Vine
As the fastest growing app in the world with 40 million active users, Vine has a large influence on teenagers today. The largest age group of Vine users range between the ages of 15-20. Despite the fact that many users use Vine as comedians, musicians, and artists, the majority of popular vines criticizing teenagers seem to involve men dressing up as teenage girls and acting out stereotypes. These vines have a negative influence on society, for they make the stereotypes against teenage girls seem more realistic and true.
Nash Grier (#1 Vine user - 7,846,687 followers)
This vine pokes fun at the way teenage girls often lie about the makeup they wear out of shame. Nash Grier is insulting girls who feel so self-conscious that they are unable to admit that they try to make themselves look prettier. Grier smashing his face into a cake repeatedly totally misses the point about girls being worried about their appearance, for society has imposed on them the superficial idea of what a "perfect teen" looks like, and therefore what they should strive to be. Basically, any vine that starts out with "Girls be like" is doomed to be insulting, idiotic, and overall pointless.
In this vine, Nash Grier makes fun of girls who use "#throwbackthursday" on Instagram. By portraying a girl as someone who seems to have a panic attack over a missed opportunity to post a picture from their past, Grier makes teenage girls look superficial, narrow minded, and obsessed with themselves. Giving this inaccurate image of teenage girls does not only add to society's misjudgment of teenagers as a whole, but also is very insulting and rude towards teenage girls who do not get anxiety over posting Throw Back Thursday pictures (so, basically almost every teenage girl in the world).
Brandon Calvillo (#23 Vine User - 2,906,142 followers)
Well. This video takes superficiality and self image to a new level of insanity. The girl in this video is portrayed as being very closed minded and dumb, for she is willing to sacrifice a meal during the apocalypse to stay away from high fructose corn syrup. This illustration of girls gives the inaccurate idea that teenage girls are so worried about how they look and their diet that they are willing to die--during the apocalypse, no less. Despite the fact that this video has a more lighthearted and joking tone than some others, it still is inaccurate and builds on society's view of teenage girls as superficial and self-obsessed.
The vine "A teenage girl goes on a date" portrays teenage girls as having obsessions with Instagram, even to the point of ignoring their "cute date". Like "A couple after The Apocalypse", this vine has a lighter tone and is funnier than most others poking fun at teenagers, for it is so unrealistic that it becomes hilarious. However, it does give a negative and inaccurate view of teenagers being obsessed with social media and therefore adds to society's misjudgment of teenagers.
Sigh... why must videos like this always depict teenage girls as superficial? By portraying a teenage girl as only caring about physical appearance of another, Calvillo adds to society's corrupt image of teenage girls as obsessed with looks rather than heart. The end is even worse, with the "Persa-what?". The extra emphasis on the idea that teenage girls are so stuck on the idea of how someone looks over what person they are is insulting to the point of humor. Luckily, this stereotype of teenagers does not apply to all teenage girls, and the majority of them do in fact know what a personality is.
Christian Delgrosso (#27 Vine User - 2,735,114 followers)
Another "Girls be like" vine. Will they never learn? And what's with the stereotype of teenage girls being obsessed with Starbucks? "ITS SA GAD" insults teenage girls on several levels, All teen girls are not desperately in love with Starbucks. All teenage girls do not make out with their Starbucks cups before drinking its contents. All teenage girls do not lack awareness of the letter "O". By starting off the video by simply stating "girls" do this without specifying what girls, Delgrosso gives a very negative image for teenage girls everywhere. This lack of detail in descriptions seems to be the problem with all of these vines, for if the viner would simply clarify that not all "girls" be like whatever, these videos would be much less inaccurate and would not impose such a negative viewpoints of teenagers today.
Delgrosso seems to like "girls be like" vines. Otherwise, the vine explains itself. Delgrosso has an amusing viewpoint that all teenagers girls seem to lack an understanding of what vowels are and how to use them.
Vincent Marcus (#48 Vine User - 2,155,982 followers)
The vine "OMG I'M DEAD", starring Vincent Marcus and Brandon Calvillo, takes the often used phrase "I'm dead" to a new extreme. This comical video pokes fun at how teenagers overuse "I'm dead" over simple things, such as celebrity pictures or new tv episodes. Out of all the vines on this page, this is the most innocent and does not impose a negative image on teenage girls. Despite the fact that teenage girls do not always talk in this voice, this vine is very amusing and awesome. #corpse
Josh Peck (#7 Vine User - 4,724,764 followers)
Yes, the famous child actor Josh Peck from the television show Drake & Josh is on vine; and he makes jokes about teenage girls as well. In this vine, Peck makes fun of the superficiality of teenage girls, especially before summer. Because the only options he lists have to do with changing oneself or hiding from others, Peck emphasizes teenage girls' self consciousness and fear of criticism for others for how they look. This adds to society's misjudgment of teenagers, for it portrays the teenage girl negatively and extremely superficially. Oprah would not be proud.