A special issue of Medijske studije / Media Studies Journal to be published in January 2020, MS Vol. 10 (2019) 20

Deadline: October 7, 2019

Edited by

• Maria José Brites (Lusófona University of Porto)
• Inês Amaral (University of Coimbra)
• Antonija Čuvalo (University of Zagreb)

Media generational identities are culturally, socially, economically and historically shaped. A single vision of generational identity is impossible.

This special issue welcomes different approaches to intergenerational and generational perspectives from various geographical landscapes. Moreover, it aims to discuss digital uses and digital competences within intergenerational and generational perspectives. The proposal is to assume as context the current digital media environment, which has shaped media history over the past decades. Non-Western voices covering generations, digital uses and competences are particularly welcome.

Historically, media were mostly considered as reinforcements of the generational gap, mostly in the family context. Though research by Livingstone and Haddon (2009) found that the intergenerational gap is diminishing in time, according to Bolin & Skogerbø (2013), the digital era is contributing to straight the generations. Čuvalo (2017) discerns shared media repertoires among the youngest, so-called digital generation or digital natives and the older generation of digital immigrants (Thomas, 2011). In this sense, there is the need to work closely on life course perspectives as a possible explanation of the diminishing or perpetuating of the generational gap (Amaral & Daniel, 2018). The context of digital literacy reinforced activities by civil society and schools and can bring some light to the discussion of this need (Brites, 2017). Furthermore, a generational perspective in scholar and familiar environments can empower the discussion.

There is a story to tell and gains to conquer from the historical reflection, although the real interconnection between the digital devices and the audiences is a recent issue. Research can benefit from a systematization from the past to the future and also in the current present.

Descriptors:

• A historical and cross-national perspective on generations and the digital environment
• Non-media centric approach to media generations
• Generations and the context of the digital environment
• Generations and digital competences
• Generations and intergenerational approaches
• Digital literacy and generations
• Digital literacy and intergenerational dimensions
• Theoretical discussions on generations, digital uses and competencies
• To define and explore methodologies critically to better understand the audience of digital generations, namely alternative methodologies.
• To consider ethical discussions in researching generations and also intergenerational dynamics.

Questions:

• What can we learn with a historical perspective of generations and the digital, especially in the context of transitional and non-Western societies?
• How does the digital environment may contribute to convergence on generations? Still, what are the differences in using the digital across generations?
• What are the current and future trends that research results are giving to the field?
• Is there a shift in the approach of different generations and the media?
• What is the relevance of life course in the digital uses and competences?
• How to portray the digital evolution uses across generations, considering that the generational context is not a static dimension?
• What are the most appropriate theoretical approaches?
• Is research giving insights about new methodological approaches? What are the methodological challenges?
• What are the most challenging and needed ethical questions of this research field?
• Is there still a generation gap in terms of digital uses and competences?
• What social and cultural issues define generational contexts and condition intergenerationality far beyond competencies or uses?
• How to equate intergenerationality and digital uses in different geographic contexts?

References

Amaral, I., & Daniel, F. (2018). The use of social media among senior citizens in Portugal: active ageing through an intergenerational approach. In International Conference on Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Lecture Notes in Computer Science v. 10926 (pp. 422-434). Springer, Cham. Print ISSN: 0302-9743, Online ISSN: 1611-3349, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92034-4_32

Bolin, G., & Skogerbø, E. (2013). Age, generation and the media. Northern Lights, 11, 3-14. doi:10.1386/nl.11.3_2

Brites, M.J. (Coord.) (2017). Digital Literacy and Education (2014-July 2016), national reports (Portugal, UK, Ireland, Spain, Serbia and Italy), ELN - European Literacy Network, Digital Literacy Team (WG2) https://www.is1401eln.eu/en/gca/index.php?id=149.

Čuvalo, A. (2017). Ritmovi medijskih generacija u Hrvatskoj: istraživanje repertoara medijskih generacija iz sociološke perspektive. Reviza za sociologiju, 47(3): 271-302. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5613/rzs.47.3.2.

Livingstone, Sonia & Haddon, Leslie (2009). EU Kids Online: Final Report. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.

Thomas, M. (2001)(ed.). Deconstructing Digital Natives. Young People, Technology and the New Literacies. New York & London: Routledge.

All manuscripts should be submitted through the Open Journal System.

Submission guidelines can be found here.

The deadline for full articles is October 7, 2019.