Digital Convergence as the Symbolic Medium of New Practices and Meanings in Young People's Lives

Abstract

This article deals with the experience of digital convergence in the life of young people as an environment wherein new social meanings are constructed, a real and yet illusory space to exercise a quota of symbolic power and to avoid social exclusion, an imaginary territory to recreate the local, an idealized space to sustain, bring closer, and to reinvent the presence of others. In this perspective, we will privilege a more transcendent meaning of communication and sociability, for a better comprehension of the aforementioned phenomenon, trying to recuperate from a socio-anthropological perspective the social and cultural conditions that make interdependence possible with TICs, rather than considering them as merely univocal effects of technology.

Notes

¹An important consideration to understand the impact of the NTIC among young people is to consider their spread in terms of access. In Mexico, according to the Encuesta Nacional de Juventud 2005 (National Youth Survey, 2005), only 28% of young people between 15 and 29 years of age had a computer in their homes, and only 49.7% are enrolled in some formal system of education. Nevertheless, practically 70% (69.55%) did know how to use a computer. With respect to the Internet, only 20% had a connection at home, but 60.75% were familiar with its use. In the case of the cell phone, only 56.5% of young people had one, but almost 80% (79.95%) knew how to use one. What do these figures tell us? That socialization of the NTIC in the case of young people does not depend solely and fundamentally on the possession of a device or on training in school, but on other social spaces outside of home and school, such as cybercafés and networks of friends.

²This article uses empirical material from a socio-anthropological study about the appropriation of NTIC among young people of various socio-cultural statuses, done in Mexico City between 2005 and 2007. The methodology combined a qualitative, semi-structured interview with autobiographies of the young people about their experience with Internet and cell phones. The autobiographical technology was used with my communication and their families of medium and low Nivel Socio Económico who participated in the investigation in an active and enthusiastic way, sharing and reflecting on their experiences together.