Most Common Forms of Communication in Adolescents
Communication in adolescents is an exploration of a whole world of emotions, aspirations, mysteries, searches, quests, and lessons of various kinds.
For teens, everything’s about living in the present, being themselves, and sharing their own space where encounters and self-knowledge are encouraged.
Mental confusion
That transition period between childhood and adulthood is full of ups and downs and of internal conflicts. Adolescents form groups based on their ways of thinking and feeling and create their own worlds. Some respect social norms, others transgress them. The forms of communication are adapted to their respective experiences.
Adolescents may try to stand out, know everything, or live fashion to the fullest, or reject it completely. At the same time, they tend to isolate themselves and are often sullen. In this stage, biological and psychological transformations occur that are linked to new social demands.
More virtual than physical, communication in adolescents lacks quality face-to-face dialogue. They receive more visual and auditory stimuli and are less affectionate. Communication in adolescents doesn’t always take place in real-time. They’re often overloaded with information and may feel empty, bored, and unfocused.
On the web, shared codes decrease, and bonds are made through screens. Closeness, touch, and affection move into the background.
Today’s adolescents read and write less than before. Therefore, the pleasure of reading and writing must be stimulated. And the best allies for this are home or public libraries, and in the interest that adults show in it.
Also, personal diaries, owned by the author and whose keeping is their strict responsibility, bring young people closer to writing through the story of their own experiences.
Virtual communication in adolescents
Blogs and social media are common forms of communication among teens. The screens of the different portable devices are filled with phrases and emoticons that capture moods.
Pseudonyms are another way to communicate without exposing yourself to criticism, through conversations and photos in chats or in emails.
Chatting on the web, playing online games, or sharing music and videos on YouTube is all the rage. Text messages and emails, even in their own language, take a backseat, but social media is vital.
- On Instagram, you can upload photos and home videos that last for several minutes.
- Twitter can communicate short messages of 280 characters or less to express feelings. Users can also upload photos and interact through hashtags that become a trend.
- Pinterest boards and pins allow young people to save pages that interest them and organize them according to their preferences.
- On Tumblr, they can mix photos and videos. This kind of blog is a dynamic and entertaining way of narrating situations with audiovisual tools.
- Vine was developed by Twitter, but it’s similar to Instagram, only that it restricts videos to 6 seconds. It can be shared on Twitter or Facebook and you can tag your friends.
- Snapchat is preferred by those who don’t want to leave a trace of their communications. They can send photos or videos to contacts, which are automatically deleted after 1 to 10 seconds.
Communication in adolescents (on the street)
Depending on the vision of the world that they’ve built from their family environment, adolescents will create new places and styles of expression.
- Pichacao is a type of graffiti that combines colorful forms of drawings and alphabetic writing that adolescents disseminate in public spaces. They want the message to be deciphered by members of other groups and not by society.
- Urbexing: Urban explorers want to conquer new spaces. They roam the streets at any time, as a way to get away from home. They may look to explore old abandoned buildings and structures.
- Parkour leads young people to move around the city with their bodies as the only protection against obstacles in search of personal improvement.
- Flashmobs are people who come together at a predetermined public place and time to quickly do something unusual.
Communication in adolescents has different ways of projecting itself. It can be positive and be limited to the healthy use of the internet and social networks or lead to negative bodily actions for themselves and their environment. A good family relationship makes all the difference.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Berger, K. S. (2007). Psicología del desarrollo: infancia y adolescencia. Ed. Médica Panamericana.
- Coleman, J. C., & Hendry, L. B. (2003). Psicología de la adolescencia. Ediciones Morata.
- de la Niñez, C. (2008). Adolescencia. Plan de Pro-tección Integral a la niñez y adolescencia del cantón Cuenca, 2010. http://www.cpccs.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1545641.pdf
- Rice, P. F., Carnicero, C., & Antoniorev, J. (2000). Adolescencia: desarrollo, relaciones y cultura (No. 159.922. 8). Prentice Hall,.
