Everyday Creativity: Consumption, Participation, Production, and Communication by Teenagers in The Netherlands

Abstract

This research aims to advance our knowledge of the positive aspects of Internet use by investigating how Dutch teenagers (11–17 years) utilize its opportunities. We organized ten focus groups in secondary schools to study the online activities of this group and their motivations for being active online. Uses and gratifications theorizing was used to acquire an understanding of the teenagers' perspectives on the needs that may be met by these activities. The results revealed that most time was spent on somewhat passively consuming online content, although many were also busy communicating, which implied a more active form of engagement. A small group reported a high level of activity. The findings confirmed that everyday creativity is quite common in teenagers. They also suggested that this group's social needs and requirement to express and enjoy themselves were gratified. The article ends with a reflection on the focus group methodology and directions for future research.

Keywords::

• everyday creativity
• teenagers
• motivations
• production
• Internet
• uses and gratifications
• focus group

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank their colleague Peter Nikken and the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful criticism on an earlier version of this article.

Notes

^1. In the Netherlands, secondary schools are usually a combination of the US middle school/junior high and high school. We have conducted focus groups with teenagers from the first grade (roughly 11–12 years old), third grade (roughly 13–14 years old), and fifth/sixth grade (roughly 15–17 years old).

^2. The word clouds in this article are generated with Wordle.net.

^3. The focus groups were conducted in Dutch. In translating the students' words, we have stayed as close to the original wording as possible. This sometimes results in rather awkward language.

^4. In the case of playing games, we have classified playing individually and without changing the game or game content as “consumption,” creating additional game play with a group of other players as “participation,” and creating game content as ”production.”

^5. During our data collection, the direct messaging service used most often was MSN Messenger.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Mediawijzer.net, Digivaardig & Digiveilig, and Mijn Kind Online.

Notes on contributors

Jeroen Jansz

Professor Dr Jeroen Jansz is a Full Professor at the Department of Media and Communication and the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His research addresses the reception of new media with a focus on user-generated content and the convergence of the roles of users and producers. For his publications, see http://www.eshcc.eur.nl/jeroen_jansz/. Email: [email protected]

Mijke Slot

Dr Mijke Slot is a lecturer at the Department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam and researcher at the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture. Her research focus lies on the various ways in which new media technologies alter existing user–producer relations.

Samboleap Tol

Samboleap Tol completed the International Bachelor Communication and Media at Erasmus University Rotterdam and worked as a research assistant on this project. She is currently working as Market Manager Benelux at HotelsCombined.com in Australia.

Romy Verstraeten

Romy Verstraeten is a student in the research master Sociology of Culture, Media and the Arts, Erasmus University Rotterdam. She worked as a research assistant on this project, and is currently finishing her master thesis.