Media Networks

The Danes’ use of smartphones and personal information on the Internet

medianetworks — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:22:02 +0000

Anja Bechmann, Asst. Professor,
The Centre for Internet Research, Aarhus University

According to statistics from 2010 54% of all Danish internet user between 16-74 years access the internet on the move through devices such as smartphones, pdas and laptops (Danmarks Statistik, p. 18). Only 15% of the traffic comes from a 3G mobile in Denmark, but in EU the number is even lower 7% (ibid, p. 19). The majority of mobile traffic still comes from the laptop (40% in DK). Despite the fairly low percentage, the internet traffic from 3g mobiles has doubled in two years which points to the smartphone as an important and growing access device to the internet and 23% of the Danish population (16-74) has used internet on the mobile (IT- og Telestyrelsen 2011, p. 35), highest among 16-34 year olds (37-38%).

Eventhough 95% of the Danish population has a mobile phone (Danmarks Statistik 2011, p. 43-44), the heavy users of mobile internet is 16-19 years (71%) followed by the age group 20-39 (62%). Nearly none of the 16-34 years old use the mobile phone for speak and texting only (1-2%) (p. 45). There is a rather big gender difference as to what exactly the mobile phone is used for. For example use only 9% of the women GPS for personal navigation compared to 22% males in Denmark (Danmarks Statistik 2011, p. 46) and only 10% woman download apps compared to 22 % males. And the use of internet in general through the mobile phones mirror this tendency with 17% woman and nearly twice as much among males (31%) (ibid).

In social networks Danes are the most active sharers in the EU. 37% has shared pictures, video, and music compared to the average of 22% in EU (Danmarks Statistik, p. 24). 61% of the Danish internet users are members of at least one social network service of which the majority use the big four (Facebook 57%, LinkedIn 10%, Myspace 5% and Twitter 4%) and only 9% use other services such as Foursquare.[i] Again the heavy users of social network sites are between 16-19 years old (93% of all internet users) followed by the 20-39 years old (80%). The social network service pattern among 16-19 is different from the average. 90% use Facebook but only 1% LinkedIn and as many as 17% use other services. For the 20-39 years old 77% of internet users use Facebook, 14% LinkedIn and 11% other services. The use of social networking services is most common in urban areas such as Copenhagen (60%) and the middle of Jutland (54% – center for the second largest city in Denmark) (ibid, p. 26).

Nearly half of the Danes trust services to treat personal information properly to some degree (47%) and 17% highly trust the services. Here age does not make any difference, but only 42% has read the privacy policies/terms total or partly (lowest for the age group 16-19 on 10% yes and 21% yes, partly). However 78% know how to change the privacy settings, 87% for the 16-39 years old and only 46% for the 60-74 years old. Only approximately half of all has asked permission to upload pictures of other. 45% of women do not ask for permission in comparison with 59% males.

This post is an extraction from my paper ‘When am I where: Sharing geographical position in ubiquitous communication’, to be presented at the seminar ‘Mobile Communication: Mobile internet, Locative Media, Mobility and Place’, Aarhus University, 29-30 March 2012.

[i] At the time of registration Google+ was not released yet. Release date 28 June 2011.

The next frontier: Reclaiming conversations

medianetworks — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:59:14 +0000

Sherry Turkle’s new book Alone Together has the most wonderful catchy title and many interesting viewpoints among others the idea of creating substance in the somewhat superficial and image oriented communication taking place online in social networking sites. She also claims that one of the most precious aspects of modern parenting is teaching our children the value of solitude and being alone because children will always be connected and addicted to the idea of being together through internet-based devices that they carry around with them as extensions of their body. See Sherry Turkle’s TEdX presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtLVCpZIiNs&feature=share

TED talk on Internet Freedom by Rebecca MacKinnon

medianetworks — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:24:43 +0000

TED talk by the author of the book ‘Consent of the Networked’ which is on my reading list.

Mobile Communication: Mobile Internet, Locative Media, Mobility and Place

medianetworks — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:59:03 +0000

Department of Information and Media Studies is hosting a conference on mobile communication with prominent visits from among others Noami Baron. Cannot wait to hear her present her work ‘Always on’. Come join us!

Mobile Communication Research Workshop

Cross-media presentation at First Motion Conference

medianetworks — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:05:34 +0000

Me presenting my work on Cross-media as innovation networks for established media companies at First Motion Conference (BFM Crossmedia) in Tallinn.

Crossmedia

medianetworks — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:57:53 +0000

On July 15th 2009 I handed in my PhD Thesis titled Crossmedia (pdf of full thesis in Danish). The thesis outlines crossmedia as an innovation network for traditional media organizations analyzing crossmedia as changes within business models, work processes & skills and conceptual designs.
English Summary

Media production is not only about producing newspaper articles or shows for

TV. It is about making products that bring all the different media touch points

users have into play. How should we perceive this shift from monomedia

production to production crossing media boundaries? Which patterns arise and

what conceptual changes occur through conflicts and compromises? This thesis

regards such processes as an ecological coherence termed cross media.

