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New media, new paradigms? A comparative European perspective Kirsten D R O T N E R * Abstract

The article focuses on media convergence, its empirical emergence and scientific challenges. Drawing on a major, European comparative study of juvenile media culture, it is a main argument of the article that in empirical terms media convergence serves to increase the complexities o f media culture, while in theoretical terms media convergence enforces and enhances increased focus on media contents and uses. The author proposes that the challenges of media convergence is most fruitfully met by a convergent research approach. This approach, in turn, necessitates an integration of 1CT and media studies, a systematic collaboration between the arts, social and natural sciences, as well as sustained collaboration between basic and applied forms of research. Key words: Communication sociology, Mass communication, Human communication, Comparative study, Europe.

NOUVEAUX PARADIGMES POUR NOUVEAUX MI~DIAS ? UNE APPROCHE COMPARATIVE DU CONTEXTE EUROPI~EN R6sum~

Cet article analyse l'(mergence observ(e de signes de convergence au sein des m(dias et les d(fis scientifiques qu'elle engendre. A partir d'une grande (tude comparative sur la culture des jeunes Europ(ens en termes de m(dias, l'article s'articule sur deux plans principaux. Au plan empirique, les convergences observ(es permettent d'insister sur la complexitd de la culture des m(dias, alors qu'au plan th(orique, elles valident et valorisent l'analyse plus pouss(e des contenus et des pratiques de ces m(dias. L'auteur suggOre qu'une approche comparative est la plus ~ mdme de nous faire comprendre les d(fis de ces convergences. Cette approche rend indispensable l'association des recherches sur les m(dias et celles s'int(ressant aux TIc, une collaboration syst(matique entre les lettres, les sciences et les sciences sociales ainsi qu 'une coop(ration (troite entre recherches th(oriques et appliqu(es. Mots cl~s : Sociologie communication, Communication masse, Communication humaine, l~tude comparative, Europe.

Contents

I. The complexity o f convergence A European comparative study I I I . Empirical and theoretical challenges: convergent research II.

Methodological challenges: processual approaches V. Organizational challenges: beyond professional boundaries References (10) IV.

* Professor, dr. phil., Dept of Literature, Culture & Media - USD Odense University - 55 Campusvej, 5230 Odense M., Denmark, email: [email protected]

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I. T H E C O M P L E X I T Y

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OF CONVERGENCE

It is a truism that the last two decades have witnessed the emergence and distribution o f a plethora o f n e w m e d i a t e c h n o l o g i e s hardly rivalled in earlier times. This d e v e l o p m e n t is more than an increase in volume, in quantity. It is equally a qualitative change, an increase in c o m m u n i c a t i v e and cultural complexity, i.e. in the possibilities of selecting and c o m b i n i n g , evading and evaluating ever m o r e mediated forms of communication. Equally, m a n y o f the recent m e d i a technologies offer interactive and mobile forms o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n that transcend the most p r e v a l e n t forms o f mass communication. T h e s e a l r e a d y d a u n t i n g p r o s p e c t s are a u g m e n t e d by the i m m i n e n t d e v e l o p m e n t o f convergence. This m a y take several forms - a convergence o f communication platforms such as television, telephone, computer, print media; a convergence of c o m m u n i c a t i o n contents that m a y be f o r m e d and distributed in various w a y s (e.g. news); and a c o n v e r g e n c e o f c o m munication e c o n o m i e s in the form o f transborder business mergers and acquisitions. C o n v e r gence does not i m p l y a new unity of mediated communication, rather it seems to i n v o k e a "unity in diversity" adding to the complexities o f mediated communication. Irrespective o f our take on these issues and the time f r a m e w o r k o f their i m p l e m e n t a t i o n , it seems a l i k e l y projection that the c o m b i n e d developments o f m e d i a c o m p l e x i t y and m e d i a convergence serve to foreground aspects o f contents and use in the c o m m u n i c a t i o n process. As more p e o p l e have more g i z m o s and gadgets to choose from, what will they c h o o s e ? On what bases are choices m a d e - and are they experienced as choices? H o w are m e d i a uses incorporated into other cultural and social activities? W h a t about the m e d i a - l e s s ? Questions are legio but e m p i r i c a l l y - b a s e d answers still rather limited.

