Leslie Haddon

The Contribution of Domestication Research to In-Home Computing and Media Consumption

This article deals with the contribution made by domestication research to our understanding of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in everyday life, especially in the home. It first provides a sense of the diversity of research in this tradition and how this is evolving. The article then reflects upon and illustrates different elements of research in this tradition, providing examples of how these help to explain patterns of ICT experience, the way people evaluate that experience, and what bearing it has on their lives. To contextualize domestication research further, it considers overlaps with other traditions of research before moving on to the core, and the range of methodologies that have been employed. Finally, the article examines some of the general insights from domestication research, as well as more specific applications to the commercial and policy fields.

Social Exclusion and Information and Communication Technologies Lessons from Studies of Single Parents and the Young Elderly

Current notions of social exclusion are to an extent anchored in older concerns with relative poverty, which had the merit of considering not just material deprivation but also the social and cultural dimensions of participation or exclusion. The focus of this article is on the role of ICTs in relation to peoples ability to participate in society. It draws upon detailed qualitative research on single parent and young elderly households to explore what counts as experiences of inclusion or exclusion and the processes behind them. Dealing mainly, but not exclusively, with the more traditional ICTs of telephony and broadcasting, the article considers processes of self-exclusion as people have mixed evaluations of these technologies derived both from current circumstances and past experiences. It then looks beyond the acquisition of ICTs to show how other modes of access to these resources are important before reflecting upon the quality of experience of ICTs, not just in terms of the functionality on offer but also taking into account that technologies are themselves symbolic goods. Finally, and drawing on more recent research, the article asks what lessons might be learnt from these traditional ICTs when considering newly emerging ones like the internet.

Roger Silverstone’s legacies: domestication

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The experience of teleworking: an annotated review

The paper reviews the contemporary literature on the experience of teleworking. Particular attention is paid to the socializing aspects of work and its comparative absence when working from home; e...

Research Questions for the Evolving Communications Landscape

Media and Communications London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE, UK E-mail: LesHaddon@aol.com and The European network ‘Cost 269’ LesHaddon@aol.com Paper presented at the conference ‘Front Stage – Back Stage: Mobile Communication and the Renegotiation of the Social Sphere’, Grimstad, Norway, 23

A Comparative Analysis of European Press Coverage of Children and the Internet

This article reports a content analysis of press coverage of children and the Internet in order to examine cross-cultural similarities and differences in the news values framing accounts of the benefits from and risks facing children online. By comparing media reporting in 14 European countries, the study found greater coverage of online risks than opportunities across Europe, which appears to be due to the high position of crime stories on the news agenda. Thus readers, including parents, are exposed to media representations that often show the online world as being risky for children, which may affect perceptions of the prevalence of risk. However, there is national variation in terms of which risks receive more press attention, meaning that parents in different countries are potentially sensitised to different risks.

Mobile media and children

This article explores a range of research issues relating to children and mobile media, including the potential growth of children’s screen time, the regulation of children’s use of these media, the challenge of managing increasing media options, effects on children’s perception of time, problems posed for parental surveillance and the domestication of mobile media within peer groups. All of these are viewed in the context of broader societal change, evolving norms of childhood and parenthood, cross-cultural variation and the existence of diversity amongst children and youth.

The innovatory use of ICTs

The extent to which users can be innovative or creative when using ICTs is a key undercurrent within this book. While attempting to conceptualize the innovation process in general, Mallard draws attention to various theoretical frameworks that emphasize ways in which users are creative, but suggests there are limits to that ability. In their empirical study, Battarbee and Kurvinen explore the creative process in achieving multimedia messaging, while Sotamaa examines the various levels of user innovation within the field of computing gaming ‐ examples of which are cited in this chapter. Clearly the “innovativeness” or “creativity” is important, but equally clearly it refers to a number of different activities. Reviewing past and current research on ICTs, the chapter aims to chart some of different ways in which users are innovators. 1 In fact, this has a further relevance for two other main themes of the book. One theme concerns issues to be faced in ICT development when trying to imagine users and uses. By exploring what innovatory use can mean, the levels on which it can operate, we can re-consider what types of things we should be researching if we want to understand how potential users will relate to ICTs. And this might have implications for design. The second theme is how to involve users in the design process (see also Haddon, 2002; Hoogma and Schot, 2001) Once again, if we can appreciate the different ways in which users can be creative, this can have a bearing upon the types of feedback, or input, we would want from users when asking them to evaluate their experience of ICTs.

Children’s critical evaluation of parental mediation

Although the new sociology of childhood draws attention to societal influences on children’s experiences, it also sees them as active agents. This article investigates children’s perspectives on parental interventions in regards their use of the internet, an aspect not covered in the parental mediation literature. Although children are generally positive about this mediation, here we explore cases where children consider it to be problematic through analysing the EU Kids Online qualitative research conducted in nine countries. The material shows how parental advice can sometimes be less articulated, justified, and expressed in a sensitive manner, and why it sometimes lacks credibility in children’s eyes. The article illustrates how maturing children can develop a sense of social expectations about independence, trust and personal social space. This can have a bearing on how they evaluate parental monitoring. Lastly, the article examines factors inhibiting children’s willingness to confide in parents about sensitive issues, because of potential parental responses, parenting styles, and a fear of losing parental trust that children have gained as they have grown older.

Risks, Opportunities, and Risky Opportunities: How Children Make Sense of the Online Environment

Although many hopes and fears about childrens experience of the Internet have been expressed in policy, academic research, and by parents and other stakeholders in childrens futures, there is little research examining childrens perspectives. This chapter reports on UK findings from the EU Kids Online qualitative study that give children a voice on these matters, allowing 9- to 16-year-olds to describe their experiences and express their views about online risks. It examines how children encounter online risks and opportunities, how they make sense of and react to these experiences, the strategies they use to prevent or cope with potentially negative online experiences, and those online experiences that children regard as being negative but which are not normally part of the risk agenda.