Notícias

Conferência "Being Young, Being Digital: some observations on young people's new media behaviours"

20 de Junho, 14h30, na sala B001

No próximo dia 20 de Junho, decorrerá às 14h30 na sala B001 da FEUP uma conferência intitulada "Being Young, Being Digital: some observations on young people's new media behaviours", proferida pelo professor Craig Watkins. A entrada é livre. Sinopse: From the moment new communication technologies began to infiltrate American homes, young people have been among the early explorers and early adopters of computers and the Internet. Today, teens and young adults are credited for the ascent of social media platforms like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube. The social web has been variously characterized as empowering, participatory, and communal. Drawing from original research including survey data and in-depth interviews this paper considers the consequences of "being digital." Designed more as a public discussion about the steadily evolving role of digital media technologies in young people's lives the paper considers three themes. The first theme offers a present day portrait of young people's new media behaviors. To what extent has the web and mobile technologies, especially cell phones, emerged as the preferred communication platforms in daily American life? Moreover, what is the impact of the new media's rise on the more than fifty-year hegemony of television in daily American life? Next, the paper explores what it means to be a citizen in the digital age. Focusing primarily on issues like cyberbullying, constant connectivity, and virtual community the paper offers some insights on the social consequences of digital media. Finally, the paper explores how issues of social inequality matter in any conversation about youth and today's technological environment. What do young people's use of social network sites like MySpace and Facebook tell us about the racial and class aspects of social media?