II. A EUROPEAN

COMPARATIVE

STUDY

One attempt to begin to answer questions brought about b y contemporaty m e d i a culture has been m a d e in a European comparative study on 6-16-year-olds' m e d i a uses directed b y professor Sonia Livingstone and senior research officer M o i r a Bovill, both f r o m the L o n d o n School o f E c o n o m i c s (European Journal o f C o m m u n i c a t i o n 1998, Pasquier & JouEt 1999, Livingstone & B o v i l l 2001). The joint research design has involved 12 countries, both new and old media, a focus on h o m e as well as school, quantitative,national surveys (N = 11.000) that in most countries has been c o m b i n e d with qualitative methodologies (interviews, observation, diaries), and an analytical focus upon c o m m o n traits across countries f r o m a childcentred as well as a media-centred perspective. Data collection was m a d e in 1997-98 and a c o m m o n database was formed. 1 W h i l e empirical research on this scale and in such a volatile field naturally is like attempting to hit a m o v i n g target in terms o f distribution and possession, our results demonstrate that in terms use and importance, trends m o v e rather m o r e slowly. 1. The countries involved in the comparative European study are Belgium (Flanders only), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel (Jewish population only), Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. The countries were selected so as to represent the diversity in Europe in both geographical, social and media terms. Israel, which has a scientific association with Europe under the aegis of the European Council, was included to widen the definition of Europeanness. For reasons of finance, surveys were admimstered only to the Jewish population in Israel and to the Flemish population in Belgium. 2/8

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It has been a central goal to analyse not single media but the media field and its interconnections, a decision based on our prior a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t of the complexities of media culture if not of media convergence at the time of drawing up our research design in the midnineties. Seen from the vantage point of technology, one m a y chart (Fig. l) the following typology of the media field in Europe today:

leT countries: Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden 9 Wide access to and use of new, transnational media technologies (cable and satellite TV, PC, internet) 9 Relative wide access to and use of multi-channel 9 Relative wide access to and use of print media

re countries: France, Italy and Spain 9 Wide access to and use of national TV channels 9 Relative low access to and use of new, transnational m e d i a technologies (cable and satellite Tv, pc, internet)

Multimedia countries: Belgium (Flanders only), Israel, Switzerland, Germany 9 Wide access to and use of multi-channel TV 9 Moderate access to and use of new, transnational m e d i a technologies (cable and satellite TV, PC, internet) 9 Diverging use of print media

Screen country: Great Britain 9 Wide access to and use of TV, particularly national TV 9 Moderate access to and use of new, transnational m e d i a technologies (cable and satellite TV, PC, intemet) 9 Moderate use of print media

FIG. 1. -- Typology of media in Europe.

Typologie des mddias en Europe.

The typology demonstrates that a definition of media access and use which encompasses a diversity of media forms and technologies yields a rather more complex picture than is often given in e.g. statistics on single media such as computer or intemet. Thus it may be noted that our definition includes access to and use of print media, since these media serve as bases of important competences in their own right, competences that are also needed for a diverse use of new media. Looking more closely at the various ways in which E u r o p e a n children make use of and prioritise different media, certain main results stand out. First, most European children apply a variety of media, they are not a computer generation or a net generation - in the words of A m e r i c a n Don Tapscott an "n-gen" (Tapscott 1998: 3). As such they already experiment with ANN. TI~LI~COMMUN.,57, n~ 3-4, 2002

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me dia co n v erg en ce in the sense that they traverse a range o f m e d i a scanning their contents for what seems relevant, interesting and accessible at specific times and in specific contexts. Second, we do not see n e w m e d i a replacing old ones, rather n e w m ed i a serve to further the complexities o f c o n t e m p o r a r y m e d i a culture. Third, in terms o f time use television is still the most prevalent m e d i u m and, in a certain sense, also the m o s t democratic m ed i u m , since most children have access to a set and most of them use it - unlike the internet, for example. Fouth, differences within countries are greater than between countries - it means more to be born by well-educated parents than to be borne in southern Spain or northern Finland. Fifth, gender is the most d e c i s i v e variable - more decisive than both age and s o c i o - e c o n o m i c status. Thus, while the c o m p l e x i t i e s o f contemporary m e d i a culture m a y bring about an individualisation o f m e d i a uses, this p r o c e s s far f r o m invalidates w e l l - k n o w n patterns o f use dependent upon age, class, g e n d e r and ethnicity. Taken together, these results point to a situation in which n ew m e d i a are w o v e n into familiar contexts o f time and space, a result that places the question o f contextualisation at the heart of media and ICT studies. O f particular r e l e v a n c e for aspects of temporal contextualisation is the growth in online communication (e.g. email, internet chat lines) amongst ordinary youngsters, since it serves to foreground a sense o f time compression (Harvey 1989). Still, internet use far from outweighs the time y o u n g E u r o p e a n s spend on other computer uses, as is evident f r o m an analysis o f new m e d i a uses based on the typology of media in E u r o p e drawn up in fig. 1:

Pc (not games)

Computer games

Internet

Denmark

26

57

16

Finland

18

46

9

Netherlands

18

28

4

Sweden

35

43

19

France

-

-

16

Italy

40

45

10

Spain

35

36

17

Belgium

14

20

8

Germany

20

34

7

Israel

40

65

31

Italy

40

45

10

Switzerland

21

34

9

Great Britain

30

44

10

FIG 2.-- Average minutes per day spent by 9-16-year old Europeans on new media (users and non-users) t.

