THE NEW MEDIA ECOLOGY OF
STUDENTS
How the marketplace of ideas and
learning is different for ‘digital natives’
Lee Rainie – Director
Penn State
Who’s blogging this?
Writings of a Loud Librarian
Indiana Librarian Marissa Priddis
April 14, 2007 3
New Media Ecology
“Rainie was funny, at ease,
informative and we found
ourselves do a lot of ‘Huh...I didn't
know that’ during his speech.
Who’s blogging this?
Stephen Downes
Stephen’s Web
April 14, 2007 5
New Media Ecology
“Good crisp presentation … backed with
some actual research and drawing out
the implications for educators, a list of
which should be posted on the wall of
“He’s a lot older than I imagined.”
April 14, 2007 7
New Media Ecology
“While he may look older than some
expected, and appears to be just
another Foundation suit, he's a very
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New Media Ecology
Reality 1
Media and gadgets are
ubiquitous parts of
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New Media Ecology
Home media ecology - 1975
Product Route to home Display Local storage
TV stations phone TV Cassette/ 8-track
broadcast TV radio
broadcast radio stereo Vinyl album
News mail
Advertising newspaper delivery phone
paper
Radio Stations non-electronic
Home media ecology – now
Product Route to home Display Local storage
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations DSL TV
Info wireless/phone radio DVD
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from express delivery pager
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs Advertising newspaper delivery phone cable box
Radio stations camcorder/camera PDA/Palm game console
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Implication
The young access
information and media in
different ways and they
are more in control of
their media and search
Media experiences “by other means”
• 43% of young adult radio consumers
occasionally listen to radio programs on something other than a radio console –
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New Media Ecology
Media experiences “by other means”
• 20% of young adult TV viewers
Media experiences “by other means”
• 13% of young adult internet users have placed a phone call via the internet and 19% have used
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New Media Ecology
Implication
The young allocate their
time differently and they
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New Media Ecology
Reality 2
New gadgets allow people
to enjoy media, gather
information, and carry on
communication anywhere
Mobile devices
• 73% of adults
own cell
phones
• 77% of young
adults and
14%
2%
13% Watch video or TV programs
47%
4%
NA Get mobile maps
17%
6%
22% Record their own video clips
19% 6% 21% Play music 11% 7% NA Trade instant messages
24%
8%
43% Send / receive email
16%
14%
44% Access the internet
12% 22% 63% Play games 19% 28% 39% Take still pictures
13%
35%
75% Send and receive text
messages
Don’t use it now, but would like to
have it
Percentage who use this feature now on their cell
phones
Percentage of cell phone owners whose phones have
this feature
Mobile devices
• 55% of adults
own digital
cameras
• 62% of young
adults own them
• 51% of young adults and
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New Media Ecology
Mobile devices
• 43% of adults
own video
cameras
• 37% of teens
own them
• 22% of young adults and
Mobile devices
• 40% of adults
play video
games
• 83% of teens do
so
Kaiser Family Foundation – March 2005
• 67% of teens play games
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New Media Ecology
Mobile devices
• 30% of adults own
laptops
• 43% of young
adults own them
(53% of college students)
Mobile devices
• 20% of adults
own MP3
players
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New Media Ecology
Mobile devices
• 11% of adults
own a PDA or
Blackberry
Implication
The notion of ‘presence’
is radically changed: you
can be present while
“absent” and absent
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New Media Ecology
Implication
Conversations and information
exchanges never end, though
many are ‘incipient.’
Collaboration is commonplace
and collective intelligence is
Implication
Expectations about the availability
of people and information change.
The need to be “findable” grows –
and new norms of access to
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Reality 3
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Internet and broadband adoption 1995-2007
All internet - 142 mill.
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Broadband turns the web into a destination
Broadband makes video a big part of the
internet experience
85% of young broadband users have watched online video
62% have watched YouTube videos
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New Media Ecology
Implication
Information creation and media
making become interactive and
participatory. The people formerly
known as “the audience” want to
be in conversation and co-creation
Reality 4
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Implication
People live in a state of
“continuous partial attention”
which adds to their stress
and distracts them from
completing tasks well.
