Screenagers
LearnDog has a post that directed me to an interesting article in the New York Times about teenagers and the way they are interacting with the digital world.
Here’s some thoughts I had on it.
“These young kids are very sophisticated and phenomenally intuitive,” he said. “This is the first generation that’s been born into digital life, instead of transitioning into it.”
The fact that the kids of today are growing up in a digital world with digital tools only seems ‘wonderous’ to those of us who grew up in an analog world. Did we question record players, television, radio when growing up? Probably we just used them. But to our Grand Parents, the fact there were kids that never knew what it was like to live in a world without television seemed … well somewhat strange. It’s about context.
“Most teenagers online take their role as content creators as a given.”
“the mounting evidence that teens are not passive consumers of media content,” ….
“it helps young people fashion their own identities, on their own terms, using whatever content they choose.”
The difference I see with todays technology from that of past generations is the ability to interact with the media and not be passive receivers. Remixing is becoming a recreation. And that’s apt, especially for kids as in effect they are re-creating their environment to suit themselves. And in doing so they are reflecting, exploring and building their own identities. This is identity creation and management at its most fundamental level.
“They take content from media providers and transform it, reinterpret it, republish it, take ownership of it in ways that at least hold the potential for subverting it.”
What I find interesting about that statement is that in doing this remixing and ‘taking ownership’ they actually become media providers themselves.
“At the market level, this means old business models are in upheaval,” …. “At the legal level, this means the definition of property is up for grabs. And at the social level, it means that millions of those inspired to create have a big new platform with which they shape our culture.”
I hope by “our culture” the writer means “everyones” culture as oppossed to “our” (grownups) and “theirs” (kids) cultures.
If not, no wonder the kids feel the need to take back some ground!
via-LearnDog
