The definitions and ideas applied to information
and communication technologies and the modern media culture are
examined in the beginning of this chapter. The characterizations
of media culture are then explored from the perspective of young
people, and the links between youth and ICT are investigated. The
dominant cultural logic with regard to ICT is outlined, and different
forms of the digital divide are presented. Some global aspects of ICT
use among youth are reviewed, using both primary and secondary
sources. New forms of youth socialization brought about by the
emergence of ICT are examined, and the chapter concludes with a
set of recommendations.
Young people today live in a world characterized by dramatic cultural, economic, social and educational differences; individual circumstances depend largely on where a person is born and raised. More than 800 million adults (two-thirds of them women) still lack basic literacy skills; at the other end of the spectrum, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is skyrocketing. Notwithstanding the immense diversity in living environments, an unprecedented and unifying global media culture has developed that challenges and often surpasses such traditional forms of socialization as family and school.
This complex cultural situation—in which young people are struggling to find direction in their lives or simply to survive, to improve their living conditions, and to develop their identities—has been given various names. Some call it the information or informational age, while others prefer the term technoculture1 or technocapitalism, global media culture, or simply globalization, referring to the dialectic process in which the global and the local exist as “combined and mutually implicating principles”.2 Labels such as post-industrial, virtual and cyber society are also in use.3 The idea behind all these terms is that across the globe, ICT are playing a central role in young people’s lives and in society at large.
Two major assumptions underlie the role of ICT: the first is that the proliferation of these technologies is causing rapid transformations in all areas of life; the second is that ICT function to unify and standardize culture. It is on the basis of these assumptions that the term “media culture”, incorporating the phenomena of informationalism4 and globalization, is used in the present chapter.
Children and young people are often seen as innocent victims of the pervasive and powerful media. In the extreme view, the breakdown of the nuclear family, teenage pregnancy, venereal disease, paedophilia, child trafficking and child prostitution spreading through the Internet, drug use, juvenile crime, the degeneration of manners, suicide and religious cults are all seen as problems exacerbated or even inflicted upon society by the media. Parents seem to have become disconnected from their children’s education. Schools have been transformed into teaching factories incapable of providing young people with the coping skills they need to survive and thrive in the media culture.14 The media, especially television, present material that disturbs children and makes them passive, because they have not yet reached a stage of development that allows them to appropriately process the information they are receiving. From this perspective, children and young people are seen as tractable recipients of messages, as spellbound viewers susceptible to a range of addictions.
While the importance of ICT use for development cannot be underestimated, it should not be seen as a panacea that will solve problems of unemployment or social exclusion in the near future. This observation is of particular relevance to young people, because there is ample reason to question whether the adoption of technology-based development strategies will produce results of real benefit to all young people. It will take many years for all youth to gain access to the opportunities promised by ICT. Notwithstanding these caveats, there is reason to be cautiously hopeful and optimistic about the potential of ICT, especially in view of the relative advantage young people have in embracing these technologies for their own benefit.
Young people today live in a world characterized by dramatic cultural, economic, social and educational differences; individual circumstances depend largely on where a person is born and raised. More than 800 million adults (two-thirds of them women) still lack basic literacy skills; at the other end of the spectrum, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is skyrocketing. Notwithstanding the immense diversity in living environments, an unprecedented and unifying global media culture has developed that challenges and often surpasses such traditional forms of socialization as family and school.
This complex cultural situation—in which young people are struggling to find direction in their lives or simply to survive, to improve their living conditions, and to develop their identities—has been given various names. Some call it the information or informational age, while others prefer the term technoculture1 or technocapitalism, global media culture, or simply globalization, referring to the dialectic process in which the global and the local exist as “combined and mutually implicating principles”.2 Labels such as post-industrial, virtual and cyber society are also in use.3 The idea behind all these terms is that across the globe, ICT are playing a central role in young people’s lives and in society at large.
Two major assumptions underlie the role of ICT: the first is that the proliferation of these technologies is causing rapid transformations in all areas of life; the second is that ICT function to unify and standardize culture. It is on the basis of these assumptions that the term “media culture”, incorporating the phenomena of informationalism4 and globalization, is used in the present chapter.
Children and young people are often seen as innocent victims of the pervasive and powerful media. In the extreme view, the breakdown of the nuclear family, teenage pregnancy, venereal disease, paedophilia, child trafficking and child prostitution spreading through the Internet, drug use, juvenile crime, the degeneration of manners, suicide and religious cults are all seen as problems exacerbated or even inflicted upon society by the media. Parents seem to have become disconnected from their children’s education. Schools have been transformed into teaching factories incapable of providing young people with the coping skills they need to survive and thrive in the media culture.14 The media, especially television, present material that disturbs children and makes them passive, because they have not yet reached a stage of development that allows them to appropriately process the information they are receiving. From this perspective, children and young people are seen as tractable recipients of messages, as spellbound viewers susceptible to a range of addictions.
While the importance of ICT use for development cannot be underestimated, it should not be seen as a panacea that will solve problems of unemployment or social exclusion in the near future. This observation is of particular relevance to young people, because there is ample reason to question whether the adoption of technology-based development strategies will produce results of real benefit to all young people. It will take many years for all youth to gain access to the opportunities promised by ICT. Notwithstanding these caveats, there is reason to be cautiously hopeful and optimistic about the potential of ICT, especially in view of the relative advantage young people have in embracing these technologies for their own benefit.
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