To what extent do audiences use media to construct their own sense of collective identity?

Throughout recent years the way in which media is presented to audiences has drastically evolved, particularly with the introduction of the world wide web. Lacan's concept mentions that "by the age of 6, we recognise ourselves in the mirror". This shows that from an early age we begin to create our own identity. Web 2.0 has had a large impact on how we create our own collective identities as it is user genereated content so it allows us to associate ourselves with things that others say. As Henri Jenkins said, teens are constantly creating and customizing their online profiles which helps them to create a sense of collective identity or belonging.

Web 2.0 has been used to create collective identities in more than just creating profiles. The London Riots is a prime example of when web 2.0 has had a great impact on the way in which the events turned out. Youths used social networking sites to co-ordinate attacks on large scales and successfully raid shops before police could intervene. The same social networking sites were also used to upload pictures and videos of the rioters looting items from the shops. Many people viewed and "liked" these photos using the "like" features on the websites which also shows how they used media to construct their own sense of collective identity.

Web 2.0 has made many people create a collective identity for themselves which they probably would not have were it not for the opportunity and being able to be informed much quicker than previously. For example, during the Brixton riots in 1981, word of mouth was the main means of informing the public of the riots and because of this it was on a much smaller scale than the London riots. Many youths only became involved in the events so that they felt some sort of belonging

During the London riots the power of the media was shown in a large way, when both Twitter and BlackBerry messenger refused to terminate their services during the riots. This shows that the media has become so powerful that even the government cannot control it. To some extent this may raise the question, are creating our own collective identities or are they being given to us?

After the London riots tabloid newspapers began to create a moral panic by labelling all youths with discriminatory words such as yobs, brutes, savages, failures, monsters and many more. This combined with excessive use of pictures of a hooded youths created a stereotypical representation of all youths in a negative light which subliminally helped youths to create their sense of collective identity as they were essentially all excluded from the rest of society and were encouraged to behave in a way which conforms to their stereotypical representation.

In conclusion, audiences use media to a great extent to aid them in constructing their own sense of collective identity. In fact, it has almost become most people's main source of finding a collective identity. Whether it be Merleau Ponty's theory of having an embodied experience and anything in which we use our bodies to create new things builds our identity, or Henry Jenkins' theory of using social networking sites to aid us to create our collective identity by uploading photos or leaving comments on people's walls or even simply reading the newspaper, we are constantly trying to construct our collective identities no matter how difficult that may be due to the diverse opinions expressed in the media.