ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a selection of important approaches relating to older and newer media. It starts with a brief introduction to some major concepts relating to self and identity. The chapter presents theory and findings on the use of the Internet and social network sites which appear to be particularly relevant when it comes to establishing a firm sense of oneself in adolescence. One core aspect of identity is gender. For many years, public and scholarly attention has been devoted to the portrayal of women in the media and how these portrayals shape self-concepts, gender-related attitudes, and perceptions of the female body. The importance of social network sites notwithstanding, individuals engage in many different media activities. From a methodological perspective, much of the previous research on different types of media and identity aspects has been correlational or focused exclusively on one potential direction of causal influence.
