Tweeting, Texting, and Facebook Postings: Stirring the Pot with Social Media to Make Drama - Case Study and Participant Observation

This study of adolescent social drama is located at the intersection of research on adolescent peer relationships, group behaviors, youth culture, and mediated communication. An emergent construct, drama has been conceptualized as social interactions characterized by overreaction, exaggeration, excessive emotionality, prolongation, inclusion of extraneous individuals, inflated importance, and temporary relevance. This case study and participant observation involve a 15-year-old, white, middle class female and her mother. The purpose was two-fold: To determine if the events described map on to existing understandings of drama and to develop emergent themes and hypotheses through grounded theory analysis and ethnographic observation that might expand knowledge of drama. Findings suggest that this case reflects current understandings of drama. Emergent themes suggest that drama may also involve highly emotional group experiences and that while drama may be temporary and short-lived, it may also create a backdrop for additional problematic events.