How do young people form their own 'Collective Identity' through reality TV?

From the day that we are born we begin to create our own collective identity. Our collective identity then gives us a sense of belonging. We find our collective identity through many different things in life which we can have in common with others. These things include music, hobbies, fashion, religious beliefs, interests and so much more. Pretty much every aspect of our life could possibly be an aspect of another persons life, there by making us feel as if we are in the in-group and gives us a sense of belonging.

Reality TV shows such as 'Geordie Shore', 'The Only Way is Essex' and 'Made in Chelsea' each have a group of youths who have similar interests, hobbies and lifestyles. Although they are not all exactly the same they help one another to form a 'collective identity' by making each other feel like they fit in and have a purpose. Each of this shows are set in different locations. Each of these locations are of a different social class and the characters within each of these shows conform to that class. An example of this is 'Made in Chelsea'. The area of Chelsea is an upper class area full of wealthy people. This will affect the identity of those who live there, therefore creating a different lifestyle. In each of the shows stated above, the characters are in the popular group of that area, generally doing what is seen as 'cool' in their social class. This is why in 'The Only Way Is Essex' their actions completely differ from that of the actions of the characters in 'Made In Chelsea' although both groups of youths are seen as popular by their peers. This backs up Henri Tajfel's social identity theory that a person’s sense of who they are is based on their group membership. Michael Foucalt's theory is also backed up as he says that when are born you have a primary and basic identity that builds as you get older and meet new people. According to Michael Foucalt's theory, your collective identity will change based on the people around you and their characteristics too.

In 'Made In Chelsea' all of the youths can relate to one another through social class and  wealth. They all wear expensive clothing and seem to have materialistic values and care mainly about spending money than how they can actually use it wisely. Because of all of these factors which they have in common, it influences their interests. This is where the youths gain their sense of belonging as they can go about their daily hobbies together as a group and enjoy themselves. Being around people with the same personality (and even lifestyle for this show) can help youths to connect and form their collective identity. Once again this backs up Henri Tajfel's theory as he said ''the groups we are part of become an important part of our lives and transform into a source of pride and self-esteem and in order to increase our social identity, we enhance the status of the group.'' It also backs up Richard Jenkins' theory which says ''You need to interact in order to form our identity and  partake in events with people we are affiliated with.''

However, some of the collective identities which are shown on reality TV can generate a prejudice view of certain groups in society making other assume that all people of that group are similar. An example of this is the show 'The Only Way Is Essex'. All of the youths in this show live a 'Glamerous' lifestyle and all of the females act like 'Blonde Bimbos' and 'Barbie Dolls'. The reality TV show has recieved many complaints from others who live in Essex as they believe that the show is causing a stereotypical view for them and that not all people from Essex do not live their lives like this. This shows that Henri Tajfel was correct when he said that there is an 'In-group' and an 'Out-group'. This also backs up the theory of Stuart Hall as his theory says that the media creates an ideological and politically constructed representation. This theory is backed up as it is the use of media which is generating this stereotypical representation of Essex people.

Stuart Hall's theory can also be applied to the London Riots. The media portrayed youths in a negative light and even caused youths to be feared by older members of the public. This is a stereotypical view of the youths generated by the media.

In conclusion young people form their collective identity through reality television by making shows such as 'Made In Chelsea' and 'The Only Way Is Essex', 'Geordie Shore' and having similar personalities, values, hobbies, interests and dress style as each other. This gives them their collective identity