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Lonely Typers at Midnight: Investigating the Quandaries of Millennial Illness Through Digital Ethnography of Reddit

Lonely Typers at Midnight: Investigating the Quandaries of Millennial Illness Through Digital Ethnography of Reddit

Brandon C. Niezgoda
Copyright: © 2018 |Pages: 23
ISBN13: 9781522537168|ISBN10: 1522537163|EISBN13: 9781522537175
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-3716-8.ch006
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MLA

Niezgoda, Brandon C. "Lonely Typers at Midnight: Investigating the Quandaries of Millennial Illness Through Digital Ethnography of Reddit." Global Perspectives on Health Communication in the Age of Social Media, edited by Seif Sekalala and Brandon C. Niezgoda, IGI Global, 2018, pp. 162-184. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3716-8.ch006

APA

Niezgoda, B. C. (2018). Lonely Typers at Midnight: Investigating the Quandaries of Millennial Illness Through Digital Ethnography of Reddit. In S. Sekalala & B. Niezgoda (Eds.), Global Perspectives on Health Communication in the Age of Social Media (pp. 162-184). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3716-8.ch006

Chicago

Niezgoda, Brandon C. "Lonely Typers at Midnight: Investigating the Quandaries of Millennial Illness Through Digital Ethnography of Reddit." In Global Perspectives on Health Communication in the Age of Social Media, edited by Seif Sekalala and Brandon C. Niezgoda, 162-184. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3716-8.ch006

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Abstract

Also known as Generation Y, Millennials—an American construct to classify those born from the early 1980 to mid-1990s—have been targeted by mainstream media as narcissistic, and internet obsessed. But as Diesing (2011) organizes, gross generalizations of the American cohort's vanity may only contain nuggets of truth. If millennials are in fact narcissistic and technologically oriented, this research attempts to understand whether this psychological assessment is innate, or deterministic. Contemporary online platforms allow users to voice their opinions and insight regarding predominant frames constructed by once exclusive media domains. Analysis of Reddit discussions through digital ethnography has worked to better understand modes of agency, or lack thereof, as this demographic navigates health problems in a technologically mediated society; providing insight for practitioners, patients, and family members in how to properly conceptualize illness to best help them, and the social order. Also known as Generation Y, Millennials—an American construct to classify those born from the early 1980 to mid-1990s—have been targeted by mainstream media as narcissistic, and internet obsessed. But gross generalizations of the American cohort's vanity may only contain nuggets of truth. If millennials are in fact narcissistic and technologically oriented, this research attempts to understand whether this psychological assessment is innate, or deterministic. Contemporary online platforms allow users to voice their opinions and insight regarding predominant frames constructed by once exclusive media domains. Analysis of Reddit discussions through digital ethnography has worked to better understand modes of agency, or lack thereof, as this demographic navigates health problems in a technologically mediated society; providing insight for practitioners, patients, and family members in how to properly conceptualize illness to best help them, and the social order.

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