WY lecture 5
Lecture 5 - The internet and social media
Internet has replaced physical meeting places. The sharp distinction between producers and
consumers has also faded away. We all can be producer and consumer of social media.
New media
How do young people use media and what’s the influence of media on youth?
Social network sites have the potential…
What is new about social media?
Faster
Farther
Interactive
Integrated until the smartphone, you still needed different devices (now: all in one
phone calls, text messages, dating, pictures)
Optimists Pessimists
Fast Superficial
Groundbreaking Addictive
Integrated Fragmentation
Bonding Isolating
Creative Saturation; chaos
Four topics:
Uses: needs, gratification (differs from moment to moment)
Engagement: how relations are (not) being formed with the use of net media, use of
new media political participation
Identity: - later in this lecture-
Unique youth experience: generationally influences (young people use it differently
than older people)
Weak ties: important for instrumental reasons
Strong ties: important for emotional support (parents and best friends)\
Let’s try to explain new developments with old theories!
Subcultural theory
Youth groups form cultural practices that have a meaning
Various forms of expression: products; tastes; styles
Traditional: coherent and often class-related; resistance
, WY lecture 5
Modern: relationship between practices, style and identity is more flexible and fluid
Research directed at:
o Origin of subcultures
o Membership (size; quality)
o Group formation and group relations (in-/outgroup; roles)
o Meaning of cultural practices
José Alberto Simões & Ricardo Campos (2017) Digital media, subcultural activity and youth
participation: the cases of protest rap and graffiti in Portugal, Journal of Youth Studies, 20:1,
16-31
Simoes and Campos
Research question: This paper aims to examine the role of digital media and
technologies in the so-called hip-hop culture, through an analysis of two
interconnected case studies: protest rap and illegal graffiti; specially interested in
interaction between online and offline experiences
Theoretical background: (modern) subcultural theory
Design: 4 case studies; qualitative ethnographic approach; interviews; tekst and
visual analysis; 3 dimensions:
o Cultural production
o Cultural consumption
o Representations (meanings)
Simoes and Campos: results
Hip-hop = street culture: Street plays a symbolical role in terms of establishing a
cultural identity and an ideological framework for these groups’ existence
The city is the arena on which symbolic disputes around individual and collective
(the crews) prestige are settled
This may also be regarded as a rejection of the mainstream: refusing to identify
with a pop marketing and insisting that staying “real” necessitates rawness,
authenticity, and a continued connection with the streets
Media work as memory, communication and visibility technologies
o People are not only looking at the graffiti, but also taking pictures (new media
are important for the artists broadcasting)
Media work also as representation, narration and identity technologies
With the internet, this circuit is not only expanded but also becomes ubiquitous,
increasing its impact and visibility for potentially wider audiences
This new condition seems to suggest the definition of new music production and
circulation strategies involving digital devices and the internet
The significance of these networks is revealed not just through its extraordinary
broadcasting capacity, but also by the dynamic and interactive nature of the
communication
Simoes and Campos: results
In sum, we would argue that besides giving them the chance to gain a ‘voice’ online,
sustained by communication processes that enhance social networks and public
visibility, equally crucial is the contribution of such online presence for building a
shared identity, through which multiple narratives (both individual and collective) are
constructed indifferent digital platforms and circuits that are expanding (and becoming
interconnected) with offline circuits and practices.
New Identities
Lecture 5 - The internet and social media
Internet has replaced physical meeting places. The sharp distinction between producers and
consumers has also faded away. We all can be producer and consumer of social media.
New media
How do young people use media and what’s the influence of media on youth?
Social network sites have the potential…
What is new about social media?
Faster
Farther
Interactive
Integrated until the smartphone, you still needed different devices (now: all in one
phone calls, text messages, dating, pictures)
Optimists Pessimists
Fast Superficial
Groundbreaking Addictive
Integrated Fragmentation
Bonding Isolating
Creative Saturation; chaos
Four topics:
Uses: needs, gratification (differs from moment to moment)
Engagement: how relations are (not) being formed with the use of net media, use of
new media political participation
Identity: - later in this lecture-
Unique youth experience: generationally influences (young people use it differently
than older people)
Weak ties: important for instrumental reasons
Strong ties: important for emotional support (parents and best friends)\
Let’s try to explain new developments with old theories!
Subcultural theory
Youth groups form cultural practices that have a meaning
Various forms of expression: products; tastes; styles
Traditional: coherent and often class-related; resistance
, WY lecture 5
Modern: relationship between practices, style and identity is more flexible and fluid
Research directed at:
o Origin of subcultures
o Membership (size; quality)
o Group formation and group relations (in-/outgroup; roles)
o Meaning of cultural practices
José Alberto Simões & Ricardo Campos (2017) Digital media, subcultural activity and youth
participation: the cases of protest rap and graffiti in Portugal, Journal of Youth Studies, 20:1,
16-31
Simoes and Campos
Research question: This paper aims to examine the role of digital media and
technologies in the so-called hip-hop culture, through an analysis of two
interconnected case studies: protest rap and illegal graffiti; specially interested in
interaction between online and offline experiences
Theoretical background: (modern) subcultural theory
Design: 4 case studies; qualitative ethnographic approach; interviews; tekst and
visual analysis; 3 dimensions:
o Cultural production
o Cultural consumption
o Representations (meanings)
Simoes and Campos: results
Hip-hop = street culture: Street plays a symbolical role in terms of establishing a
cultural identity and an ideological framework for these groups’ existence
The city is the arena on which symbolic disputes around individual and collective
(the crews) prestige are settled
This may also be regarded as a rejection of the mainstream: refusing to identify
with a pop marketing and insisting that staying “real” necessitates rawness,
authenticity, and a continued connection with the streets
Media work as memory, communication and visibility technologies
o People are not only looking at the graffiti, but also taking pictures (new media
are important for the artists broadcasting)
Media work also as representation, narration and identity technologies
With the internet, this circuit is not only expanded but also becomes ubiquitous,
increasing its impact and visibility for potentially wider audiences
This new condition seems to suggest the definition of new music production and
circulation strategies involving digital devices and the internet
The significance of these networks is revealed not just through its extraordinary
broadcasting capacity, but also by the dynamic and interactive nature of the
communication
Simoes and Campos: results
In sum, we would argue that besides giving them the chance to gain a ‘voice’ online,
sustained by communication processes that enhance social networks and public
visibility, equally crucial is the contribution of such online presence for building a
shared identity, through which multiple narratives (both individual and collective) are
constructed indifferent digital platforms and circuits that are expanding (and becoming
interconnected) with offline circuits and practices.
New Identities
