Newswise — Anyone familiar with MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and similar Web sites knows that the Internet has literally plugged young people into and connected them with the world around them. Young people are more involved thanks to their ability to point, click and keystroke their way to sharing their opinions, creating and sharing media files and galvanizing support for political or civic movements. What many people may not realize, says Kathryn C. Montgomery, a professor at American University, is that the five policy issues central to the future of the Internet as a digitally democratic environment also stand to significantly change " for better or worse " this renewed youth engagement.
"The true democratic potential of new media ushered in by the Internet can never be fulfilled unless everyone " including young people " has the ability to participate," Montgomery said.
Montgomery authored a chapter in The MacArthur Series on Digital Media and Learning: Civic Engagement, the first in new series of books by the MacArthur Foundation. Montgomery's chapter, "Youth and Digital Democracy: Intersections of Practice, Policy, and the Marketplace," addresses how the political battles over network neutrality, intellectual property, equitable access, community broadband and online safety could affect young people's use of the Internet.
For example, the battle surrounding network neutrality threatens to prevent content and or applications created and used by young people from being accessed by large groups of people. Equitable access and community broadband could help further close the digital divide by allowing young people without Internet access at home " most of whom are of Hispanic or African-American ethnicity and have a lower level of income " to be better represented online.
Montgomery also examines the increasing role of advertising in the online youth media culture, raising particular concerns about how the overcommercialization of social networking platforms like Facebook and Myspace could undermine the democratic potential of these important new participatory spaces.
"The digital media culture is still very new and we need to follow it closely," Montgomery said. "We need to understand the evolving relationships between young people and this culture, and have a broad public dialogue about where it is going and how it can best serve the needs of young people."
Montgomery is a professor in American University's School of Communication. During the 1990s, as president of the Center for Media Education, she led the way for the congressional passage of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. She recently co-authored the report "Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age," sponsored by the Berkeley Media Studies Group and the Center for Digital Democracy. Her book, Generation Digital: Politics, Commerce, and Childhood in the Age of the Internet (MIT Press, 2007), documents the growth of digital media and marketing in the lives of young people.
American University (http://www.american.edu) is a leader in global education, enrolling a diverse student body from throughout the U.S. and nearly 150 countries. Located in Washington, D.C., the university provides opportunities for academic excellence, public service and internships in the nation's capital and around the world.
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The MacArthur Series on Digital Media and Learning: Civic Engagement
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