Giovanna Mascheroni | Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) (original) (raw)

Books by Giovanna Mascheroni

Datafied Childhoods Data Practices and Imaginaries in Children’s Lives, 2021

Datafied Childhoods examines the multiple ways in which datafication, algorithms, and artificial ... more Datafied Childhoods examines the multiple
ways in which datafication, algorithms, and
artificial intelligence (AI) transform the contexts
for children: at home, school, and in peer and
parent-child relationships. The COVID-19
pandemic provides an important moment for
reimagining how data are repurposed for the
social good and best interests of children

Palgrave MacMillan, 2019

The Internet of Toys (IoToys) is a developing market within our Internet of Things (IoT) ecosyste... more The Internet of Toys (IoToys) is a developing market within our Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. This book examines the rise of internet-connected toys and aims to anticipate the opportunities and risks of IoToys before their widespread diffusion. Contributors to this volume each provide a critical analysis of the design, production, regulation, representation and consumption of internet-connected toys. In order to address the theoretical, methodological and policy questions that arise from the study of these new playthings, and contextualise the diverse opportunities and challenges that IoToys pose to educators, families and children themselves, the chapters engage with notions of mediatization, datafication, robotification, connected and post-digital play. This timely engagement with a key transformation in children’s play will appeal to all readers interested in understanding the social uses and consequences of IoToys, and primarily to researchers and students in children and media, early childhood studies, media and communications, sociology, education, social psychology, law and design.

Journal Articles by Giovanna Mascheroni

Current Sociology, 2018

The article focuses on early childhood as a critical site of datafication and dataveillance. Firs... more The article focuses on early childhood as a critical site of datafication and dataveillance. First, it provides an overview of approaches that situate the datafication of childhood within the new business logic and new modes of governance called " surveillance capitalism ". Second, it presents approaches that theorise how surveillance culture has been normalised in a range of everyday family practices, including those supported by pregnancy and parenting apps, baby wearables and the Internet of Toys (IoToys). Finally, it develops the argument that we need to understand data traces as socially situated and account for the everyday embedding of algorithms in early childhood and family life, if we want to avoid the essentialism that characterises much of the debate around surveillance culture in the life of young children.

Journal of Children and Media, 2018

Social Media + Society, 2017

The article explores how a group of young people in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom experi... more The article explores how a group of young people in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom experience and manage informal political talk on Facebook. Based on 60 interviews with 14- to 25-year-olds with diverse interest and participation in politics, it understands political talk as a social achievement dependent on the situational definition, shaped by the perceived imagined audiences, shared expectations, and technological affordances. Results show that young people construct different interactional contexts on Facebook depending on their political experiences, but also on their understanding of the affordances of networked publics as shaped by the social norms of their peer groups. Many youth define Facebook as an unsafe social setting for informal political discussions, thus adhering to a form of “publicness” aimed at neutralizing conflicts. Others, instead, develop different forms of “publicness” based on emergent communicative skills that help them manage the uncertainty of social media as interactional contexts. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117747849

Based on comparative qualitative research with 14-to 25-year-olds in Italy and the UK, this study... more Based on comparative qualitative research with 14-to 25-year-olds in Italy and the UK, this study draws on Bourdieu's theory of practice and culturalist perspectives on citizenship, and situates participation as a socially embedded, contingent online/offline practice that is shaped by the interrelation between participatory habitus, differential access to resources, and the political context. Young people's diversity is manifested in their different vocabularies of participation, which include a vocabulary of (a) citizenship orientations, (b) citizenship practices, and (c) digital engagement. Based on vocabularies of participation, 5 participatory habitus were identified: the legitimate, the critical, the alternative, the radical antagonist, and the excluded. Each participatory habitus is produced by different combinations of resources and political experiences, and in turn shapes how young people participate on-and offline.

