[ecrea] New publication: Digital Pioneers. Cultural drivers of future media culture

*DIGITAL PIONEERS*

*Cultural drivers of future media culture*

*Sonja Kangas (ed.)*

Digital media are central in youngsters’ lives, both time-wise and 
culturally – creating meanings, strengthening relationships and 
pondering values. Digital activities are gaining a bigger share of 
youths’ everyday life. The Internet provides several ways for them to 
express themselves, find friends or dating partners and likeminded 
people. It is a mass medium for everyone, providing the possibility of 
becoming a celebrity, being politically active, joining international 
networks, watching television, chatting with friends or just spending 
time online. It is a channel for expressing where I am, what I plan to 
do and what type of information or contacts I am looking for.

Ten years ago young communication acrobatics in Japan, South Korea and 
Finland were sovereign, fearless and experimental pioneers of mobile 
phones and the Internet. Currently youngster’s use of digital media has 
globally been described as snack size or remix culture in that they 
combine pieces from here and there, follow several information and 
communication channels simultaneously and utilize social networks.

This book will provide an overview of the online life and values of 
15–25 year olds in countries that were pioneers of digital services at 
the end of 1990s and describe the change that has happened within the 
past 10 years. /Digital Pioneers/ looks at social networking among the 
youngsters, covering a wide spectrum of topics from media use, social 
networking, trust, and friendships to motivational factors. The book 
also looks at the development of so-called gaming lifestyle. Japan, 
South Korea and Finland are no longer far ahead of the rest of the 
world. But do these pioneer countries of the 1990s still have some 
special qualities that can generate novel digital cultures in the 21st 
century? Where will the next generation of online brands develop?

2011. Finnish Youth Research Society, internet publications 49. ISBN 
978-952-5464-99-3 (PDF). ISSN-L 1799-9219. ISSN 1799-9219.

http://www.nuorisotutkimusseura.fi/julkaisuja/digitalpioneers.pdf

Further information: Sonja Kangas, tel. +358 400 759 817, 
(sonja.kangas /at/ souplala.net)

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