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twenty-two - Mobile access: different users, different risks, different consequences?
- Edited by Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics and Political Science, Leslie Haddon, London School of Economics and Political Science, Anke Görzig, London School of Economics and Political Science
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- Book:
- Children, Risk and Safety on the Internet
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 07 September 2022
- Print publication:
- 18 July 2012, pp 285-296
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Summary
Introduction
Online communication and information is increasingly accessible to young people, from several other platforms than traditional personal computers. While mobile phones may be primary sources of online access to some and supplementing access to others, all mobile platforms offer the benefits of being personal, portable and always on and to hand. The increased online access from mobile phones raises two questions: does more access to the internet from mobile phones expose children to more risk and harm, and are there different risks and harm if children use mobile access rather than traditional personal computers? This chapter explores and analyses potential correlations between online access through mobile platforms, and patterns of exposure to risks.
The original purpose of the chapter was to look into patterns of and relations among risk, actual harm and coping strategies, related to using the internet accessed via a mobile device. Based on the questions asked and the size of the relevant groups we cannot, however, find evidence in the dataset that show that specific mobile uses result in higher levels of harm than ‘traditional’ internet use, and the same is the case for findings regarding coping strategies. Deeper explorations of these topics would have been possible if we could compare groups of users who access the internet only from mobile devices and those that use multiple platforms. However, the data set do not enable such comparison because very few respondents fall into these groups.
New opportunities, new challenges
This chapter builds on theories about how media landscapes are changing and how young people are adapting digital media. When we look at how new opportunities are being integrated at various rates and in various – different and similar – ways across Europe, it is clear that we must see ‘media as part of the changing context, the environment or the ecology of everyday life’ (Livingstone, 2002, p 71). Although, in principle, the introduction of new technological opportunities provides the same opportunities in terms of access to information and communication and social factors, our data show that despite their similarities, new technologies should be analysed in the context of the social landscape they become part of (Silverstone and Hirsch, 1992; Livingstone, 2002, 2009; Haddon, 2004).
five - Cultures of research and policy in Europe
- Edited by Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics and Political Science, Leslie Haddon, London School of Economics and Political Science
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- Book:
- Kids Online
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 15 July 2022
- Print publication:
- 30 September 2009, pp 55-68
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Summary
Europe is traditionally regarded as a cultural entity with shared historical roots, values, systems and institutions. At a meta-level this provides a shared point of departure within and outside Europe. However, Kevin (2003: 2) notes that ‘definitions of Europe cannot logically be confined to specific political, cultural, or geographic descriptions’. When considering the various levels on which Europe may be understood, one must note that the European Union (EU) is more integrated at the political and economic levels than in terms of culture and traditions. Bondebjerg and Golding discuss the elements of a perceived European common culture thus:
All accounts perceive a common heritage, in which democracy, Enlightenment values, science, reason, and individualism are infused in a potent brew which has a unique European flavour. To this heady mix is added a strong historical sense of roots in a common Greco-Roman tradition, together with a loose association of these values with something called “civilization”. (2004: 12)
However, they also go on to point to the difficulties in grasping ‘this protean myth of a European culture or identity’, noting that there is also ‘a discernible contradiction in the policy arena within Europe among the emerging panoply of European institutions and pan-national agencies’ (Bondebjerg and Golding, 2004: 13).
Given the juxtaposition of a common European heritage, with tendencies towards the homogenisation of policy specifically with the EU, and diverse national institutions and cultural histories, there is always the question of how much is similar or different across Europe. This applies to the research undertaken in any field, including that on children's experience of the internet. How far are research contexts common across countries and how much is country-specific? Can an understanding of these research contexts account for differences in the research conducted cross-nationally? Where is it possible to make a comparative analysis? Why are different aspects of children and the internet researched, or not, in different European countries?
The challenge is to understand the social shaping of research. Admittedly, the nature of what research is conducted, and how it is conducted, partly reflects the interests and orientations of particular researchers or research teams. But the focus here is on the wider social factors that may influence this process – and whether they vary cross-nationally.