Melinda's blog reflects on the topic of media literacies and social action raised by Mimi Ito in her 2009 NFAIS conference keynote address.
The millenial generation have grown up surrounded by digital and virtual worlds. They are fascinated with new technology and are vocal and active when interacting with others in the digital world. Their desire to make and share their ideas digitally gives them an opportunity to create and interpret popular culture in new ways. Youth form an identity through their interactions with media and popular culture. Today's youth also gain an affinity with their peers by interacting in a digital environment. Being a part of a virtual community allows youth to not only become part of a peer culture but to define themselves. The new ways of interacting with media online enable youth to not only assess whether something is newsworthy, but more importantly surround themselves with things that are 'shareworthy' which defines and shapes their identity.
The integral nature of technology in the lives of the millenial generation is well summarised by John Seely-Brown: "Today's digital kids think of information and communications technology (ICT) as something akin to oxygen: they expect it, it's what they breathe, and it's how they live. They use ICT to meet, play, date, and learn. It's an integral part of their social life; it's how they acknowledge each other and form their personal identities." In her keynote address, Mimi Ito focuses on the aspect of identification where social media has the ability to connect and mobilize youth today.
Online social communication takes place in a shared culture with shared social practices. The focus of this online social communication is the connection with others, not just the content that is being shared. There are many opportunities for self-expression and to create connections with like-minded peers. This self-expression is happening at the interpersonal level, not the commercial level, which means that teens get to share what's on their mind. What we see posted online is not necessarily newsworthy in a commercial sense but 'shareworthy' from an amateur or interpersonal point of view.
Making and sharing media is a core facet of online social communication. Ito suggests that making and sharing media has become fundamental to how we relate to others. It has become natural for youth to share media through a variety of online affiliations, expressions or circulations such as social networking sites, YouTube or blogs. "The practice of online social networking can be seen as empowering, as it is a way to voluntarily engage with other people and construct identities, and it can thus be described as participatory." (Albrechtslund 2008) These social practices have become ubiquitous and routine in youth online culture. When this happens, technology becomes an indispensible part of youth identity.
Popular culture has always been an important part of the lives of youth in any modern generation. Today's youth actively participate with popular culture rather than passively absorb its features. Unlike previous generations, youth today have the ability to 'mashup' popular culture in ways that were not so readily available to previous generations. Previous generations predominately relied on key publishers to produce popular culture media, but the millenial generation are publishers of popular culture media themselves.
Today's youth can be interpreters and producers of popular culture through their making of media that they share online. Interacting with social media has produced what is commonly known as the 'gift economy'. Youth 'gift' the digital content they create in a culture Henry Jenkins describes as a 'bottom-up media generated culture'. This shared media can then be modified by others which in turn creates more. The making and sharing of media in a participatory culture is awash with personalisation and remix (Ito 2009). This interactive digital media phenomenon is about engagement, communication and identification.
The way youth use new media is empowering. The internet allows today's youth to connect with family, friends and those with whom there is a shared interest or identity. Ito states that the content they are communicating with others about is subordinate to the social connection and presence that experiences like social networking can provide. Kerry Mallan suggests that social networking technologies make life online "More interesting, more connected, more complex". There is an opportunity here for educators to harness the innovation youth today use in their interactions with each other and popular culture; and their enjoyment of self-expression and connecting with others online. A bridge built between the serious and the playful is where Ito suggests that energy and engagement can occur.
Today's youth depend on their connection to the cyber world for information, relationship building and entertainment. Educators should attempt to harness the ability of the internet to make connections by teaching new media literacies in the classroom. Jenkins recommends that classrooms see more sharing of visual and audio media to enhance social connections and cultural identity. Ways of socially interacting with online communities is a new 21st century literacy skill that needs to be recognised.
Once a sense of belonging is established via online interactions, social mobilisation or activism is a possible outcome. Ito focuses on gaming as an example of how media mobilises kids to do something with it. Belonging to the social gaming culture has social currency with peers; and a sense of belonging occurs when they are involved in the shared social vocabulary of gaming. Active participation in the online gaming community invites collection, strategising and trading activity between gamers. This collective intelligence between like-minded individuals creates meaning, skills and knowledge using the language of new media. Students should be encouraged to participate in knowledge seeking in collective online experiences such as online tutorials and forums. This takes place in a heterarchical structure, which enable students to participate in a collaborative democratised environment.
Today's youth are generators of media content, not just consumers. Educators must find opportunities for youth to contribute to or modify content rather than just use or absorb knowledge. Producing knowledge could be in the form of reviewing film, writing stories and reciprocal critique of each others' work. For this to occur, digital media production skills need to be taught alongside basic literacy skills.
As online producers of media, youth also need to be explicitly be taught the ethics of these experiences. Areas such as copyright, privacy, security, cyberbullying need to be taught alongside the multi-modal literacies required to participate fully in the digital world. Sharing media may be natural to youth today, but we as educators have the responsibility to teach social media like any other media. Students have the right to become media literate, and themselves become ethically responsible users and producers of new media.
Some may say that what teens consider as 'shareworthy' is trivial and insignificant. It is our duty as teachers to harness their engagement with the digital world and teaching media literacies to enhance their communication and mobilisation of ideas.
References
Albrechtslund, A. (2008). Online social networking as participatory surveillance. First Monday. 13 (3). Retrieved 26 September, 2010, from http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2142/1949
Ito, M. (2009). Media Literacy and Social Action in a Post-Pokeman World. NFAIS conference keynote address. Retrieved September 26, 2010, from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Confronting the challenge of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Chicago, Illinois: The MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved July 19, 2010, from Queensland University of Technology Course Materials Database.
Mallan, K. (2009). Look at me! Look at me! Self representation and self-exposure through online networks. Digital culture & education, 1 (1), pp. 51-65. Retrieved 27 September, 2010, from http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2142/1949
Seely-Brown, J. (2004). Learning in the Digital Age, Retrieved 30 September, 2010, from http://www.johnseelybrown.com/learning_in_digital_age-aspen.pdf retrieved
1 comments:
The point that today’s youth require digital media skills alongside basic literacy skills is an important one. There can be no denying the potential benefits which youth can glean from their online interactions, however not all youth are in a position to take advantage of these benefits and I am in complete agreement with the suggestion that as educators it is our responsibility to teach digital and social media literacies.
Sharing and participating in online social networks affords youth the opportunity to not only maintain connections with friends and peers, but to experiment with the creation and expression of their social identity (Boyd, 2007, p.126, 137). Youth are empowered through online sharing, with chances to develop their knowledge, ideas, skills and digital competencies and give free reign to their own creativity (O’Connell, 2006, p.46) sharing their creations with a wide audience. Opportunities exist for these youth to learn, to engage with civic issues, to become politically empowered and to advance their own economic status (Jenkins et al., 2006, p.3).
Few of these benefits however, are open to youth who lack the digital media literacies to participate fully in this digital world and these youth are struggling to keep up with their peers (Jenkins et al., 2006, p.13). As educators we should be acknowledging the online social culture which is such an important part of the lives of so many of our students and making it our goal to help them to develop all the skills, knowledge and ethical values which they need to thrive in a digital future.
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