Following Trending Topics: Social Media in Modern Teen Movies

Social media is ubiquitous in the lives of teenagers, especially in the first world, so why have teen movies been so slow to reflect this? David Crewe looks at some recent films that attempt to present realistic depictions of teens and technology _ overtly or otherwise _ and considers how they can prompt useful classroom discussion about representation and the role of social networks in our own lives.

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Teaching Media, senior secondary, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Unfriended, Men, Women & Children, Leo Gabriadze, Jason Reitman, The DUFF, Ari Sandel, smartphones, Galore, Adventureland, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Way Way Back, The Spectacular Now, cyberbullying, horror film, American cinema, Modern Family, Skype, LiveLeak, Videodrome, The Lawnmower Man, The Net, Open Windows, The Upper Footage, moral panic, Reefer Madness, She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, iPhone, 52 Tuesdays, Sophie Hyde, American Pie, Australian cinema, Boyhood, Hunger Games.