Reality 5
Ordinary citizens have a
chance to be publishers,
movie makers, artists,
song creators, and story
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55% of online teens
have created their
own profile on a
social network site
like MySpace or
----20% of online adults
have such profiles
51% of young adult
internet users
have uploaded
photos to the
internet
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39% of online teens
share their own
creations online,
such as artwork,
photos, stories, or
videos
----22% of online adults
have done this
33% have created or worked on webpages or blogs for others, including those for groups they belong to, friends or school assignments
----13% of online adults do
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New Media Ecology
32% of online young
adults have
tagged online
content
28% have created
their own online
journal or blog
(33% of college
students)
----12% of online adults
have a blog
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New Media Ecology
27% of online teens
report keeping
their own personal
webpage
----14% of online adults
have their own
page
Content creation
26% say they remix
content they find
online into their
own artistic
creations
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22% of young adult
internet users
have uploaded
videos to the web
19% of online young
adults have
created an avatar
that interacts with
others online
Content creation by age
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Ages 12-17 Ages 18-29 Ages 30-38 Ages 39-48 Ages 49-60 Ages 61-69 Ages 70+ P e rc ent ageImplication
Niche information markets
explode as different
people use the internet
in different ways to
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A gadget and media typology
27%
22% 26%
27%
Content creators
Make and share digital media
Ultra-traditionals
TV, radio, landline telephone
Mobiles
Cell phone, wireless laptop
Neo-traditionals
Reality 6
Everything will change
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The J-curve laws
• Computing power doubles every 18 months – Moore’s law
• Storage power doubles every 12 months – disk law
• Communications power doubles every 2-3 years with improvements in fiber optics and
compression – Gilder’s law
Home media ecology – future
Product Route to home Display Local storage
cable TiVo (PVR) VCR
TV stations phone/DSL TV
Info wireless radio DVD
“Daily me” broadcast TV PC Web-based storage
content iPod /MP3 server/ TiVo (PVR)
Cable Nets broadcast radio stereo PC
Web sites satellite monitor web storage
Local news mail headphones CD/CD-ROM
Content from express delivery pager
individuals iPod / storage portable gamer MP3 player / iPod Peer-to-peer subcarriers / WIFI cell phone pagers - PDAs Advertising newspaper delivery phone cable box
Radio stations PDA/Palm game console
April 14, 2007 59
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Where we’re going
Michael Wesch
Asst. Prof. Cultural Anthropology
Kansas State University
On YouTube:
Where we’re going
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =6gmP4nk0EOE
• Michael Wesch
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Thank you!
Lee Rainie Director
Pew Internet & American Life Project 1615 L Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Lrainie@pewinternet.org
Life in the new digital ecosystem
• Everything is available all the time
• All the pressures push towards free content • Individual options for accessing information
become more plentiful and attention is more put-upon
• Users expect information on demand
• Users prize convenience as well as context • Search becomes a basic behavior and skill • Users want to be able to make choices about
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Life in the new digital ecosystem
• Users create content at will • Social networks matter more
• Personally relevant content eclipses generic content • Audiences splinter in many directions
• Virtual communities form without limits of time or distance
• Users time-shift and place-shift all media
• Mashups of content become another form of conversation
• Lines between media channels blur
Life in the new digital ecosystem
• The conversations have gotten bigger (in terms of the number of people participating).
• The conversations have more depth and breadth, because the tools give us that ability.
• The conversations are longer.
• The conversations are independent of place and time. • The conversations can be archived for later use.
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Consequence – People’s relationship to media
and information changes
Consequence – People’s relationship to media
and information changes
(2) Volume of information grows -- that gives us “long tail”
opportunities (Chris Anderson), stress, need for more navigators
20%-40% of traffic or sales in the “long tail”
Traffic
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Consequence – People’s relationship to media
and information changes
Consequence – people’s reliance on their social
network grows and the power of “influential nodes”
increases
28 Help you find professional
30 Help you find information or
compare options
34% Help you find advice and
support from other people
For respondents who said the internet played a crucial or important role in buying a car, making a major
investment, getting additional career training, choosing a school for self or child, or helping someone with a major illness or health condition.
What specific role did the internet play in the event for which the internet played an important or crucial role?
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Consequence – society moves more toward
“networked individualism” (Barry Wellman)
• Human relations moving from groups to networks
• Looser, rather than denser networks • Multiple Specialized Relationships
• Partial Membership in Multiple Networks • More Long-Distance Relationships
• More Transitory Relationships • More Weak Ties
• More Uncertainty, More Maneuverability
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Impact and implications - communication
• Teens expect to be able to gather and share information in multiple devices.
• They shrewdly sort out what communication and what information “belongs” on what device and under what circumstances.
– Stephen Stills meets Go-Go Mr. Gadget: If they can’t be with the device they love, they love the device they’re with
Impact and implications – views of property
• Those who have grown up with interactive media want to manipulate, remix, and share content.
• Ideas about intellectual property change
– Ideas about fair use and sharing change
