The Role of Social Media in Shaping Adolescent Identity: An Analysis of Metricized and Networked Selves

This paper investigates how social media influences adolescent identity formation, specifically exploring the tension between the "metricized self" and the "networked self."

Employing a mixed-methods approach, the author triangulates primary survey data from 26 adolescents with theoretical frameworks such as Zuboff’s surveillance capitalism and Jenkins’ participatory culture. The analysis distinguishes between visually-centered and text-centered platforms, arguing that identity formation is driven more by the quality of engagement (active vs. passive) than the quantity of screen time.

The exemplar is valuable for its nuanced application of sociological concepts to primary data and its critical analysis of how algorithmic architectures commodify the process of self-discovery.