As children access to the internet at ever younger ages, questions arise as to whether the use of... more As children access to the internet at ever younger ages, questions arise as to whether the use of touchscreens at home contributes to literacy and digital skills, and whether and how parents scaffold children's learning. To date, research on parental mediation has shown that parental expectations of the role of ICTs in their children's future, discourses of the opportunities and risks of the internet, and the everyday practices of media engagement all shape the ways in which children are socialised into using digital media at home. These expectations, worries and practices depend on parents' education, socioeconomic background, and parent-ing culture. This article builds on prior research by the authors with 70 families in seven European countries. We compare lower income/less educated families and higher income/more educated families as they promote or hinder children's (digital) literacy practices. We found that lower income families experience a genera-tional digital divide and feel less confident in scaffolding children's digital literacy practices. Instead, when parents use ICTs for work and/or are techno-enthusiasts, they are more engaged in children's online activities irrespective of their background. The approach towards digital play-as either a vehicle or an impediment to children's learning – is therefore indicative of different imaginaries around ICTs, different parenting styles and different mediation strategies.

This paper draws on qualitative data collected as a part of a comparative study on children and t... more This paper draws on qualitative data collected as a part of a comparative study on children and teenagers’ uses of smartphone in nine European countries to explore the meanings and emotions associated with the enhanced possibility of “full-time” contact with peers provided by smartphones.It argues that full-time access to peers -
which interviewees identify as the main consequence of smartphonesand instant messaging apps on their interactions with peers –is a communicative affordance, that is,a set of socially constructed opportunities and constraints that frame possibilities of action by giving rise to a diversity of communicative practices, as well as contradictory feelings among young people: intimacy, proximity, security as well as anxiety, exclusion and obligation. Understanding the perceptions and emotions around the affordance of “anywhere, anytime” accessibility, therefore, helps in untangling how communicative affordances are individually perceived but also, and more importantly, socially appropriated, negotiated, legitimised and institutionalised.

In order to investigate how online activities and digital cultures mediate children's socialisati... more In order to investigate how online activities and digital cultures mediate children's socialisation to consumer culture, this paper discusses the findings of a research project on online games for tweens which focus on fashion. Popular websites for girls include a variety of games centred on fashion; these are mainly paper dolls sites, which engage girls in a drag and drop activity of clothes and fashion items on sexualised bodies, at times of celebrities. Some reproduce fashion and beauty ideals in settings such as catwalks, hairstyle and beauty saloons, etc. Others, such as Stardoll.com, offer more complex environments, integrating dressing up activities with the creation of an online persona, combined with social networking. Drawing on analysis of online dress up games and websites, and a set of group interviews with young girls aged 9-13, the paper explores how tweens engage with these games and, more generally, how they appropriate, negotiate and resist consumer culture through the practice of dressing up themselves and their online personas. The aim of the paper is therefore threefold: 1) reconstruct the meanings and uses of online paper dolls websites, and their symbolic value in everyday interactions; 2) investigate how these games contribute to shape young girls' engagement with digital cultures, consumer and celebrity culture; and 3) understand how stereotyped representations of young girls as consumers circulated in media, consumer and celebrity culture are socially made sense of by tweens in their peer cultures. CM : Communication Management Quarterly : Časopis za upravljanje komuniciranjem 29 (2013) 79-102 © 2013 CDC and author(s)

CEU Political Science Journal, Jan 1, 2010

This article investigates the use of web 2.0 during the European elections campaign in Italy. Th... more This article investigates the use of web 2.0 during the European
elections campaign in Italy. The research was articulated in two
phases: an analysis of candidates’ websites and use of web 2.0
tools, on the one hand, and the monitoring of the campaign
within social media (Facebook and YouTube). Though a persisting divide exists in the distribution of parties and coalitions online, most candidates who have a personal website have integrated web 2.0 tools. It is seemingly a strategic appropriation and adaptation of web 2.0, resulting in a hybrid communication model, in between 1.0 and 2.0. The campaigning activity on social media, instead, seems innovative insofar as it enables a re-embedding and re-localization of previously centralized and nationally coordinated campaigns.

International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 2010

Children's risks associated with the internet and online technologies have been given great empha... more Children's risks associated with the internet and online technologies have been given great emphasis in media discourses across Europe. Perceptions and representations of online risks seem to be socially and culturally shaped, being rather different from one country to another. This article provides a comparative analysis of the press coverage of online risks in three European countries: Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Being South-Western European and Latin countries, they share some patterns and trends that may have a bearing on social attitudes towards the issue of children and new media. Through a focus on contextual factors, on one hand, and on the news media, on the other hand, the comparative analysis concludes that the three countries share relevant similarities but also present differences in the ways their national media systems represent childhood online.

