Selfies and videos of teenagers: The role of gender, territory, and sociocultural level

Abstract

Social networks integrate adolescent daily life by configuring modes of socialisation, negotiation and self-representation
through different practices that operate as subjectivation resources and condition the gender experience. The objective of
this study is to explore the production of selfies and videos among adolescents from Puebla (Mexico) and Galicia (Spain) from
a gender, territorial, and sociocultural perspective. A survey study was carried out using an online questionnaire designed
ad hoc and applied to 6,654 adolescents (14-17 years), with different gender identities, from public secondary schools in
Puebla and Galicia. The results show that the selfie is a more widespread practice among adolescents than video, with
revealing differences in its production. Similarities are evident in the level of preparation and the motivations that lead to
these practices. Gender differences are found in their production in terms of intentions, materialities, and body expression.
The family’s sociocultural level and the territory are visualised as realities that affect the production of these practices. The
conclusions point to a transition of knowledge and meanings between the selfie and video and the relevance of analysing
gender experience on social networks in light of the forms of power they exercise there