The Wednesday star shares how online culture isolates youth, challenges identity, and complicates growing up in the digital age
Jenna Ortega, the rising star behind Netflix’s Wednesday, is opening up about the mental and emotional toll social media places on today’s youth — and why the hit series resonates so deeply in our hyper-connected world.
In a thoughtful new interview with the BBC, Ortega, 22, reflected on the changing dynamics of community and connection. She attributed Wednesday’s global success not only to its sharp storytelling and iconic characters, but also to its exploration of something much deeper — the human search for belonging.
“I wasn’t around in the 70s,” Ortega admitted, “but I hear stories of people knocking on their neighbors’ doors, and the bikes going all throughout the city, and just expecting to meet someone at a certain time at a certain location.” That organic sense of community, she noted, has shifted dramatically in recent decades.
“Now, people aren’t talking in person,” she said. “They’re interacting and finding their community online — which can be very isolating.”
Ortega emphasized that social media bombards young people with an overwhelming number of voices, opinions, and pressures that previous generations never had to contend with. “Much more than you would typically be, or that humans are kind of meant to be exposed to,” she explained.
This flood of influence, she believes, is creating a crisis of identity: “I think it’s harder to find a sense of self. Young people are struggling to find, ‘What makes my voice stand out? What is it about me in this world and this society today that gives me a sense of purpose or control or authority?’”
The Dark Side of Early Fame
Ortega, who began her career in Hollywood as a child, knows the darker side of internet exposure all too well. On The Interview podcast with The New York Times last year, she revealed disturbing experiences with online content as a teen.
“I hate AI,” she bluntly stated. “Did I like being 14 [years old] and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to, and seeing dirty edited content of me as a child? No. It’s terrifying. It’s corrupt.”
Calling the situation “wrong” and “disgusting,” she added, “Here’s the problem, though. We’ve opened Pandora’s box. Well, it is what it is. It’s out there now. We’re gonna have to deal with the consequences.”
What’s Next for Wednesday?
Fans of the macabre teen drama don’t have long to wait. Netflix recently announced that Wednesday Season 2 will be released in two parts — with Part 1 dropping on August 6, and Part 2 on September 3. The show continues to grow in cultural relevance, drawing audiences of all ages with its eerie aesthetics, gothic humor, and now, its commentary on modern identity struggles.
Whether it’s on screen or off, Jenna Ortega is emerging as a voice for her generation — thoughtful, bold, and unafraid to confront the complexities of fame, tech, and selfhood in a digital world.
