bizarre selfie-jesters who juggle craziness for viral fame by stealing sandwiches or licking ice cream containers in supermarkets.

As a retired teacher who understands the learning process,  I can only shake my head at the lack of basic subject matter for teenagers, especially girls, about the power of social media and how to contain its forces for personal growth and development, not distraction, amorality and futility.  

In my opinion, we need far more serious intervention to reset social norms than a week of KP duty to win the battle. To that need, I wrote an e-book Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand for three main reasons:

1. How to stop social media from taking advantage of a rash and brash teenage brain still in development

2. How to start looking at value of Time and power of choice as a superpower tool to avoid making bad mistakes that may affect the total Timeline

3. How to use symbols to better discuss what it means to grow up in a mass media world personified here as a Giant Clown Face of epic proportion 

What is your opinion about this modern day Cinderella? Do you think that Dr. Phil's solution will get results? What do you think can help this young woman?

I look forward to your opinions and comments...always important. 

Sincerely,

Annemarie Berukoff

amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661 

Excerpt from Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand: 

Today the real tragedy with young people is how to overcome the huge problems created by a Giant Media Monster; like a Medusa manipulator using her vast army of words and images to twist, to seduce and undermine the ability of people to think critically and freely. It's like a vast army of fake selfies attacking what's good and normal.

The great personal tragedy is made worse because most young people do not use their real characters to take offensive action but rather create their own fake Selfies to closely reflect what the Media Monster promotes.  These are soldiers on the same side with the same goals which means the Monster wins every time. Like I said before, the Monster has no regret for what it is doing; it will never apologize if you keep liking her artificial ugliness again and again.

PS: Read another blog about Dr. Phil's encounter with viral madness.

PPS: I am always looking for podcast interviews.