By: Serena Edwards
Growing up in the early 2000s, the growing Gen-Z had a plethora of options to turn to during our preteen years. From the competition of going from Disney or Nickelodeon at 7:30 P.M. and having a subscription to Tiger Beat and J14 magazine, there was a visible separation of teen and adult content. With the vanishing of once-popular teen magazine “Teen Vogue,” many are reminiscing about the separation of teen and adult media. With a lack of representation in the media for preteens and teens to look up to, teens are skipping the most developmental parts of their lives.
On Nov. 3, it became apparent that teen media was dead once “Teen Vogue” was absorbed by “Vogue”. The sister brand separated the adult topics seen on Vogue and gave a lighter feeling to topics such as mental health and lifestyle. The absorption leaves teens to turn to other media outlets with less censorship.
TikTok has taken over most of the teens’ time nowadays. They have more screen time than reading time. We’ve gone from physically going to the mall to now buying things off the TikTok shop.
TikTok is an app used by a diverse age group. The app is specifically known for its “For You Page,” which is built based on the content you engage with. There are little to no restrictions on what teens, or truly any age group, can see on their timeline. This lack of filtering exposes content intended for older audiences to young users, leading influencers to promote items to unintended age groups. Last year, “Sephora Kids” was a term coined for pre-teens who came into Sephora buying skin care products catered to those of an older demographic, including products containing retinol, which is often used to treat wrinkles and acne. One of the brands that profited from this was Drunk Elephant, a skin care company that catered to millennials and older age groups.
Products with niacinamide and retinol are used to restore vitamins to the skin. Kids, especially teens, have sensitive skin since they are going through the first stages of development, also known as puberty. With the lack of knowledge on how to navigate it through media catered to them, they are turning to the older demographic.
Companies are engaging in the precocious behavior of preteens and kids. Actor and mother Shay Mitchell launched “Rini,” a skin care company built for kids and preteens. This has sparked controversy for many who feel like “kids should stay kids” and don’t need a skin care routine at this young age. The company is marketed towards those aged three and up as “play skin care”. But though it looks good on the outside, there is a problem that brews below the surface: insecurities.
When kids skip their developmental stages, they open themselves up to topics that they were never introduced to, causing confusion and their own perception.
There is no teen it girl that teens can turn to when times are tough, and they need guidance, not on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. For many people who grew up during the early 2000s, they had a diverse group of lifestyle “influencers” to turn to. Bethany Mota, Alisha Marie, Eva Gutowski, and many more were our “it girls”. They provided us with high school GRWMs (Get Ready With Me videos) and puberty life hacks. This content catered to the teen demographic, even though they were a little older. Everyone that the kids are looking up to now is in their twenties and is experiencing something completely different than their demographic. Who is the it girl for Gen Alpha? There is a lack of realistic lifestyle content for teens, and it is causing teens to have an unrealistic and unattainable teenage life.
It has even faded into the shows that were being watched this past summer. Love Island became the number one-watched reality TV show. That wasn’t because of the adults but because of the new audience: teens. Teens once again are chronically online, and TikTok raved about Love Island, which ultimately reached them quickly, and they became a part of the fandom.
The real problem stems from the pandemic. Since there was a restriction on the amount of social interaction allowed, they turned to social media and ditched books for Netflix and TikTok. This caused a lack of attraction to age-appropriate materials and more curiosity for the things they saw on TikTok. This became an addiction; the first app that they turn to now is TikTok and ‘brainrot’ and ‘ragebait’ content. Companies like Justice, a preteen clothing store, are being traded out for Lululemon and Edikted. It became apparent that companies would not be able to recover from it after the pandemic.
The impact of the lack of teen representation in media is shown now through the way that teens dress and behave, and it is only going to get worse if we don’t provide direction and a safe space for them.