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Growing up in a digital era: The journey towards independence, agency and individuality

The move from adolescence to adulthood is a pivotal transitional period rife with cultural, social and personal changes. It also involves an era of in-between moments: rather than a sudden change, teenagers spend years navigating the grey areas between adolescence and adulthood. This transition has been further complicated by the use of digital technologies (DTs) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) shaping teenagers’ experiences during this period. By utilizing UK communication regulator Ofcom’s Adults’ Media Lives dataset, this study longitudinally studies the same teenagers between 2006 and 2018. It observes how they are both aided and hindered by the use of DT and CMC over time, identifying three key aspects of their lives that are shaped during this transition – relationships with their parents, their friends and their move from school to work – as they strive for independence, agency and individuality.