Happily ever after? : understanding youth's experiences of self-disclosure on television

Abstract

Reality-based programming is rapidly becoming popular in local television. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find ordinary people being protagonists in such television programmes. Whilst this type of entertainment appeals both to audiences and producers, an aspect of these programmes which is often overlooked are the participants themselves who lend their personal lives to producers who then generate programmes with their life stories. An understanding of the experiences of these participants, particularly when they are young people or young adults, is essential to be able to safeguard and mentor them. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were carried out with seven young adults who participated in reality-based shows in the past two years. The interviews explored their motivations for participation and their experiences before, during and after having taken part in the show. The well-debated decision to participate seems to be based on the potential to fulfill possible selves through participation. The perceived positive effects of participation are usually more than the perceived negative results. What is expected does not always happen though: participants do not always have all the information at hand when they are deciding and the effects of participation cannot always be foreseen. Like the motivation to participate, the experience is also a complex issue.