With the growing popularity of online networks and online celebrities, new identification models also appear. They can have a bigger effect and role on adolescents than traditional identification models (e.g. parents). One of those can also be YouTubers, who are uploading videos on online network YouTube. They present the biggest base of creators and because everyone can be one, number of inappropriate videos increased. That can affect adolescents’ behaviour. Nonetheless, the effect and the identification with YouTubers weren’t researched well. For that reason, I made one of the first researches on this topic and researched the online activity of Slovenian adolescents along with the categories and the characteristics of their identification with YouTubers. I was also interested in gender and age differences. 140 secondary school students and 57 primary school students aged 11 to 20 have participated in this research. Firstly, they solved the questionnaire about online activity (e. g. watching videos), which I based on previous researches. Then, they could take part in a discussion about YouTubers in focus groups, in which I also showed a YouTube video of my choice. Findings suggest that YouTubers can be identification models for adolescents, however, that was not true for all participants. The identification is stronger with girls, who are thinking about themselves, their lives, relationships and future while watching videos. That’s also true for younger adolescents, who are imitating YouTubers’ behaviour more often than others. Contrarily, the majority of adolescents follows YouTubers for fun and learning (e. g. languages). All these findings are important for parents and all who work with adolescents, because they can decrease or increase certain repeated behaviours. Some of them can be harmful (e. g. eating tide pods) and end in severe injuries or death. For that reason, parents should set up rules about YouTube use, talk to adolescents about it and watch videos with them. That could decrease those acts.
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