Comunicazione politica, Jan 1, 2010

Abstract The article discusses the findings of a study on the use of web 2.0 during the 2009 Euro... more Abstract The article discusses the findings of a study on the use of web 2.0 during the 2009 European Parliament election campaign. The research was divided into two main phases: (1) An analysis of candidates&amp;amp;#x27; websites and use of web 2.0 tools; (2) monitoring of the campaign on ...

Social networking is arguably the fastest growing online activity among youth. This article prese... more Social networking is arguably the fastest growing online activity among youth. This
article presents new pan-European findings from the EU Kids Online project on how
children and young people navigate the peer-to-peer networking possibilities afforded by
SNSs, based on a survey of around 25,000 children (1000 children in each of 25
countries). In all, 59% of European 9-16 year olds who use the internet have their own
social networking profile. Despite popular anxieties of lives lived indiscriminately in
public, half have fewer than 50 contacts, most contacts are people already known to the
child in person, and over two thirds have their profiles either private or partially private.
The focus of the analysis, then, is to understand when and why some children seek
wider circles of online contacts, and why some favour self-disclosure rather than
privacy. Demflivingographic differences among children, cultural factors across
countries, and the specific affordances of social networking sites are all shown to make
a difference in shaping the particularities of children’s online practices of privacy, identity
and connection.

Prior research has pointed to cross-national variations in media attention for online risks, whic... more Prior research has pointed to cross-national variations in media attention for online risks, which are then mirrored in parental concerns regarding the internet. However, little is known so far about how the discursive environment around opportunities and risks of the internet for children shapes the very context in which children’s own perceptions are developed and their online experiences are situated. The aim of this contribution is threefold: (1) to understand how and to what extent children’s perceptions of online risks incorporate media representations, parental worries and discourses circulating among peers; (2) to identify any age- or gender-specific patterns in the appropriation and conversion of media, parents’ and peers’ discourses; and (3) to identify whether there are cross-cultural variations in risk perceptions.

This paper examines how children aged 11-16 in three European countries (Italy, UK and Spain) dev... more This paper examines how children aged 11-16 in three European countries (Italy, UK and Spain) develop and present their online identities, and their interactions with peers. It focuses on young people’s engagement with the construction of an online identity on social media through pictures, and explores how peer-mediated conventions of self-presentation are appropriated, legitimated, or resisted in pre-teens’ and teenagers’ discourses. In doing so, we draw on Goffman’s (1959) work on the presentation of self and “impression management” to frame our analysis. Mobile communication and social network sites serve an important role in the process of self-presentation and emancipation, providing “full-time” access to peers and peer culture. Our findings suggest that there are gender differences and the presence of sexual double standards in peer normative discourses. Girls are positioned as being more subjected to peer mediation and pressure. Boys blame girls for posing sexy in photos, and negatively sanction this behaviour as being aimed at increasing one’s popularity online or as an indicator of “a certain type of girl.” However, girls who post provocative photos chose to conform to a sexualised stereotype as a means of being socially accepted by peers. Moreover, they identify with the pressure to always look “perfect” in their online pictures. While cross-national variations do exist, this sexual double standard is observed in all three countries. These insights into current behaviours could be further developed to determine policy guidance for supporting young people as they learn to manage image laden social media.

New Media & Society

Based on data collected through the Net Children Go Mobile survey of approximately 3500 responden... more Based on data collected through the Net Children Go Mobile survey of approximately 3500 respondents aged 9–16 years in seven European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom), this article examines the diffusion of smartphones among children and contributes to existing research on mobile digital divides by investigating what influences the adoption of smartphones among children and whether going online from a smartphone is associated with specific usage patterns, thus bridging or widening usage gaps. The findings suggest the resilience of digital inequalities among children, showing how social inequalities intersect with divides in access and result in disparities in online activities, with children who benefit from a greater autonomy of use and a longer online experience also reaching the top of the ladder of opportunities.

