Youth Drinking Cultures in a Digital World

'Popular and scholarly concern about youthful drinking has long been widespread. This edited collection focuses on something new—alcohol consumption shaped by digital media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. For instance, nearly one billion people worldwide consult Facebook daily on their smartphones and other mobile devices. Teenagers are avid consumers of such social media. A mixture of social scientists and media specialists contributed essays to this collection. As outlined in the editors’ introduction, the book focuses on three areas: “1) identities, social relations and power; 2) alcohol marketing and commercialization; and 3) public health and regulating alcohol promotion.” The papers for the first section include ones on class, femininities, masculinities, and ethnicity. Non-expert readers will find papers in the second section less challenging, for example, “Creating Powerful Brands." The third section leads most directly to application, curbing alcohol consumption. Only specialists are likely to read the entire book. With guidance, advanced undergraduates might read selected chapters. Hopefully, research on this important topic will be made accessible to a larger readership than this volume is likely to reach.'
--D. M. Fahey, Miami University, December 2017, CHOICE magazine