RESEARCH
COLLOQUIUM
School
of Library & Information Studies
College
of Communication & Information
The
Florida State University
“The Young
and the Digital:
Race, Class, and
the New Media Ecology”
Presented by
S. Craig
Watkins
Associate Professor, The
Department of Radio-Television-Film
The University of Texas at
Austin
Friday, May 14,
2010
10:00–11:00
a.m.
Gregory Conference
Room, Goldstein Library
Louis Shores
Building, FSU Campus
Or view live on
the web at http://webcast.cci.fsu.edu
Abstract:
From
the moment computers and the Internet arrived in our homes, young people have
been early adopters, cultural trend setters, and digital media
enthusiasts. In this talk, Dr. Watkins addresses what we are learning
about young people's participation in the new media ecology. The digital
media world is constantly changing and young people's complex engagement is a
major reason why. Drawing from both original research (i.e., survey data,
in-depth interviews) and secondary sources, this talk offers a sociological
description and analysis of the ways race and class distinctions matter in the
digital media landscape.
Since
2007, the use of social and mobile media technologies by African American and
Latino youth has reframed the debate about social media and social
inequality. Dr. Watkins maintains that questions seeking to understand
the "participation gap" rather than the "access gap" should
be the primary focus of research related to understanding the continuing
significance of the digital divide. He also contemplates the extent to
which the use of social network sites like Facebook animate the rise of digital
gates, that is, online communities that are shaped by offline racial, ethnic,
and class distinctions.
Bio:
S.
Craig Watkins has been researching young people's media behaviors for more than
ten years. He teaches in the departments of Radio-Television-Film and Sociology
and the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of
Texas at Austin. He received his PhD in the sociology of communication
from the University of Michigan. He is the author of three books including, The
Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and
Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future (Beacon 2009).
Dr.
Watkins is involved with the MacArthur Foundation Series on Youth, Digital
Media and Learning. His work on this groundbreaking initiative focuses on
youth engagement with social and mobile media and also explores how diverse
communities and innovative uses of digital media are remaking the new media
landscape.
He
has been invited to be a Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in
the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford). Currently, he is launching a new digital
media research initiative that focuses on the use and evolution of social media
platforms; the social media behaviors of black and Latino youth; and the
evolving role of mobile technologies in everyday life. For updates on
these and other projects visit theyoungandthedigital.com.
Bob
Branciforte, MLIS
Creative
Director
College
of Communication & Information
The
Florida State University
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PHONE
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644-9253
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State University
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Box 3062100
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