Whether seen from a “minimalist” or a “maximalist” model of democratic par- ticipation, the issue... more Whether seen from a “minimalist” or a “maximalist” model of democratic par- ticipation, the issue of the role of the internet in facilitating citizens’ participa- tion in the public sphere has acquired a permanent place in the academic and public debate. Particular attention has been devoted to young people and their engagement with the internet and digital media. While a consistent body of writing has focused on assessing the efficacy of online participation in mobilis- ing young people and promoting new citizenship models, a different approach has addressed the issue from the perspective of media literacy, investigating the links between digital and civic literacies. This second strand of research is root- ed in, while at the same time originating, the shift from media literacy to digital citizenship operated at a policy and public level. However, the very concept of media literacy is a contested one, as it is its stretching so as to include civic competencies. On these premises, the present papers aims to provide a critical review of the current debate on media and digital literacies framed as social practices, and to investigate the relationship between digital and civic litera- cies on a theoretical and empirically-driven level, in order to identify which dimensions of both digital and civic literacy should be studied, and how.

Datafied Childhoods Data Practices and Imaginaries in Children’s Lives, 2021

Palgrave MacMillan, 2019

Current Sociology, 2018

Journal of Children and Media, 2018

Social Media + Society, 2017

CEU Political Science Journal, Jan 1, 2010

International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 2010

Comunicazione politica, Jan 1, 2010

New Media & Society

Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 8(2),

Journal of Children and Media

Drawing on the rich literature on parental mediation of children's use of digital and mobile medi... more Drawing on the rich literature on parental mediation of children's use of digital and mobile media, this paper discusses the findings of an explorative study conducted in Italy, aimed at understanding how families appropriate smartphones in relation to the household's moral economy, their domestication of ICTs and the parenting style adhered to by parents. The aim of the paper is threefold: understand (1) how are social legitimations for or against children's use of smartphones constructed; (2) how do parents make sense of their mediation of children's mobile internet use drawing on different interpretative repertoires; and (3) how children negotiate, resist or evade parental justifications by producing alternative narratives.

OBS 7(2)

This paper calls for the adoption of a culturalist approach to the study of online participation.... more This paper calls for the adoption of a culturalist approach to the study of online participation. Notions of such as “civic cultures”, “public connection”, and “subactivism” represent effective theoretical and analytical tools that help grasp the meaning of online grassroots practices which emerge at the crossroads of politics and culture and are rooted in the realm of everyday life. Therefore, online participation is understood as the outcome of broader social changes and changes in the media environment, usually assumed under the labels “web 2.0” and “convergence culture”, co-determining each other. Drawing on empirical evidence from three interrelated research projects focused primarily on young people, the paper shows how participatory uses are unevenly distributed among social network users and acquire different meanings depending on the civic cultures and the “convergent media ecology” inhabited by the individuals.

Information, Communication & Society, Jan 1, 2007

This paper explores the convergence of communication and travel and the emergence of a mobile and... more This paper explores the convergence of communication and travel and the emergence of a mobile and network sociality, through investigating new communication practices based on the internet and mobile phone enacted by backpackers while on the move. These global nomads produce and maintain mobile spaces of sociality, founded on a complex intersection of face-to-face interaction and mediated communication, co-presence and virtual proximity, corporeal travel and virtual mobilities. Personal communities become a mobile phenomenon, relocalized in a plurality of online and offline social spaces. It is thus argued that network relationships are reshaped and mobilized through reconfigurations of co-presence, proximity and distance in relation to the use of new media. Exploring new media uses on the move can thus provide a useful insight into the emerging social model of the network and mobile society.

With the adoption of more and more smartphones, the scope of mobile communication is clearly broa... more With the adoption of more and more smartphones, the scope of mobile communication is clearly broadened, as young people engage in new practices and address new audiences. New opportunities for sociality, self-expression, learning and managing everyday life become accessible on the move. At the same time, new concerns arise regarding the potential risks of the mobile internet for children. Drawing on a review of the
research on mobile communication and children, this article examines how a new research agenda has emerged within the field.

