Media appropriations of young consumers: Production and Consumption of Digital Content on Social Networks

Abstract: This is an investigation into how the technological appropriation of new media happens by a young audience, still in their first contacts with artefacts, technologies and digital social networks. It is a study based on data collected during a field activity carried out in 2019 with 289 young people aged between 11 and 17 years in the municipalities of Fundão and Gouveia, central region of Portugal. The analysis was developed from three experiments: directed interviews, participant immersion and surveys. During the investigation, we analyzed the behavior of 8 qualitative variables: gender, municipality, school, technical device, platforms, frequency of use, intensity of taste and importance of influencers in technological choices. Four analytical dimensions were observed: content, purpose of use, influencers and mode of access. Behavior patterns and usage habits associated with the production and consumption of digital content were identified in this public. Among the results obtained is a model of technological appropriation that considers social and cultural aspects of the investigated population, as well as the mode of existence of technical objects (Simondon, 2020). Faced with the innovation dynamics of the media industry, appropriation can also be defined as an unstable and non-uniform process. This process varies depending on the transformations imposed by changes in available technology and the material and sociocultural conditions of individuals. This article was adapted from the doctoral thesis entitled “Media Appropriations of Young Consumers: Production and Consumption of Digital Content on Social Networks”, prepared by the author at the University of Beira Interior, in 2022.

Keywords: User Digital technological appropriation, New media young audience and Content in Social Networks

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1003374

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