Analyzing youth digital participation: Aims,actors, contexts and intensities |
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| Authors: | Ioana Literat Neta Kligler-Vilenchik Melissa Brough Alicia Blum-Ross |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA;2. Department of Communication and Journalism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel;3. Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Northridge, California, USA;4. Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Participation is often used as a blanket term that is uncritically celebrated; this is particularly true in the case of youth digital participation. In this article, we propose a youth-focused analytical framework, applicable to a wide variety of youth digital participation projects, which can help facilitate a more nuanced understanding of these participatory practices. This framework analyzes the aims envisioned for youth participation, the actors and contexts of these activities, and the variable levels of participatory intensity, in order to more accurately assess the forms and outcomes of youth digital participation. We demonstrate the value of this framework by applying it to two contemporary cases of digital youth participation: an informal online community (Nerdfighters) and a formalized educational initiative (CyberPatriot). Such analyses facilitate normative assessments of youth digital participation, which enable us to better assess what participation is good for, and for whom. |
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| Keywords: | digital participation digital media formal and informal education participatory culture youth |
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