Abstract in inglese: This paper is aimed at investigating the patterns of media consumption at th... more Abstract in inglese: This paper is aimed at investigating the patterns of media consumption at the intersection of old d new media which increasingly characterize urban spaces. The consumption practices, the discourses and competences which have great part in defining ...

Abstract in inglese: This chapter analyses the increasing variety of internet access and use expe... more Abstract in inglese: This chapter analyses the increasing variety of internet access and use experienced by children i urope. Locations, platforms, experience and the embeddedness of the internet in everyday life are accounted for in order to provide a full picture of the first ...

Media Education. Studi, …, Jan 1, 2012

Abstract in inglese: Internet penetration among children requires a scientific knowledge base, co... more Abstract in inglese: Internet penetration among children requires a scientific knowledge base, comparable on a Europea asis, about their online practices and their digital skills, as well as their exposure to major online risks, in order to design policies and training to ...

Abstract in italiano: A partire dai dati relativi agli usi di internet, all'alfabetizzazi... more Abstract in italiano: A partire dai dati relativi agli usi di internet, all'alfabetizzazione digitale, alle opportunità rischi di internet, il capitolo descrive le implicazioni di policy, articolandole in tre macro aeree (corrispondenti ai tre paragrafi del capitolo): mediazione (famiglia, ...

Il capitolo indaga la validità emprica ed euristica del concetto di nativi digitali, rileggendolo... more Il capitolo indaga la validità emprica ed euristica del concetto di nativi digitali, rileggendololla luce delle opportunità e dei rischi della rete per i più giovani attraverso i dati EU Kids Online. In questo capitolo si presenteranno i dati relativi alle competenze digitali dei ragazzi ...

Le conseguenze sociali delle ict sono inscindibili dai processi di mo-dellamento attraverso qu in... more Le conseguenze sociali delle ict sono inscindibili dai processi di mo-dellamento attraverso qu individui e gruppi sociali si appropriano delle tecnologie, le incorporano nella vita quotidiana e le rendono significative: anziché determinare ex novo esperienze e contesti ...

Abstract in inglese: This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study aimed at investigat... more Abstract in inglese: This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study aimed at investigating Italian youth'sp tical uses of the web in relation to their civic cultures, that is shared systems of meaning, values, knowledge, spaces and practices through which ...

Observatorio (OBS …, Jan 1, 2008

Despite the growing number of very young children who go online and who are using a wide range of... more Despite the growing number of very young children who go online and who are using a wide range of technologies, little is known about children’s interactions with those technologies. This report presents a pilot qualitative study designed and implemented in collaboration with a selected group of academic partners in different European countries that aims at pioneering in Europe the exploration of young children and their families` experiences with new technologies. It presents its results and discuss the findings at cross-national level on how children between zero and eight engage with digital technologies such as smartphones, tablets, computers and games; how far parents mediate this engagement and their awareness on the risks-opportunities balance. The report concludes on recommendations to parents, industries and policymakers.

Online on the mobile: Internet use on smartphones. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59960/  Ólafss... more 2014) Online on the mobile: Internet use on smartphones. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59960/  Ólafsson, K., Livingstone, S. and Haddon, L. (2014) Children's use of online technologies in Europe: A review of the European evidence base. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/60221/  Hasebrink, U. (2014) Children's changing online experiences in a longitudinal perspective. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/60083/  O'Neill, B., Staksrud, E. with members of the EU Kids Online Network (2014) Final recommendations for policy. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/59518/  Vandoninck, S., d'Haenens, L. and Smahel, D. (2014) Preventive measures: How youngsters avoid online risks. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/55797/  Smahel, D. and Wright, M. (eds) (2014) The meaning of online problematic situations for children: Cross-cultural qualitative investigation in nine European countries. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/56972/  Barbovschi, M., Green, L. and Vandoninck, S. (2013) Innovative approaches for investigating how young children understand risk in new media. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/53060/  Holloway, D., Green, L. and Livingstone, S. (2013) Zero to eight. Young children and their internet use. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52630/  Helsper, E.J., Kalmus, V., Hasebrink, U., Sagvari, B. and de Haan, J. (2013) Country classification: Opportunities, risks, harm and parental mediation. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52023/  Livingstone, S., Kirwil, L., Ponte, C. and Staksrud, E. (2013) In their own words: What bothers children online?

