Youth interaction with television and online video content in the digital age

Abstract

This article examines the relationship of university students with television and online video content. Convergence processes in many areas during the digital age have significantly changed both audiovisual content consumption patterns and the content on offer itself. In addition, Web 2.0 has made it possible for interaction to go beyond mere consumption. The purpose of this research study was to ascertain what kind of interaction takes place between young people and audiovisual content. The categories analyzed are watch, share and create, with a focus on students’ everyday life. A mixed-method approach was used across a sample of 475 students from Mondragon University. Our main finding is that, although young people have the resources necessary to interact with media, this condition is not sufficient to favor behaviors that are more active. Young people show different practices and attitudes depending on the individual, the content, and the context but, in general, the interactive patterns that they have with television and online video content have more links with the mass communication paradigm than with the new communicative paradigm that arose in the Web 2.0 era.