Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-215) and index.

Why youth media? -- Understanding media content : social and cultural approaches to media effects -- Understanding the influence of media technologies : youth, dissent, social media and social history -- Understanding global media industries : China, reality television and media governance -- Understanding media users : girls, mobile phones and identities -- Understanding media violence : school shootings, media stories and the framing of social reality -- Understanding advertising and marketing : students and alcohol -- Understanding political communication : Barack Obama, media convergence and mediated intimacy -- Understanding celebrity : Bam Margera and the role of sport in media convergence -- Understanding critical media studies : child soldiers, media business and media education -- Epilogue : doing youth and media.

Andy Ruddock offers a fascinating account of how media define the identities and social imaginations of young people. He explores how the notion of media influence 'works' when daily life compels young people to act out their relationships through media content and technologies.