This report offers further analysis of the survey findings already reported in: Mascheroni, G. a... more This report offers further analysis of the survey findings already reported in:
Mascheroni, G. and Olafsson, K. (2014). Net Children go Mobile: Risks and Opportunities (2nd edition).
More specifically, the report compares several key findings by countries. The aim is to highlight cross-national variations in five main areas (see below) and thus to provide a basis for further exploration of cross-cultural differences. These
five areas are:
• The adoption and use of smartphones.
• The consequences of smartphone use in terms of sociability and dependence.
• Online risks and harm.
• Parental mediation.
• School regulation and mediation

This report is the updated version of the full findings report Net Children Go Mobile: risks and ... more This report is the updated version of the full findings report Net Children Go Mobile: risks and opportunities, launched on Safer Internet Day 2014.
It presents the findings of a survey that involved 3,500 children aged 9-16 who are internet users and their parents in seven European countries. The fieldwork was conducted between May and July 2013 in Denmark, Italy, Romania and the UK; between November and December 2013 in Ireland; and between February and March 2014 in Belgium and Portugal.

Questo report presenta i dati italiani, quantitativi e qualitativi, raccolti nel 2013 e 2014 come... more Questo report presenta i dati italiani, quantitativi e qualitativi, raccolti nel 2013 e 2014 come parte del progetto Net Children Go Mobile. Le specificità del contesto italiano saranno evidenziate a partire dal confronto con i dati emersi negli altri paesi europei.
Inoltre, i dati del 2013 saranno confrontati con i dati di EU Kids Online2 (Livingstone et al., 2011; Mascheroni, 2012) per fotografare come è cambiato l’uso di internet fra i ragazzi italiani.

Despite the growing number of very young children who go online and who are using a wide range of... more Despite the growing number of very young children who go online and who are using a wide range of technologies, little is known about children’s interactions with those technologies. This report presents a pilot qualitative study coordinated by the Joint Research Centre of the EC, designed and implemented in collaboration with a selected group of academic partners in different European countries that aims at pioneering in Europe the exploration of young children and their families` experiences with new technologies. It presents its results and discuss the findings at cross-national level on how children between zero and eight engage with digital technologies such as smartphones, tablets, computers and games; how far parents mediate this engagement and their awareness on the risks-opportunities balance. The report concludes on recommendations to parents, industries and policymakers.

Digital skills, risks and wellbeing among European children Report on (f)actors that explain onli... more Digital skills, risks and wellbeing among European children Report on (f)actors that explain online acquisition, cognitive, physical, psychological and social wellbeing, and the online resilience of children and young people Work Package 2-Deliverable 2.2

The youth Digital Skills Indicator was developed as part of the 'Youth Skills (ySKILLS)' ... more The youth Digital Skills Indicator was developed as part of the 'Youth Skills (ySKILLS)' project and added to the 'From Digital Skills to Tangible Outcomes' digital skills measurement toolkit. Please read the accompanying document on the underlying rationale for these scales and on how to create and use composite scales in the following document: Helsper, E.J., Schneider, L., van Deursen, A.J.A.M., van Laar, E. (2021). <em><strong>The youth Digital Skills Indicator: Report on the conceptualisation and development of the ySKILLS digital skills measure</strong></em>. KU Leuven, Leuven: ySKILLS. Available at: https://yskills.eu.

This chapter reports on a study funded and coordinated by the Joint Research Centre of the Europe... more This chapter reports on a study funded and coordinated by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Chaudron et al. 2015) which aims to explore young children and their families’ experiences with digital technologies such as smartphones, tablets, computers and games. The project involved seven countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United Kingdom. In each country, interviews and observations were undertaken with ten families in their homes, each with a child aged between 6 and 7 and many with younger and older siblings. The project sought to examine young children’s access to and use of digital technologies and to explore how parents mediated this use. This chapter reports on the findings of the study that relate to the rules that parents do, or do not, impose in relation to children’s access to and use of technologies, reflecting on the effectiveness of parents’ mediation of children’s online practices, and their awareness of the risks/opportunities balance. In addition, the chapter considers children’s understanding and management of parental rules, analysing the kinds of negotiations they undertake with various family members that shape their engagement with technology. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the implications of the study for policy for this age group.