Nombre moyen de minutes passdes chaque jour par les jeunes europdens devant les nouveaux m~dias (utilisateurs et non utilisateurs).

1. Averages are based on declared, not observed, values. The French survey did not include questions on pc and game uses. 4/8

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One of the major issues in public debate and in early research has been the possible implications for identity formation resulting from this imminence of communication: does internet communication enhance the developement of what the American ICT researcher Sherry Turkle has termed "a decentered self that exists in many worlds and plays many roles at the same time" (Turkle 1995: 14)? This question reiterates one of the early and persistent questions concerning especially young media users, namely the question of whether or not users are able to distinguish between mediated and non-mediated forms of representation. Judging from the results of the European study, young users seem to have no trouble negotiating their virtual reality and in real life identities, and indeed apply their everyday norms and cultural registers when communicating online. These results testify to the persistent relevance of our mundane physical experiences for our uses and sense-making of our virtual experiences. Of particular relevance for aspects of spatial contextualisation is the enormous expansion of mobile forms of communication (phone, discman, Me3 player, gameboy) not least among the younger generation. This expansion serves to question established boundaries between public and private space. For many youngsters, the mobility of communication is closely connected to a sense of personal autonomy, an autonomy that especially girls and young women value as a sign of a new public visibility and a widening of their public range (Drother 2001). More generally, the telephone holds a particular symbolic significance for them in sustaining relations with their best friends, as is seen with this 10-year-old girl who describes her phone routines with her best friend whom she meets every morning on their way to school: Q.: Do you sometimes ring up your best friend and chat to her on the phone? A.: Oh, yes. We do that a lot, we do that every morning, 'cause she gives me a ring, or I ring her at half eight [7.30 a.m.], and then we chat a little. Q.: Even if you'll see each other in half an hour? A.: Yes, then we go to meet each other, and we go to school together. (Danish girl, aged 10). For many girls and young women, the important thing is not what is said over the phone, it is speaking as such, keeping contact - the function of their communication is what Roman Jakobson calls "phatic communication" (Jakobson 1960/1985). Both in terms of time and space, then, social and cultural parameters and forms of contextualisation serve to deepen and nuance our understanding of users' sense-making of their mediated forms of communication in a convergent media culture.

III. EMPIRICAL AND T H E O R E T I C A L CHALLENGES: CONVERGENT RESEARCH

While contextualisation is certainly important in empirical research, it is not enough to guarantee nuanced, workable and proactive research in the field of mediated communication. Results such as the above go to demonstrate that it is no longer feasible or even less so than before - to study single media, even media-in-context, be it the telephone, the computer or television. What we need in order to meet the challenge inherent in the complexities of convergence is an integrative approach to ICT studies ANN.TI~LI~COMMUN., 57, n~ 3-4, 2002

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and media studies, an approach that investigates and seeks to understand the interrelatedness of and between media cultures, between new and old media. Moreover, results such as the above demonstrate the central importance played by users and uses in a convergent media culture. If we wish to understand the implications of convergence, we need to supplement the techologicial and/or economic focus that pertains to most of the recent white papers that the EU and various national governments have published on convergence. Even if we do focus upon media users and uses, we need to go beyond received paradigms in studying users' relations with new and old media. ~CT-studies have traditionally focused upon screen-based human-computer interaction within often rather specific contexts of use. This approach is clearly challenged by ubiquitous and mobile media and IfTs. Similarly, media studies have focused upon the varieties of reception made by different groups using a specific mass medium such as television or a specific genre such as news or soaps. Such an approach is clearly challenged by current media that focus upon point-to-point communication and media that allow various degrees of interactivity turning receivers into (potential) producers. For both ICT studies and media studies, the immediacy, the integration and the mobility of communication demand new ways of approaching the temporal and spatial dimensions of communication - more researchers need to go out on the streets, into the public libraries, the railway stations and cyber-cafEs in order to widen the often very "private" empirical boundaries of the home, the workplace and possibly the school.

