Apps such as instagram, youtube, twitter, and snapchat are considered today's social media. Through these apps people get to follow friends, interests and even celebrities. In recent years, social media has gained a whole new purpose for adolescents. Today, adolescents use social media as a way of comparing themselves to celebrities. It is important that parents become aware of the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for children and adolescents. (O’Keeffe, Clarke-Pearson, 2011)
Kylie Jenner was born on August 10,1997 in Los Angeles California. Kylie is the youngest daughter of former olympian Caitlyn Jenner and Kris Jenner. Over the years Kylie and her family have rose to fame on the hit show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians.” The reality show gives the viewers a chance to see a day in the life of a Kardashian. In 2014 and 2015, Kylie and her sister Kendall were placed on Time magazine's list of the most influential teens in the world, because of their influence among adolescents on social media. (Biography n.d.) Kylie has had several business ventures such as launching a clothing line with her older sister Kendall and endorsement deals which she posts on her social media accounts. In 2016, Kylie launched a cosmetic company called “Kylie Cosmetics”, which includes collaborations with her sister Kim Kardashian and even her mother Kris Jenner. Kylie uses her social media accounts as a way of marketing her products. In the summer of 2018, Kylie was on the cover of Forbes magazine's riches self made women list, having a net worth of $900 million. (Biography n.d.)
Kylie Jenner fits into the social perspective of the social learning theory by Albert Bandura. In Chapter 12 of our textbook, the social learning theory states that “people will be more likely to imitate behaviors they see frequently performed by models who are rewarded or at least not punished.”( ) In 2015, rumors began that at the time 17 year old Kylie had gotten lip fillers. People all over were shocked at how much better Kylie looked now that she had gotten her lips done. Kylie was praised all over social media, because of her new look, she was also given many endorsement deals.Soon after rumors began “The Kylie Jenner lip challenge” began. This was a challenge created by adolescents where they would stick their lips into shot glasses, or bottles and wait for them to swell up to give them Kylie’s lips. Teens would use the hashtag “look like Kylie”.
The developmental perspective questions how does one change throughout their lifespan and what stays the same. Kylie was born into an already famous and very controversial family. Over the years Kylie has grown up in front of the camera, so viewers have basically been there every step of her life. Over time Kylie has went from being one of the quiet and private girls in the family, to being the most revealing. Developmental psychologists study a wide range of theoretical areas, such as biological, social, emotion, and cognitive processes. (Mc Leod 2012)
In 2015, American adolescents ranging from 13 to 18 years old reported using social media for 1 hour and 11 minutes a day, 7 days a week. (Uhuls, Ellison, Subrahmanyan 2017) Whether it's updating their followers, interacting with others, or following celebrities adolescents are constantly on their social media accounts. This can have both positive and negative effects on adolescents. Adolescents report that social media helps them understand their friends’ feelings and feel more connected to them. During a developmental stage when peer support and approval is critical, social media support these needs. ( Uhuls, Ellison, Subrahmanyan, 2017) Using social media all the time can have a negative impact on the health of adolescence. Adolescents tend to see celebrities and try to live an unrealistic lifestyle because of them. Many adolescents see pictures on social media of celebrities they look up to, and become self conscious because they dont look like them. However, most of the celebrities adolescents look up to have had plastic surgery done, or photoshop their pictures promoting a false imagine to their followers.
Having over 116 million Instagram followers and millions of snapchat followers Kylie Jenner is one of the most followed celebrities on social media. Majority of Kylie's followers are teenage girls. Kylie is constantly updating her social media accounts from showing off her body, new makeup trends or even her daughter Stormi fans are always up to date on Kylie's life. While looking at her photos, adolescence feel as if this is what they should look like at their age. The mass media plays an outsized role in the communication of cultural stereotypes about the aesthetics of body image. (Perloff, 2016) One interview that was held discussed the impact the Kardashian/Jenner family had amongst society. The interview consisted of several questions, one being if the young adults that participated followed any of the Kardashian/Jenner family on social media. One participant actually stated that every time she saw Kylie Jenner on Instagram, she would automatically get jealous of how small her waist looked (Hammer, 2016)