The present crosscountry report focuses on the Internet access and use reported by 9-to 16-year-o... more The present crosscountry report focuses on the Internet access and use reported by 9-to 16-year-olds in the ICT Kids Online Brazil survey and in seven European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania and the UK) as part of the project Net Children Go Mobile. Conducted between 2013 and 2014, the surveys adopted questions that were quite similar, allowing for comparison of the results. The Brazilian dataset was also compared with the results achieved in the first wave of the ICT Kids Online Brazil survey (2012). The comparison showed rapid shifts in Internet access towards going online via mobile devices and at home and the persistence of socioeconomic gaps in access to the Internet. The child's home was the most common location for Internet use across all countries. The trend towards more private access to the web in the home, in the child's bedroom, or other private rooms was mentioned by more than half of the young Brazilian Internet users. Accessing the Internet from relatives' or friends' households was also reported by half of the Brazilian users. Around one-third of the Brazilian children reported accessing the Internet at school, the second lowest value among the eight countries after Italy. The growing trend toward mobility was particularly clear in Brazil: one out of three children accessed the Internet on the move. This is more than twice what was reported in Romania, Ireland, Portugal and Belgium. In 2013, Internet access in LAN houses was lower than in 2012, whereas access from public libraries and telecenters continued to be minimal. In Brazil, desktop computers were found to be the most common devices for going online, followed by mobile phones – reported by more than half of the users. Laptops, the leading devices in Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Belgium, ranked third in Brazil. The most reported form of Internet connection in Brazil was mobile web packages, similar to the Romanian results. The combination of these packages and free Wi-Fi was reported by about one out of three young Brazilian Internet users, ranking third among the eight countries. The top five activities reported across countries pointed to the dominance of activities such as visiting social networking sites and watching video clips across groups of 11-to 16-year-olds. The Brazilian results revealed the highest percentage of 9-and 10-year-olds with social networking site (SNS) profiles and one of the highest positions among children 11 and 12 years old among the eight countries. More than half of the young Brazilian Internet users claimed to have more than 100 contacts in their main SNS profiles (Facebook, in 2014); a quarter said that they had over 300 contacts. In this regard, both figures were led by Romania. Most Brazilian children with SNS profiles reported that they were set to public, ranking second after Romania.

Abstract in italiano: Il processo di immaginazione, come le altre tappe in cui si articola l'... more Abstract in italiano: Il processo di immaginazione, come le altre tappe in cui si articola l'addomesticamento delle ICT continuo e mai dato una volta per tutte. L'appropriazione delle nuove tecnologie non si conclude nell'atto di acquisto né nella collocazione spazio-...

Social, Political, and Economic Implications, 2014

International Journal of …, Jan 1, 2010

In this paper and based on in-depth interviews with young people aged 14-25 years who are active ... more In this paper and based on in-depth interviews with young people aged 14-25 years who are active in youth voluntary associations, youth councils, students’ unions, political parties or social movements, a qualitative portrait of young people’s civic and political participation is presented. It draws on Bourdieu’s theory of practice and on culturalist perspectives regarding participation in order to overcome the unproductive myth of youth disaffection. Rather, in this paper it is argued that participation can be better understood as a socially embedded and contingent online/offline practice that is shaped by the interrelation between habitus, capital and fields. Young people who share vocabularies of participation also adhere to a shared habitus of participation produced by different combinations of resources and experiences of political socialisation.

Vocabularies of participation are articulated in three interrelated dimensions: 1) a vocabulary of citizenship orientation, which includes young people’s own understanding of participation, their political knowledge and values, as well as their self-positioning in the political field; 2) a vocabulary of citizenship practices, that is, the scale and repertoires of participation; 3) a vocabulary of digital engagement, including young people’s own understanding of the digital world and its participatory potential, which is grounded in their own citizenship orientation and their scale and repertoires of offline participation, as well as enabling certain online activities while inhibiting others.