IV. M E T H O D O L O G I C A L

CHALLENGES: PROCESSUAL APPROACHES

Centrally, a convergent media and ICT research implies an integration of deductive approaches and methodologies, traditionally nurtured by the social sciences, and inductive approaches and methodologies, traditionally favoured by the humanities. Concepts may be developed inductively from case studies, but cases are also part of larger patterns that it needs deduction to perceive and explain. An integration of deductive and inductive approaches is more than a methodological integration, it also, and just as importantly, involves healing very basic theoretical and, indeed, epistemological divergences between ideographic and nomothetical perspectives that it would be unwise to overlook. More specifically, the increase in online and mobile forms of communication necessitates an intensified focus upon the development of what may be termed more "processual methodologies". These methodologies allow us to study often ephemeral forms of communication as they evolve - e.g. the intricate interplay between different discourse levels or "universes" in chat communication, or the exchanges made between physical and virtual interlocutors in mobile phone communication. It is evident that, in a methodological sense, ICT and media scholars may draw on the long tradition established within ethnography in studying processes rather than structures (Hine 2000, Mann & Stewart 2000).

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V. ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES: BEYOND PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES

Last, but by no means least, the challenges brought about by the complexities of convergence, make it important that we reach beyond professional boundaries both within the academe and between academic and more applied forms of reaearch. Drawing on an analogy from biology where one speaks about biological diversity as a resource for survival, one may speak of the necessity of professional diversity as a resource, if not for survival, then at least for our continued ability to make proactive research by which we may not only sustain the development of a convergent media culture but through which we may also help make distinctions and informed choices. More specifically, professional diversity involves intensified cooperation between scholars from the arts (including history, design, literary studies), the social sciences (including anthropology, economy) and the natural sciences (including soft engineering and interaction design). All of these hold decisive stakes in the development of media convergence but none of them hold the key to a full understanding of its implications. In order for such a cooperation to succeed, a lot of bridge-building is needed. Let me just list a few of the "pillars". In immediate terms, there are already good examples of successful cooperation between academics and media and ICT partners, but so far, with a bias towards either a technical, a social or, less often, a cultural/symbolic perspective and with very few examples of an integration of the ICT and media perspectives. Here, we need more projects and partnerships that integrate the ICT and media perspectives and do so by involving researchers and developers from a diversity of professional backgrounds. In the longer term, new forms of training are needed in universities, colleges and highschools in which the technical, symbolic and social dimensions of communication and ICT are integrated, and such a development involves new forms of cooperation between faculties that today often stand divided within the academic community in an attempt to gain critical advantages in an increasingly competitive academic culture. Ultimately, both short- and long-term developments rest on our wish and attempts to nurture integrative professional dialogues that reach beyond the status quo of "I do my thing, you do yours". With the conference theme on "E-uses", the organisers of the ICUST conference have set a new standard in their bold attempt to get such dialogues going. It is up to the participants to sustain and develop dialogue into innovative forms of cooperation and results that reach beyond the time-out of conferences and into the mundane realities of research and development agendas and actions. Manuscrit regu le 21 octobre 2001 Acceptg le 2 7 janvier 2002

REFERENCES

[1] DROTNER (K.), Medierforfremtiden: born, unge og det nye medielandskab [ M e d i a f o r the future: children, y o u n g p e o p l e and the new m e d i a l a n d s c a p e ] C o p e n h a g e n : Hoest, (2001).

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[2] European Journal of Communication 13, 4, Special issue on "Children, Young People and the Changing Media Environment", (Eds.) Sonia L~VINGSTONE& Moira BOVlLL, (1998). [3] HARVEY (D.), The Conditions of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change Oxford: Blackwell, (1989). [4] HINE (C.), Virtual Ethnography London: Sage, (2000). [5] JAKOBSON(R.), "Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics," pp. 147-75 in Robert E. Innis (ed.) Semiotics: An Introductory Anthology Bloomington: Indiana UP. Orig. 1960, (1985). [6] LIVINGSTONE (S.), BOVILL (M.), (Eds.), Children and Their Changing Media Environment: A European Comparative Study New York: Lawrence Earlbaum, (2001). [7] MANN (C.), STEWART(F.), Internet communication and qualitative research: a handbook for researching online London, Sage, (2000). [8] PASQU1ER(D.), JOUET (J.), (Eds.), Rdseaux, "Les jeunes et l'rcran", 17, 92-93, (1999). [9] TAPSCOTT(D.), Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation New York: McGraw-Hill, (1998). [10] TURKLE(S.), Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the lnternet New York: Simon & Schuster, (1995).

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