Young people’s creative online practices in the context of school community

Abstract

This article concentrates on young people's creative online practices, such as making videos, writing lifestyle blogs, and engaging in online role-playing games. It also looks at their relations to different audiences, privacy, and the school community as a central social environment in young people's everyday life.The research was conducted as an ethnographic study in one public secondary school in Finland during the academic year 2009-2010. The ethnography is preceded by a quantitative survey on media use among school students (N = 305). EU Kids Online research data (N = 1012) regarding Finland was used in the analysis of young people's internet use as well.The internet offers different possibilities for young people to publish, share, and participate online. Although the study shows that the majority of young people are not especially eager to share their creative productions on the internet, some of the teens studied had a strong interest in creative media production and online activities. The case study shows that young people's creative online activities vary from individual activities, such as schoolcommunity-based communal activities, to collaborative activities with peers.In order to control their privacy online, young people try to manage their self-presentations, their audiences, and their spaces where they share their productions. It also seems that active and creative internet users get more support for internet safety from their peers and teachers.

School-context videos in Janus-faced online publicity: Learner-Generated Digital Video Production Going Online

“…Gibbons (2013) suggested that presenting one's identity in networked media is challenging for young people. Adolescents who are conscious of their developing web image (Kupiainen, 2013a) may become more reluctant, afraid of receiving nasty comments, being bullied, and losing their credibility among their peers. Furthermore, they might consider online publishing as a context that they want to leave as an option for themselves, probably due to a perceived feeling of control or power relations.…”

“…As the term media includes the new media with interactive and networking 5 characteristics enabled by digital technologies (Ylä-Kotola & Arai, 2000), media education aims at enhancing media or digital literacies. Although media (or digital) literacy involves the production of digital works (Buckingham, 2006), it has not traditionally addressed privacy management in the networked public (Kupiainen, 2013a). Still, an aspect emphasizing online safety has been included in digital literacy (Buckingham, 2006): basic technical skills are not enough, but it is crucial to learn how to protect oneself against harmful content.…”

“…This pedagogical thinking is supported by Laitinen (2007), who claimed that students can understand media by producing media content, scaffolded by a teacher. Adopting this thought and supported by Kupiainen (2013a), it can be argued that learners assimilate and construct the shared rules on online activity by producing, publishing, and sharing media content in authentic media environments, i.e. "going online" in guided practices.…”

“…The boys produced and shared videos on computer gaming, skateboarding, and other forms of physical exercise, whereas the girls shared their videos mostly in blogs related to hobby horsing or, for secondary-level students, fashion or lifestyle. Blogging, especially on lifestyle, is common among Finnish secondary-level girls (Kupiainen, 2013a).…”

Nuorten luovat mediakäytännöt kaupunkitilan heterotopioina

“…Käytän artikkelissa empiiristä aineistoa tutkimuksestani vuosilta 2009-2010 Nuoret, lukutaidot ja muuttuva mediaympäristö (Kupiainen 2013b) valaisemaan mainittujen mediakäytäntöjen luonnetta. Etnografinen tutkimus on toteutettu länsisuomalaisessa yläkoulussa, mutta tutkimukseen kuului myös nuorten mediakäytäntöjen ja nettijulkaisemisen seuraaminen.…”