Consumers, participants, and creators: Young people's diverse use of television and new media

With the ever-changing and ubiquitous media environment as a backdrop, this article analyzes how young people respond to television and new media and how media is used in their everyday lives, in their social relations, and in building an identity. The analysis is based on findings from a user study of 10 to15 year-olds in Norway. The respondents were recruited among active Internet users, and since they were early adopters of new technology, they can be considered a vanguard. Starting with a broad outline of some essential earlier studies on young people's use of media in Europe and in the United States, the results of this study are presented and ideas for further development are discussed. Media, and in particular visual and social media, play an increasingly important role in young people's lives. But a shift is about to happen in their relationship to the media; from being an audience and users to becoming participants and creators as well. This article is a contribution to the previous rather poor research on these ongoing changes. © 2007 ACM.