BACKGROUND: The increase in alcohol consumption among young women has been the most striking change in drinking culture in Spain in recent years. This study sets out to examine how images and stories about alcohol consumption are presented on Instagram, the strategies for constructing them, and the impact of social norms, including gender norms, on the strategies of making alcohol consumption visible. METHODS: We have carried out a digital ethnography study in which different research techniques have been applied. We held 13 discussion groups, conducted a three-month period of observation on Instagram, and 38 in-depth interviews of young Spanish men and women between the ages of 15 and 24 (N = 118). RESULTS: The representation of alcohol consumption on Instagram by young people shows fashionable party spaces for shared disinhibition, fun and youth gatherings. This social network permits different types of alcohol advertising and promotion of the image associated with its consumption, and is thus a space that brands and influencers exploit. Young people avoid the diffusion on Instagram of images related to their heavy use of alcohol through particular strategies. They untag, delete or avoid using their smartphone; and they choose the audience to whom images are directed, and the areas of publication. The desire to be posting and exhibiting constantly converges with embarrassment and precaution with (un)known audiences. Gender is a key element for understanding the differences in the way in which posts on Instagram related to drinking and drunkenness affect young people. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that Instagram fosters the spreading of an ideal model of "alcohol consumption" online that tends to conceal the adverse effects of the substance, and that the online diffusion of behaviour concerning drinking is not gender-neutral.
Alcoholic Intoxication , Social Media , Male , Adolescent , Humans , Female , Young Adult , Adult , Gender Identity , Alcohol Drinking/epidemiology , Anthropology, Cultural
El consumo de alcohol y otras drogas en jóvenes es un problema que trae considerables preocupaciones para la Salud Pública. Su análisis dentro de áreas rurales bajo perspectiva de género ha pasado desapercibido por la literatura científica en España. El presente artículo estudia la articulación del ocio joven rural a través de los significados atribuidos a estas prácticas por parte de sus propios protagonistas en torno a los usos y abusos de sustancias recreativas, utilizando metodología cualitativa procedente de entrevistas en profundidad (N = 40) llevadas a cabo a jóvenes (22 mujeres y 18 hombres) de entre 18 y 24 años residentes en pueblos del norte de Extremadura. Los resultados describen los escenarios rurales por excelencia de ocio recreativo de las personas jóvenes poniendo énfasis en sus particularidades y determinantes rurales. Se han identificado diferencias y desigualdades en los consumos de drogas siguiendo una perspectiva interseccional y atendiendo a variables como el género y la edad. Se discuten los hallazgos encontrados e incluyen futuras líneas de investigación y recomendaciones para la intervención social
The use of alcohol and other drugs in young people is a problem that brings considerable concerns for Public Health. His analysis within rural areas from a gender perspective has gone unnoticed by scientific literature in Spain. This article studies the articulation of rural youth leisure through the meanings attributed to these practices by their own protagonists around the uses and abuses of recreational substances, using qualitative methodology from in-depth interviews (N= 40) carried out to young people (22 women and 18 men) between 18 and 24 years residents in villages in northern Extremadura. The results describe the rural scenarios par excellence of recreational leisure of young people emphasizing their particularities and rural de-terminants. Differences and inequalities in drug use have been identified following an intersec-tional perspective and taking into account variables such as gender and age. The findings found are discussed and include future lines of research and recommendations for social intervention
Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Young Adult , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Leisure Activities , Socioeconomic Factors , 25783 , Risk Factors , Sex Factors , Rural Population
