I share therefore I am
A comparative cross-cultural ethnographic study has been carried out in Sweden, Finland and Scotland. The results from Scotland and Finland agree well with the results that Inculture has seen in Sweden based on nearly 10 years’ studies of young people and media behaviour. This shows that the evolution taking place is very similar in the developed western European media economies. In this qualitative study, we provide a deeper insight into how the young people themselves justify and think about their media use.
Media for this group means taking part, producing and sharing with others, primarily their friends, the people they meet on a daily basis, but also their followers. By being present and sharing what they create – text, images, videos – in different places, they create their identity. Information and news are obtained as a bonus via all the social media sites they belong to. They get information about what they feel they need to know via the social channels. Media is quite simply social media for this age group.