The thesis aims to enrich the understanding and the

conceptualization of cross media in traditional media organizations including

especially former newspaper and broadcast organizations. The main argument

is that cross media above all is to be perceived as innovation networks in an

extensive transition process – not only as patterns of reproduction and

collaboration. Cross media becomes a way of surviving new media technologies

where traditional media organizations do not hold a central position to begin

with. This innovation process involves three characteristics: gathering two or

multiple media in the same media organization, production to internet based

and/or mobile media, and design of communication to multiple media

concerning forms of interplay.

The study draws on ethnographic case studies of entertainment

concepts for young people at DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) and three

types of news at Nordjyske Medier (regional media house including newspaper

production). At the same time theoretical studies of change processes, media

and networks supplement the case studies. The study looks for common

patterns in the conceptualization of cross media in two very different cases.

The common patterns are derived from financial ground, genre and media

(industry). The conceptualization evolves as an iterative process between theory

and empirical data. The contribution is twofold.

First, a theoretical framework for understanding cross mediaproduction

is developed as a way to encompass media change processes with

innovation as the focal point. This framework is a theoretical contribution to

understand and operationalize crossmedia as innovation networks. The

theoretical framework syntesizes analytical concepts such as alliances, change

agents, translation, boundary objects and use them to develop understandings

of key notions such as innovation, culture, skills, strategies, concepts,

producers, users, and last, but not least, media.

Second, the thesis develops varied and detailed

conceptualizations and typologies of crossmedia. From a genealogical point of

view, the study shows that cross media is a network of different initiatives

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sensitive to different change agents rather than one radical innovation. In

retrospect, this innovation network points to certain patterns in the

understanding of cross media. These patterns do not replace each other but

coexist. The cross media conceptualization has three focal points in the thesis:

Changes in business models, work (processes and skills), and conceptual design.

As business models cross media is conceptualised as coexisting

forms of bundling and unbundling. The thesis refines the idea of COPE

(Create Once Play Everywhere). The term is instead divided into different

coexisting media circulation patterns with different premises of ownership,

control and openness: CAP or Create and Play (full ownership and control),

DAL or Distribute And Link (traffic ownership but not control of context),

FAD or Fetch And Distribute (no control of content neither ownership nor

context), and OAP or Open And Play (voluntary openness to free coproduction

and circulation). The thesis especially points to radical conceptual

changes around Fetch and Play-patterns, also called data piracy.

As work (processes and skills) different interests are bound in a

cross media conceptualisation that consists of multiskilled producers, project

management, network collaboration (between users and employees), and

innovation. The thesis identifies different alliances that dominate the way in

which cross media is evolving: Efficiency, career, profession, and innovation.

An essential conclusion is that tensions between these alliances result in the

breakdown of boundary objects and crossmedia-supportive initiatives such as

IT-planning systems, project leaders (media conductors and trimedial projects

leaders), coordination meetings, physical layout, and concept description

systems and routines.

As conceptual design, cross media is seen as different kinds of

flow-patterns. The thesis distinguishes between parallel and sequentiel designs

and analyses five underlying patterns of flow: Conceptual, navigational,

versioning, functional, and translative. This way it is not only content that is

being reproduced and reused, it is also to a great extent other binding elements

such as hosts, branding, and jingles.

Overall, the thesis identifies two coexisting patterns across cases,

analytical perspective, and levels of analysis. These are cross media as media

circulation and universe production. Media circulation builds primarily on

unbundling production whereas universe production operates on different

kinds of bundling strategies. The thesis points to how the career alliance

nurtures the conceptual framing of crossmedia as universe production, whereas

the efficiency-alliance nurtures media circulation within the media organisations

own control. Media circulation outside the control of the organisations (FAD)

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is nurtured only by the innovation-alliance, whereas the profession-alliance sees

media circulation as ‘bad cross media’ because it is based on showeling and

cloning. Universe production is perceived as ‘an extra work load’. In the light of

this the thesis concludes, that at the time of the study there are three main

patterns of cross media: universe production, media circulation with ownership

of traffic (CAP), and free circulation where users fetch, distribute, and coproduce

freely.

Based on the results and conclusions the thesis encourages

further and future development of medium theory in relation to media change

and media complementarity. Furthermore, it suggests how the identified

conceptualizations set new demands for media legislation. The thesis

exemplifies how the findings can be taken into account so that the legislation is

less likely to function as an obstacle for future use of cross media as innovation

netvorks.