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What shapes the role of Information and Communication Technologies in our everyday life? Despite the speed with which information and communication technologies such as the PC, mobile telephone and internet have found their way into society, there remains a good deal of debate surrounding their adoption and use. Through empirical studies covering a broad range of everyday life and work settings, this volume provides grounded insights into the social dynamics influencing how ICTs are both shaped and experienced. Specifically, the book examines the contributions of diverse disciplines to our understanding of these processes, the symbolic nature of technologies, the influence of design on the experience of ICTs, the role of users in influencing that design, the social constraints affecting the use of those technologies, and strategies for evaluating the social consequences of ICT innovations.
Generational Use of New Media examines and contrasts how younger and older people, representing different generations, engage with the new media that they increasingly encounter in everyday life. Exploring the various assumptions about the degrees to which younger and older people are more or less willing to use, or are capable of using, new media, the social circumstances under which they do so and the very design of those media, this book critically examines the gap that is assumed to exist between younger users of new media and older non-users. Thematically organised and offering comparative analyses of the generational use of new media and technology, this timely volume presents the latest research and rich new empirical material gathered in the EU, USA and Hong Kong, to reflect on societal practices and the practical implications of building a more inclusive information society.
This book revolves around neoliberal notions governing children and youth – a trend that permeates and dominates contemporary perceptions of "the young." In fact, given how the disciplinary power of neoliberalism swiftly becomes a common conceptual currency across national and cultural borders, discussing the way in which neoliberal self-governance permeates the cultures of childhood and youth is even more pertinent. This is followed by research on media discourses of children and their cultural practices in Norway, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Serbia, Greece, and the US.
Life without the internet, a very new technology, seems almost unimaginable for most people in western nations. Today the internet is intrinsic to media and communications, entertainment, politics, defence, business, banking, education and administrative systems as well as to social interaction. The Internet disentangles this extraordinarily complex information and communication technology from its place in our daily lives, allowing it to be examined anew. Technology has historically been shaped by governmental, military and commercial requirements, but the development of the internet is increasingly driven by its users. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and many other emerging applications are shifting the way we express ourselves, communicate with our friends, and even engage with global politics. At the same time three-quarters of the world's population remain effectively excluded from the internet. Packed with case studies drawn from around the world, The Internet presents a clear and up-to-date introduction to the social, cultural, technological and political worlds this new media form is creating.
As internet use is extending to younger children, there is an increasing need for research focus on the risks young users are experiencing, as well as the opportunities, and how they should cope. With expert contributions from diverse disciplines and a uniquely cross-national breadth, this timely book examines the prospect of enhanced opportunities for learning, creativity and communication set against the fear of cyberbullying, pornography and invaded privacy by both strangers and peers. Based on an impressive in-depth survey of 25,000 children carried out by the EU Kids Online network, it offers wholly new findings that extend previous research and counter both the optimistic and the pessi...
This text surveys some of the broader issues associated with the adoption and use of mobile communication, including communication in public versus private space, cultural differences in mobile communication, and psychological perspectives on the adoption of mobile communication technology.
Focusing on the digital lives of children aged eight and under, and paying attention to their parents and educators, this book showcases research findings from the UK, Denmark, Turkey, Indonesia and Australia. The authors’ disciplinary backgrounds are as diverse as their cultural contexts, and the volume brings together insights from education, media studies, sociology, cultural studies, physiotherapy, and communication studies. Covering both positive and negative perspectives, it contributes to existing research on young children’s online interactions. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in early years’ care and education, media, communication and cultural studies, human-computer interaction and technology studies, and the sociology of childhood and the family.
This work offers an assessment of progress made towards the "information society". It begins from the premise that the construction of such a society in Europe is a dynamic process and that the journey towards a society so dependent upon digital information is far from straightforward.
As the internet and new online technologies are becoming embedded in everyday life, there are increasing questions about their social implications and consequences. This text addresses these risks in relation to children.